In Indian, the drishti is taken away through Aarti. This
can be accomplished through several means such and crushing lemons into a car
and hanging a new lemon with chilies to avoid the evil eye. For human removal
the holy flame ritual is enough to remove it. Also used is kumkum on cheeks or
forehead to avoid the devil eye. Kohl can also be used for this particular
purpose. Young children and babies are considered to be perfect and thus can
attract the devil eye. By applying a spot on to cheeks or forehead, the evil
eye is averted.
Evil Eye – A Brief
Summary
The evil eye is a belief that a person can harm
you, your children, or your belongings simply by looking at them with envy and
praising them. Jealousy, envy, or praise can inflict all kinds of misfortune.
The penetrating look is believed to cause illness, injury, or death upon its
intentional or unintentional target. Most common is the belief that the evil eye
can cause things to whither away or dry up -- the loss of crops, drying up of
milk in nursing mothers, impotency in men, and illness among children, are all
commonly attributed to the evil eye.
The belief of the evil eye has no religious
boundaries as it coexists with almost every religion from Christianity to Islam.
It is in fact mentioned in the Old Testament and a big part of the Jewish
folklore as well. Throughout history, the evil eye has affected the lives of
many and has shaped many cultures in their beliefs and behavior. Baby clothes
and cribs will feature an evil eye pin cars will have an evil eye hanging on the
rear-view mirror while homes will have various forms of wall hanging evil eye
throughout.
Evil eye jewelry
is a popular choice where an
evil eye bracelet or an
evil eye charm as an accessory might be
enough to void off the effects of the evil eye around you. The object is to
protect your loved ones or your possessions from the effects of the evil eye.
Today, belief in the evil eye is very much alive,
especially so in Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, South America, and the Arab
world. All these cultures have different names for the Evil Eye from "Mal Ojo"
in Spanish to "Baskania" in Greek. Indians call it "Drishtidosham and the Arabs
call it"Ayin Harsha”. Evil eye is also referred to as the Lucky eye perhaps to
emphasize the positive effects of wearing a piece of evil eye jewelry where not
only will it protect you from the onlookers but also bring you luck along the
way.
Regardless of the word or phrase they use to refer to it, one thing is for
certain. While there are many who insist the evil eye is nothing more than good
old-fashioned superstition, to the believers of the evil eye its powers are
nothing to be taken lightly.
For more information on the history of the evil eye
as well as its importance on different cultures and religions, please visit our
evil eye information page.
