Talk:Evil eye

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"or "Hook 'em Horns" gestur"

Why does this link to a university? - Omegatron 21:57, Dec 5, 2004 (UTC)
"Hook 'em Horns" is a slogan for fans of the Texas Longhorns. -- Smerdis of Tlön 01:43, 6 Dec 2004 (UTC)

What does seeing eye have to do with this? — BenFrantzDale 08:18, Apr 8, 2005 (UTC)

Damned if I know. I removed the link. -- Smerdis of Tlön 11:42, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Definitely a dumb link, but the horns gesture is sometimes used to ward off the evil eye --Mpa 07:56, 24 February 2006 (UTC)
Yes, the horns gesture (pointing the index and little fingers, other fingers and thumb curled up) is a classic gesture to ward off the evil eye. It features prominently in the first chapter of "Dracula," when the peasants learn that the narrator is headed for Dracula's castle.

Back in El Salvador 9 out of 10 babies had an evil eye bracelet. - Guanaco152003 22:24, 31 October 2005 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] strange sentence

Hi..

I was reading this sentence:

"Some cultures hold that the evil eye is an involuntary jinx that is cast unintentionally by people unlucky enough to be cursed with the power to bestow it by their gaze."

.. but that is the same as saying ("purified" to make meaning clearer):

"Cultures say that the evil eye is a jinx casted by people with the power to bestow it by their gaze."

.. which implies that the people with the "evil eye" actually pass on that "evil eye" to the person they gaze on.

This statement doesn't seem to fit in with what the rest of the article is saying (for example, "that the evil eye causes disease, wasting away, and even death").

  Should the sentence be fixed, or left alone?

Thanks!

The evil eye is both the power to curse and an instance of the curse itself - rather vague usage. Should be cleaned up. kwami 23:27, 29 January 2006 (UTC)


    • I think what they are trying to say is that the evil eye can be cast unintentionally. Mythologically, some people may be able to curse others without knowing it. The word bestow is used incorrectly there, but the rest of the sentence makes sense.

[edit] Evil eye in cameras

Removed the "evil eye in cameras" pgraph after seeing the no original research policy .. sorry ..

--Mpa 05:39, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] how are eyes work

[edit] Sicilian talisman

It is interesting that mention of Mediterranean practice comes into play with this article. My Grandmother who came to the U.S.A. from Sicily, used red fabric to create small 1" hand sewn salt balls. These balls are placed above a doorway, window(s) or main entrance to the home to deflect the evil eye. It is said that a person who wishes ill will upon your family or has feelings of jealousy will get it back if you have one of these in place. These are also effective if carried on your person. We also have the practice of a red ribbon tied into a bow and fastened with a safety pin to the inside of a garment (hidden) for the same reason. (This interesting contribution by 67.21.82.0 made at 09:05, April 25, 2006, was moved from the main article to here by LambiamTalk 09:46, 25 April 2006 (UTC))

[edit] African American hoodoo

Seeing as though Africans taken to America were in some instances Muslims, and African Americans have been involved in Islam for a long time, why is it an occultist is credited with introducing the evil eye into African American circles? Unless there is some factual basis for this that I (in ignorance) have missed this seems to be a patronising passage that should be removed or at least verified.

[edit] Distribution of the belief

I don't think this section is needed. The belief is 'universal'.--Jondel 09:28, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Is that so? You'd be hard pressed to find Scandinavians who subscribe to this belief. Can you imagine a Swedish airplane with an eye painted on it to ward of the evil eye? In Turkey, on the other hand, you'll find that a majority of people fear the evil eye. The distribution is definitely not even, and the customs attending it vary from place to place. --LambiamTalk 10:23, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Not about painting an eye , but a superstition or belief that someone can cause bad luck or something bad to happen by just looking at you . Sorry , I guess I'm wrong. They don't paint eyes in the Philippines. But some people fear the 'evil eye'. So, I guess there are no superstitions among Scandinavians if someone gives you the evil eye. Ok.--Jondel 10:37, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sections added on Turkey by Ali Akyuz & 88.233.24.35

While this information on Turkey's fascination with the evil eye is interesting, it is not appropriate to the first section. It also reads like a personal narrative, has incorrect punctuation, is signed, and contains original research, all of which are inappropriate. I will now tear it apart and refactor it for the distribution of belief section. Emoticon 08:09, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

this article seriously doesn't make any sense.


[edit] Islamic Evil Eye

Belief in the evil eye features in Islamic mythology; it is not a part of Islamic doctrine, however, and is more a feature of folk religion. The practice of warding the evil eye is also common within Muslims (though once again without evidence from an Islamic doctrine).

This isn't true at all. The evil eye in Islam is mentioned in authentic Hadith. Look at this link: http://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=50&translator=4

And look at this fatwa: http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503543922

Armyrifle 00:51, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Japanese "Evil Eye"

In Japanese fiction (often revolving around ninjas), there is something known as "dōjutsu" that translates into "eye skill/techniqe" that comes with various dangerous and/or fatal effects. I don't know how old this phenomenon is, but the oldest documented occurance I've been able to find dates back to the late 1950's where it occured in the Kōga Ninpōchō novel... Should there be any notice of this "Evil Eye"? 81.224.28.144 13:30, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Greek

μάτιασμα cannot be right. In Greek the stress must fall on one of the last three vowels. It is probably ματιάσμα but den xero for certain. Intelligent Mr Toad 04:18, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

The fist sentence of this article is very unclear:

"The evil eye is a folklore belief that the envy elicited by the bad luck of fortunate people may result in their misfortune, whether it is envy of material possessions including livestock, or of beauty, health, or offspring."

Say this another way, and it comes out: "The evil eye is a belief that the envy elicited by a lucky person's bad luck may result in their bad luck..."

First, shouldn't "bad luck" in the first line be amended to read "good luck"? Otherwise, how can a "fortunate person" have "bad luck" (apart from the occasional mishap), and how could that bad luck elicit envy?

Does the author actually mean something along these lines? "Evil Eye: A folklore belief that a person can knowingly or unknowingly cause misfortune through an envious gaze, and negatively affect any aspect of the envied person's life, possessions, or family.

I added "any aspect" above because the sentence reading "including livestock, beauty, health or offspring," really means "including but not limited to livestock, beauty..." For instance, an evil eye that envys an acrobat's balance could no doubt cause them to fall, or one envying a person's popularity could cause them to lose friends.

83.217.115.146 17:39, 6 November 2007 (UTC)


Μάτιασμα is right. The stress is correctly in that place.

Michael IX the White 18:22, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Historiography

what does everyone think of this section? I will continue to add new approaches to the evil eye in the following days. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jjdemur (talk • contribs) 17:37, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hung what?

In the "Classical Evil Eye" section: "In the Roman days not only were individual considered to possess the power of the evil eye but whole tribes, especially those of Pontus and Scythia, were believed to be transmitters of the evil eye. In Greece, People hung them over their doors for protection."

What exact did people in Greece hang over their doors for protection? Scythians? I don't get it. Seems a rather odd practice to hang the people of a particular tribe over your door. I suspect some context has been lost due to editing. Unfortunately, I can't seem to locate this context to restore it. 24.254.163.150 (talk) 04:37, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

(followup) After looking through the article's history, it seems no context was lost. The context was never there. "In Greece, People hung them over their doors for protection." was added in under the section 16:22, 14 March 2008 216.124.93.254 (Talk) (28,262 bytes) (→The Classical Evil Eye) So I'm undoing it since there never was any context to begin with. If 216.124.93.254 wishes to add it back in. Please make sure you either are adding it to the proper section or bother putting the context in next time :) 24.254.163.150 (talk) 04:58, 17 April 2008 (UTC)