The evil eye is a belief that a particular person may cast a malicious gaze which will cause another person, animal, plant, or other property to become ill, die, suffer grievous harm, or inflict bad luck upon someone toward whom they are either openly or even unknowingly envious towards. The evil eye belief is extremely ancient having been referenced as early as 3000 B.C. with the Sumerians, then on to Babylon, then in 7^th Century B.C. Acadian and Assyrian literature, in ancient Greek and Roman writings, and finally in the Hebrew Bible and in more modern Judeo-Christian culture and traditions. The historian and biographer Plutarch, described in his De Iside how the Egyptian goddess of nature Isis killed the son of the Byblos by a mere glance of her eye. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, a manual for ancient priests used around 1000 B.C., has numerous instructions for incantations, charms, and amulets to defend against the evil eye. Continue reading →