If you\’ve ever watched a B movie involving witchcraft, you\’ve likely heard of the Evil Eye. The concept is a favorite among writers for adding a little witchy spice to a story. But what is it? Where did the idea start? Why is the eye evil in the first place? Well good news! I\’m going to answer all your questions! Well, maybe not all of them but I\’ll give you a good understanding of the Evil Eye.
So firstly, despite it\’s almost exclusively witchy association, the Evil Eye is actually not rooted in witchcraft. The Evil Eye draws it\’s origin from the Abrahamic religions, a.k.a. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
According to those religions ( at least in their earlier forms ), a person who felt hostile emotions such as hate or jealousy, could turn those negative emotions into a destructive curse through a menacing glare. The caster could do this without intending to and in some cases without even knowing they had done it. It\’s almost like these religions used to know that emotional energy creates magickal effects… Now where have I heard that before?… It\’s me. I\’ve been saying that for 30 entries now.
According to the superstitions, the Evil Eye comes in three flavors. They vary in strengths but all are capable of causing harm and misfortune. The first and weakest of the three is called Unintentional Eye. This is what I alluded to before. When someone feels intense negative emotions towards someone and it leads them to physically scowl in anger, this channels that baleful energy into the person, attracting misfortune.
The second Evil Eye is the Intentional Evil Eye. This is when the caster understands how their emotions can transmit magickal energy and actively chooses to direct hateful energy towards someone with a visible scowl with the intention and active focus on cursing the target. This is a powerful means of shrouding someone with destructive energy. The victim will need an effective cleansing or uncrossing spell to remove the curse.
The last and most dangerous form is the Unseen/Hidden Eye. As the name implies, this version of the Evil Eye is completely intentional but is done in secret from a distance. This usually must be done repeatedly overtime to take effect but is one of the strongest curses that doesn\’t require any physical materials. The most dangerous aspect of the hidden eye is that the caster takes great effort to be secretive. This conveys a great deal of concealment to the curse. Many healers will not be able to sense the presence of the hidden eye.
The good news is you can ward against the Evil Eye with little to no effort. Magicians learned and documented in ancient times that a symbol ( often called the Evil Eye which is, you know, pretty confusing ) could actually ward off an Evil Eye if drawn or worn before the Eye is cast. The symbol is a circle. Inside that is another circle. Inside that is, you guessed it another circle…and one more. Yep. Four concentric circles and you won\’t have to fear the Evil Eye. Why does it work? Who knows. The early magicians said it\’s because it looks like an eye. Some people say it\’s because the circle is the earliest and most primal protection symbol in existence ( which is true by the way ). I think it\’s much more simple. I think because so many people have believed that it works, so it works. They have unknowingly willed it into a powerful symbol, just like when you create a sigil. The only difference is this sigil has been used by thousands of people for thousands of years.