The Evil Eye: The Classic Account of an Ancient Superstition

I can't believe i had the luck to have stumbled upon this book.This classical book on ancient superstitions,is a must-read for any serious neo-pagan and bewitching heathen scholar.At first,i thought it would be another inaccurate historical text ,in the line of Wallis Budge's Egyptian books.Yet,it's filled with quite amazing accounts of folk-superstitions ,from past civilizations through the late nineteenth century.Being very much interested in the affect that 'Occultism' has had on world history,i read this book in one sitting.All these global ancient cultures had some form of basic belief in mysticism,that resonated into our modern times.They also had various defensive amulets and protective incantations that aided themselves from the malvolent powers of curses,hexes and the dreaded evil-eye.There are also some references of the Bible,and how founding Christians cast antidotes against the forces of Nature.One could argue that Jesus was the first true 'Magician',that performed illusions and tricks, which were heralded as 'Miracles' among the peasants.There are many excellent illustrations of the array of sacerdotal hand gestures and artwork,used through the ages.This wonderful text is 'Mana for the Maga',to imbue the magician's cloak of knowledge, with the best of supernatural lore.

a friend wanted it so I gave it as a gift. I looked through it when it arrived and was intrigued by the illustration art.

An excellent foundational source on the evil eye but wrought with colonialist commentary in places. Otherwise this is a well organized and coherent text on the history of the evil eye, the anthropological contexts it has thrived in and includes an excellent bibliography and proper end notes.

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.

Awesome book but remember that every book published before ~1928 is off copyright and free to dl at archive dot org as well as movies, radio programs, original scans of historic documents etc. Wikipedia is NOT trustworthy most of the time so books before the time when about 6 publishing houses controlled everything are vital.

What can I say about this book? If you are Pagan or a witch of any kind, this is an indispensible resource. Written over one hundred years ago and reprinted in 2004, it contains excellent museum quality drawings of charms and history that is not prevalent in modern books on spellcrafting. Even such information as it offers as an aside to its main thesis is pertinent to anyone interested in magickal and mythical studies as well as superstitions. This is a scholarly work which does not adopt a superior attitude with readers. Though its ultimate audience was not meant to be any but folklorists and other scholars, the sheer weight of information contained in this book makes it a must have for any Pagan or Witch interested in more indepth studies than modern publishers are willing to offer us.Books like this gem are just not being written any more.

A good reference book on ancient superstition