FOLK MAGIC & CHARMS · LESSON 6 OF 6 · 12 MIN
The Evil Eye
The envious glance that harms, from the eye idols of Tell Brak to Plutarch's theory, the blue nazar, the hamsa and the little horn, and the drop of oil in water.
Of all magical beliefs, the evil eye may be the most widespread. Across the Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, people have believed that a look — usually an envious one, often given without meaning to — can bring illness, bad luck or death, especially to the young, the beautiful and the successful.