Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Recognizing the evil eye
• Part 2 of 3: Curing the evil eye
• Part 3 of 3: Preventing the evil eye
• Tips

With the evil eye, one speaks of the ancient popular belief that someone can consciously or unconsciously proclaim sickness and misfortune on someone just by looking at that person. Usually this happens because of jealousy. In some cultures children are the main victims. Giving compliments can inadvertently give a child the evil eye because it attracts negative energy. If you think your child is suffering from the evil eye, you can use the methods outlined below to be sure and cure it.

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Part 1 of 3: Recognizing the evil eye

1. Watch for the symptoms. A jealous person's negative energy can cause physical symptoms that are not the result of an illness, such as weakness, eye inflammation, stomach pain, fever, or vomiting. It is also possible that the affected person has personal, family, or professional problems for no apparent reason.
2. Follow the coal method. This method comes from Eastern Europe. Drop a piece of coal into a pan of water. You can also use the burnt-out head of a match for this. If it sinks, it's a good sign. If it floats, that person or child was hit.
   • If the person affected is a child, usually the parents or a healer perform the rituals. Otherwise, the affected person can perform them himself.
3. Try the washing method. Another method is to drip hot wax into consecrated water. Watch how the laundry reacts. If it splashes, you or the child you're testing for has the evil eye. The same is true if it sticks to the edge. This method is used in Ukraine.
4. Try the oil method. In this method, the person testing the condition drops oil into water. If the oil takes the shape of an eye, the child is believed to have the evil eye. Another way is to pour oil over a lock of hair of the affected person in a glass of water (preferably consecrated water). When the oil sinks, the person has the evil eye.
   • To heal the evil eye, special prayers are then said until the oil no longer takes the shape of an eye. The person who drips the oil asks the evil eye to leave the person. Some say you need to say special prayers for this, which you can learn from a local healer.

Part 2 of 3: Curing the evil eye

1. Try the touch method. According to some, the easiest way to cure the evil eye is to let the person who brought the evil eye to the child touch the child. Since the evil eye is often unconsciously evoked, the person will normally agree to touch the child. It doesn't matter where the child is touched; on the hand or on the forehead should suffice.
   • This belief is widespread in Spanish-speaking cultures.
   • It is said that the evil eye is (sometimes) caused by a person complimenting a child without touching him or her.
2. Use an egg. In Mexico and other Latin American countries, some parents use an egg. They rub the egg on the child's body, often saying a prayer such as the "Our Father" and then the egg is placed in a bowl under the pillow. After spending the night here, they check in the morning to see if the egg white has turned opaque. If so, the child had the evil eye. Thanks to this method, the evil eye is also cured at the same time.
3. Try hand gestures. Some say that making certain hand gestures can avert or cure the evil eye. An example of this is the "mano cornulto", a fist with the index finger and the little finger extended (horned hand). Keep your hand down while making this gesture. Another example is the "mano fico". Here your thumb is inserted between your index and middle fingers (figure hand) while making a fist.
   • Some Italians carry a red horn (corna). The horn is worn instead of making the gesture.
4. Find a six-sided mirror. According to this method, the evil eye can be healed by using a mirror that reflects the bad energy. This method is used in China. You simply hang the mirror in a window at the front of the house or at the front door.
   • In India, some people also use mirrors to avert or cure the evil eye. But instead of hanging the mirror in the house, little mirrors are sewn into the clothes or worn on the body.
5. Request the services of a healer. Physicians often know how to cure the evil eye. If you'd rather not heal the evil eye yourself, you can enlist the services of a healer who will perform the rituals for you.

Part 3 of 3: Preventing the evil eye

1. Use a bracelet with pink corals. Some say that a bracelet with pink corals will protect your child from the evil eye. Others say that wearing a wild chestnut has the same effect.
2. Try a common thread. In Jewish cultures, parents use a common thread to ward off the evil eye. For example, it is tied around a bar in the bed or around the handle of the carriage.
3. Have the baby wear a jet amulet. In some Spanish-speaking cultures, babies wear an amulet made of jet. Often it has the shape of a small fist. You sometimes see it with red and black beads on a gold chain.
4. Use the spit method. When someone compliments a child, you can spit three times on your left shoulder and touch wood (or pat your own head) three times. This method is mainly used in Russia.
5. Sprinkle salt. A Sicilian method of protection is to sprinkle salt on the floor in front of the front door, indoors or out. The salt (with countless grains) is believed to confuse those who spread evil.
   • Another Sicilian method is the urine method. Everyone who lives in the house pees in a bucket. Then the urine is thrown out in front of the house.
6. Try an eye-shaped lucky charm. In many cultures, lucky charms are used to protect against the evil eye. You can wear it around your neck, for example, or hang it on your key ring. In Turkey these lucky charms are made from blue glass, but other cultures make them in different materials.

Tips

• If you are unsure of how to cure the evil eye, ask older relatives how this is done. In many families this knowledge was passed on from generation to generation.
• If you decide to seek out a healer, witch, or shaman, make sure you don't fall victim to a scam. Ask your friends who they would recommend for this.