THE EVIL EYE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 21, 19 October 1918, Page 8

THE EVIL EYE

ORIENTAL SUPERSTITION,

In the ."Quarterly Statement 77 of the Palestino Exploration l , unci, Dr.E. W. G. Masterriian writes on ideas among the natives of Palestine regarding tho causes and cure of disease The ideas of tho modern fellah or beilawi on sudi matters, he says, are derived 'from traditions that have survived from successive ages. Belonging to really primitive beliefs, we have the cult of, the evil eyo, an influence which is to-day considered by the majority in the land, as the most potent of all causes of disease and death. "Tho eye fell on him. and he died," is'the way a raothor will narrate the death of her first-born._ In the Orient the most dread oye is a blue one; the owner of such.may, quite innocently, bring misfortune, disease, or death at any time. To guard against the eyfl eye, amulets are worn by most children and by horses. In tho latter case ; bright blue beads' are considered sufiieieut; hut around a child's neck there is frequently a necklace of assorted charms—in some cases a veritable museum; Thus, v. large lump of alum is added to the collect-ion because it is a substance irritating to "the oye"; bright coins or beads are employed because they al> , tract "the eyo" away from tho child's faco; the bone of an owl, I.ecauso. this I bird's keen sight at night invests its hono with peculiar virtue as a, guardian; or wo find such objects as a hedgehog's hoof, the vertebrae of a woll' or dog, or a small dog's tail. When, on account of a child wasting away, it is suspected that the "eyo has fallen on him," various magical means are resorted Jo in order to ascertain who is the guilty owner, and to destroy his power. Such a ceremony is_called a raluveh. A "wise woman" —the modern survival of the "witch" —is called in. She takes n I'tJle-hur-ley, salt, aliinii jneriamiyeli (an aromatie plant), and olive leaves, and. placing them, together in an earthenware dish over a lire, she allows the filings to comn over the sick patient, while, slio mutters a prayer in tho name of the Prophet.