Description

EVIL EYE The belief in the evil eye has its origins in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations, where it is thought to be the result of either envy or, less frequently, a curse. The easiest way to describe it is to picture magic poison darts shooting out of someone’s eyes into their target, causing agony and disaster. Wearing a protective item made of dark blue circular glass with a white circle enclosing a black dot in the center that resembles the pupil of the eye will ward off the evil eye. There are many different sizes and styles of eye protection. As early as the sixth century BC, it was depicted on Chalcidian drinking vessels known as “eye-cups” as a form of apotropaic sorcery (the ability to reject or deflect the evil eye). Glass beads didn’t develop until some time in the early 1500 BC, hence the evil eye emblem was mostly used on pottery or clay-based products. It is customary to test for the curse by adding one drop of olive oil to a holy water container. There is no evil eye if the droplet floats.