Medusa, Sexual Power and the Evil Eye

For believers of the böse Blick (German for "Evil Eye"), those who are at the greatest risk of becoming its targets are pregnant women, children, and crops. The Evil Eye is a sterilizer, rather than a fertilizer. Thus because the Evil Eye is a force that reduces one's sexual power, nearly all (if not all) amulets or talismans that serve to repel it are sexual in nature. Following the logic of what is known as imitative magic, the eradication of evil (sexual impotence) occurs through the affirmation of good (sexual potency).

Right: Athena and Perseus Slaying Medusa, a Gorgon (1).

One of the most famous of all amulets is the Gorgon. The symbol of the Gorgon comes from Greek mythology. The Gorgons were three sisters—Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa—who had heads of snakes and were so repulsively ugly that their countenance turned anyone who gazed at them to stone. A metaphor for knowledge and sexual power, their gaze rewards curiosity with petrifaction. According to one myth, Perseus slew Medusa with the assistance of Athena (who lent him her brazen shield as a weapon to reflect the image of Medusa). In another version of the myth, however, from Euripides' Ion, it is Athena who slays the Gorgon and carves its image on her breastplate. (It is this myth that Gustav Klimt recalls in his painting, Pallas Athena.) Synonymous with power and evil, Medusa's head, the Gorgoneion, is seen as both an amulet for, and an incarnation of, the Evil Eye. Medusa is both the emblem, and the enemy, of Athena.

Fertility and Religion

Another common amulet (or apotropaion, as art historians and anthropologists call them) is the ancient symbol of the "Parturient Woman," or woman in labor. It is the ultimate emblem of reproductive power. For thousands of years, this symbol has been carved in stone, painted on walls, and erected fields. Its essence is also visible in the form of the cross or the Star of David and worn around the necks of millions of people. (Many religious symbols, such as the Holy Cross and the Star of David are believed to be stylized symbols of fertility or parturience. Even the scarecrow, seen in agricultural fields across the United States, is an apotropaion no doubt linked to the ancient fertility rite, in central Europe and elsewhere, of sowing one's crops while naked.)

The Evil Eye and Adornment

Closely related to the Parturient Woman symbol is the symbol of the eye. Because of its shape (which resembles a vagina at the moment of crowning), the eye itself promotes fertility and is often used as an amulet against the Evil Eye. (This also explains why Jordan almonds are often seen at weddings; their shape, like the eye, symbolizes sexual power.) The apotropaic eye may offer clues to the origin of eye make-up. Though eye make-up is worn by millions of women around the world, its original purpose may have been protective. In fact, in certain parts of India, women still line their eyes and those of their children with dark kohl as a form of protection against the Evil Eye.

There are many other symbols that are used to ward off the Evil Eye. In general, anything that bears remote resemblance to a sexual organ, a parturient woman, or has a reflective quality, has been appropriated as an apotropaion for the Evil Eye. The tilaka, or "third eye," which is sometimes seen as a red dot on the foreheads of some Hindu men and women, is apotropaion. The fish, which is similar in shape to the eye and to the vulva (symbolizing woman's sexual power), is another. The hand (often with an eye in the center), and hand gestures, such as the crossing of fingers (vulva shape) and the raised second finger (representing the phallus, or male sexual power) are also apotropaia. (We often refer to this latter gesture as "The Bird," which, incidentally, is another common apotropaion itself.)

Mirrors and cowrie shells are popular apotropaia. Mirrors not only repel the gaze, but also return its effect to the caster (as in the case of Medusa). The cowrie, found in the coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, has long been regarded as a valuable protective amulet. Cowrie shells are a common fertility symbol given their obvious resemblance to the vulva. In many countries throughout Asia and Africa, the cowrie shell was considered so valuable that it was used as currency, just as Europeans once used gold and silver. Both cowrie shells and mirrors are sewn into clothing and headdresses for protection. At the annual Gerewol festival of the Wodaabe, for example, men drape their chests with strings of cowrie shells (see Desert Drag Queens: Niger's Wodaabe).

Many forms of pierced jewelry have their origins in protection. Because the Evil Eye can even penetrate the orifices of the body, ears are protected with rings and plugs; noses and lips are pierced and filled with sticks, labrets and other items. Genitals are protected with pierced rings, belts and bells. Even tattoos are protective. The Ainu of Hokkaido, Japan, for example, tattoo the area around the mouth with black soot to prevent the entrance of evil spirits. Indeed, no opening on the body or in the home is beyond the reach of the Evil Eye!   Next >>>