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April 2000

As you may know from a previous Jolique article on the origins of adornment (see The Dawning of Dress: Adornment and the Afterlife), spiritual protection may have been one of the original purposes of adornment.

Several thousand years ago, when our early ancestors first conceived of the notion that spiritual beings governed our existence—that is, when religion was born—we created amulets (jewelry), cosmetics and perfume, in order to invoke good spirits and to protect ourselves from evil ones. Today these beliefs have names: Christianity, Vodun, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Shamanism, Buddhism, etc. Within many of these religions, however, is also a belief in what is known as the Evil Eye. A belief in the Evil Eye is practically universal: it exists on nearly every (if not every) continent of the world. The belief's pervasiveness is evident by the number of different names used to describe it. Author Tobin Siebers offers a few:

In Greek, the evil eye is called baskania, from which the Latin words for the evil eye, fascinum and fascinatio, are said to derive. The Latin form recurs in the English word, "fascination," which directly referred to the evil eye until the seventeenth century. In the Spanish-speaking countries of South America, the evil eye is called mal de ojo, mal ojo, or simply ojo. In France, the term is mauvais oeil; in Haiti, mauvais jé, in Holland, booz blick; in Germany, böse Blick; in Poland, zte oko, in Corsica, innocchiatura; in Norway, skørtunge; in Ireland, droch-shuil; in Scotland, bad Ee, in Persian [...] aghashi; in Arabic, 'ayn; in Hebrew, ayin hara, in Tunisia, 'ayn harsha; in Armenian, pasternak; in China, ok ngan; and in Turkey, nazar. In Italy, the evil eye possess many names. It is generally called malocchio, but in Tuscany and southern Italy it may be referred to as affascinamento or jettatura.

The Evil Eye belief is also prevalent in parts of the northeastern and southwestern United States, where it is known as mal de ojo (influence from Spanish colonialists) and a whole host of other names.

The Evil Eye in History

What exactly is the Evil Eye? First recorded by the Mesopotamians about 5,000 years ago in cuneiform on clay tablets, the Evil Eye may actually have originated as early as the Upper Paleolithic age. Amulets designed to protect against it have been found on every continent of the world. In some cultures, it is a devastating, omnipotent force—a Big Brother who knows all; in others, it may simply be bad luck, a "jinx."

The Evil Eye belief centers around the notion that certain people have the ability to cause harm or to destroy one's sexual power. In society, by definition a highly-ordered construct, the Evil Eye represents anything perceived to be out of the ordinary, out of the defined norms—chaos. Chaos is the ultimate fear of any society because it tips the orderly, reproductive balance between men and women. In history, chaos, or the threat of chaos, has been personified by unmarried or widowed women, lesbians, gays, Jews (outside of Judaic culture), Christians (outside of Christian culture), the Salem "witches"...even those individuals simply unfortunate enough to be afflicted by some medical ailment, such as a hunched back, a clubbed foot, or infertility. In general, anyone who appears to be different in any way from the society in which they live may be thought to have the Evil Eye. Their difference sets them apart from the group, and because of this difference, they are outcast, imprisoned or worse, murdered. By branding these "others" with scarlet letters or pink triangles, their evil is identified and they are culled from the flock. In his book, The Mirror of Medusa, Siebers describes the process that ensues:

From the midst of the crisis, a scapegoat appears. Seeking the cause of the crisis, the mob accuses one of its members who, despite his similarity to everyone else, is held to be different as well as responsible for the disorder. As the crowd seizes the unfortunate individual, cause and effect merge. The expulsion and murder of the scapegoat signal the conclusion of the crisis, for the community truly believes that by eliminating the victim it has rid itself of the source of the crisis. If the crisis continues after the expulsion, the community repeats the accusatory process until tranquility is restored [...T]he sacrificing of the victim creates the sacred, the double nature of which derives from the dynamics of persecution. The murder both curses and sanctifies the victim. [...] The duality of this logic accounts for the origin of taboo and ritual. In the aftermath of the murder, the community unites to venerate the victim who was once held responsible for the crisis and now wins responsibility for its resolution. To prevent future crises, the community. [...] repeats the process that brought about the dissolution of the crisis. This representation of the crisis forms the basis of ritual. Thus taboo and ritual are born; taboo coming to mean the prohibition of activities with violent potential and ritual referring to the reenactment of the original murder. [...] As ritual becomes less and less violent and animals and plants replace human victims, the victimization mechanism moves increasingly toward its goal: the eradication of violence.

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!

Protection or Paranoia?

To open up a discussion of the Evil Eye is to tread in tricky territory, and Jolique has only hit the tip of the iceberg here. For although an understanding of the Evil Eye belief (and religion in general) explains a number of different adornment traditions around the world, it also explains much of the fear, hatred and paranoia that exist among cultures.

Left: The pentagram: often mistaken as a symbol of evil or satanism, the pentagram (a stylized version of the Parturient Woman symbol) is actually a symbol which protects against evil.

Religion, government and other institutions have the important benefit of maintining cohesive social structures, which help to retain peace and balance within society.  But cohesiveness sometimes breeds exclusivity. Thus, those outside of our "institution"—our religious temple, political movement or caste—may become the targets of jokes, missionaries, the KKK, or worse, nuclear warheads. Although the crosses around our necks and the veils across our faces, may give us a feeling of solidarity and protection, we must not forget our lengthy, tainted history of prejudice, persecution and pogrom. Perhaps instead of focusing on how to protect ourselves, we should ask, whom do we wish to protect ourselves from?

April, 2000

Bibliography:

-Binder, Pearl. Magic Symbols of the World. New York: The Hamlyn Publishing Group, Limited, 1972.
-Gravel, Pierre Bettez. The Malevolent Eye: An Essay on the Evil Eye, Fertility and the Concept of Mana. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1995.
-Maloney, Clarence, ed. The Evil Eye. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.
-Sichel, Marion. Japan. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
-Siebers, Tobin. The Mirror of Medusa. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.
-Taylor, Timothy. The Prehistory of Sex. New York: Bantam Books, 1996.

Photo Credits:

(1) Perseus and Medusa. Museum, Palermo (Photo. Alinari), in George Henry Chase and Chandler Rathfon Post's A History of Sculpture. (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1925), 66.