THe Classic Account of the Evil Eye

The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition by Frederick Thomas Elworthy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have never encountered a book about the evil eye before this one. I bought this treasure several years ago when Borders Books were still in business. Yeah it took me this long to get around to reading it. I am glad i got around to reading this book, although dated it had great information on the evil eye and several remedies to help combat the evil eye. It is a survey that covers remedies from all the major religious traditions and even some remedies going back to Euro-Pagan times. The book covers a lot for 429 pages and sometimes the details were just painful to slog through . Now some may say the book is dated but where else will you find such information of the evil eye.

I myself do not believe in the evil, but my wife does. THe concept behind the evil eye is that if you are driving around a nice car and someone gives you a look of envy it will cause you to have some bad luck. THe evil eye can be passed by a look, touching and even bodily fluids . Belief in this is widespread going all the way from Europe on through to India.

To combat the evil eye the ancient ones from times gone past have devised several means to protect themselves. Most important of these strategies was the use of amulets, which were designed to drive things away. Often times these amulets were worn or displayed out in the open and in other cases the amulet was concealed on the person. The third option is a scripturaL PHRASES written out and placed on the person.

Belief in magic is one of those tradition that will never ever die out because there is someone who believed in it. Sympathetic magic was the magic where in if an action imitated another action then it was more likely the desired outcome would occur. The Egyptians did this with their burial magic by arming their pharoah with food and servant or representation there of. THE Chinese give the deceased paper funeral money in hope that they can spend it on the other sides.Voodoo makes use of this by taking someones hair, belonging or body part and using it in a spell. Taking a cow heart and puncture it saying a charm that indicates it represent the heart of another person.

One of the most important defences against the evil eye was the hands. There were several gestures that someone could do to dewfend themselves against the evil eye. Most widely known is mano Cornuta, the devil horns. Flash them upwards to deflect the gaze of the evil eye. THere is also the mano fica where in you puit your thumb against the index and middle finger.It is a phallic symbol and phallic symbols represent the sun king and ward off evil. Last is the mano pantea where in you hold up your two longest fingers and thumb. I one time reinvented this wheel before I even knew it existed. Remember that touching is a great way to pass along the evil eye.
These hand signs can be done with the hand or made into amulet.

Spoken prayers were another form of protection against the evil eye. Included are various kabbalistic formula for protection and driving away disease. THE cimaruta is another defense against the evil eyes.It consists of rue and other suymbols. Many of the symbols have their origins in pagan times and are linked with pagan gods. If you are pagan you will enjoy this book because it discussed lot of pagan origins for certain charms. If yuou interested in the evil eyes this book has tons of information. This review cannot encapsulate all the information contain in this book. Get it and read it.

View all my reviews