The evil eye is the popular belief that one can, voluntarily or unwittingly, attract illness and misfortune to another person by looking at him, often with envy. In some cultures, the act of praising a child attracts negative energies to him and can cause him to have the evil eye. If you believe you or your child have this problem, use the methods below to help diagnose and cure it.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Diagnosing the Evil Eye
Step 1. Pay attention to symptoms
The negative energy of a jealous person can cause physical symptoms unrelated to an illness, such as weakness, eye infections, stomach irritation, fever, and nausea. In addition, it is also likely that the affected person has personal, family or professional problems without an apparent cause.
Step 2. Follow the charcoal method
It is practiced in Eastern Europe. Just put a piece of charcoal in a pot of water. You can also use the head of a burnt match. If it sinks, that's a good sign. If it floats, the person or child is affected.
Generally, parents or a healer perform these rituals if the person affected is a child. Otherwise, the person can make them himself
Step 3. Try the wax method
It involves dropping hot wax into holy water and observing the reaction. If the wax splatters, you or the child being tested has the evil eye. The same is true if the wax sticks to the side. Ukrainians use this method.
Step 4. Try the oil
In this method, the person to be diagnosed lets the oil fall into the water. If it forms an eye, the person has the evil eye. Another way is to pour the oil onto a strand of the affected person's hair and drop it into a glass of water (preferably holy water). If the oil sinks, the person has the evil eye.
Special prayers to cure the evil eye are made until the oil no longer forms an eye. The person who spills the oil prays that the evil eye will leave the one affected. Some suggest that there are special prayers for this process that you can learn from a local healer
Part 2 of 3: Curing the Evil Eye
Step 1. Try the touch method
The easiest way to cure the problem, according to some people, is to have the one who caused the evil eye touch the child. As the evil eye is often unintentional, the person will have no problems touching the other. It doesn't matter which part of the body is touched. The hand or forehead will suffice.
- This belief is more common in Hispanic cultures.
- Supposedly, the evil eye (sometimes) happens when the person praises the child without touching him.
Step 2. Use an egg
In Mexico and other Latin American countries, some parents use an egg. They run it over the child's body, usually reciting a prayer like the Lord's Prayer, and place it in a bowl under their pillow. They leave the egg there overnight and see if the white is cloudy in the morning. If so, the child had the evil eye. The method also cures the problem at the same time.
Step 3. Try hand gestures
Some say that certain gestures can ward off or cure the evil eye. One of them is the "mano cornuto", a fist with the forefinger and pinky outstretched (making a little horn). Point your hand down when making this gesture. The other is the figa, in which you close your hand and tuck your thumb between your index finger and middle finger.
Some Italians carry a red horn (corna) with them, on a necklace or key chain. It is used in place of the "hand cornuto"
Step 4. Find a six-sided mirror
It is said that one of the methods capable of curing the evil eye is to use a mirror to reflect bad energy. It is used in China. Just hang the mirror on a front window or front door.
In India, some people also use mirrors to cure or ward off the evil eye. But instead of being placed in the house, the little mirrors are sewn onto the clothes or worn on the body
Step 5. Call a healer
He often has cures for the evil eye. If you don't feel comfortable curing this condition yourself, you can seek help from these people, who will perform the rituals for you.
Part 3 of 3: Preventing the Evil Eye
Step 1. Wear a pink coral bracelet
Some people suggest that an accessory made of this material will help protect against the evil eye.
Step 2. Try a pink string
In Jewish cultures, parents use this cord to ward off the evil eye. It can be strapped to the crib or stroller, for example.
Step 3. Have the baby wear a jet amulet
In some Hispanic cultures, babies wear an amulet of this stone, usually shaped like a fist. It can be worn with red and black beads on a gold chain.
Step 4. Use the spit method
When someone praises your child, you can spit over your left shoulder three times and tap the wood or hit yourself on the head three times. This method is most used in Russia.
Step 5. Spread salt
One Sicilian method of protection is to spread salt behind the front door or outside the house. It is said that he confuses those who put on the evil eye.
Another method used by the same people is urine, in which everyone in the house pees in a bucket. Urine is then spread in front of the residence
Step 6. Try an amulet with one eye
Many cultures use these amulets to protect themselves against the evil eye. You can put them on necklaces or use them as key chains, for example. In Turkey they are made of blue glass, but other cultures make them using other materials.
Tips
- If you are unsure how to cure the evil eye, consult your older family members. In many families, this knowledge is passed from generation to generation.
- Be careful not to fall victim to a scam if you decide to visit a healer, healer or shaman. Ask friends for recommendations.