How to Protect Against the Evil Eye

In large parts of the oldest civilized region of the world, you will find in nearly every room a pretty blue charm that looks like an eye. It's in the front entrance of homes, somewhere in every room, on boats, in airports, in restaurants, and built into the designs of everything from wallpaper to grocery bags. It's on jewelry, wind chimes, and serving plates.

It is common in the Aegean Sea region but encompasses all countries and religious traditions. Though it's never received endorsement from any clerical body — they consider it a silly superstition — it is found in the histories of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In Turkey, from where I just returned, it's called the nazar boncugu. That's Turkish, but in Arabic it isayn al-hasud. In Hebrew it is ayn ha-r a. In Greek, it is το µΆτι, and in Spanish, it is mal de ojo.

Its purpose is to ward off the evil eye. What is that? Americans imagine that it is some ancient myth that has no relevance to modernity. Actually, the evil eye is right now destroying prosperity in the United States. The more it is doing this, the less we hear about it. Far from being some primitive idea, the evil eye is summed up in a wicked vice we don't hear about anymore: envy.

The evil eye looks for success and wishes for its destruction. It is different from jealousy in that sense. It doesn't desire the wealth or happiness of another. It wants the other to suffer because of the other's wealth, fame, success, or happiness. People since the ancient world have feared this impulse more than any other. It is more dangerous to persons and society than any natural disaster. It is a greater threat day to day than floods, hurricanes, or wild beasts.

In other words, the concept of the evil eye grows out of a very real conviction that the greatest threat to human flourishing is the malice of human beings who resent success. And that is actually a very keen insight! No wonder it's had such traction in all religions for so long.

Further, the charm here looks like an eye too, though its purpose is to fight the evil eye. The best way to fight the evil eye, in this tradition, is to look straight back at it. That's what the nazar does. It's an eye for an eye.

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