divine eyes and evil eyes ancient studies. a little background [a]s early as ancient egypt, the eye...

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Divine Eyes and Evil Eyes Ancient Studies

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Divine Eyes and Evil Eyes Ancient Studies

A little background [A]s early as ancient Egypt, the eye

assumed three functions in religious belief: seat of the soul (window to the soul); creation of good; and creation of evil.

The Hebrew word for the pupil of the eye is ishon, “little man.” (Leonard W. Moss and Stephen C. Cappannari, “Mal’occhio, Ayin ha ra, Oculus fascinus, Judenblick: The Evil Eye Hovers Above” in The Evil Eye, Clarence Maloney, ed. NY: Columbia University Press, 1976. pp. 2-3.)

A little more background The core belief in the evil eye is essentially a

belief that the glance or stare of some, if not all, human beings can produce damage in other living things and even, in some instances, to material objects as well. This belief may rest, in part, on the presence of the steady stare as a signal of hostility and impending aggression in the human . . . (John Roberts, “Belief in the Evil Eye in World Perspective” in The Evil Eye, Clarence Maloney, ed. NY: Columbia University Press, 1976. p. 225.)

The eye in ancient Egyptian religion

Eye of Ra “pluck out your

eye and send it forth against those who would attack you” –advice that Nun gives Ra

Eye of Ra, cont. “Terrible was his

pain, horrifying were his cries, and dreadful was his towering rage. All these fierce passions found form as his eye found shape as a fearsome lioness with teeth and claws that ached to rend flesh”

http://www.egyptology.com/reeder/egyptart/portfolio/pharaonic/sekhmet.html

Eye of Ra, cont.

The lioness goddess Sekhmet becomes Ra’s avenger against humans who had become his enemies.

Symbolism: eye has destructive powers

Eye of Ra, Eye of Horus Ancient Egyptians

also associated the eye with the sun (Ra) and moon (Horus)

The eye of Horus represented goodness.

Good and Evil eye To safeguard the dead on their

journey into the next life, embalmers tucked a variety of small magic charms known as amulets inside mummy wrappings. Each . . . had a special meaning or purpose.

Most powerful of all amulets was the health-granting Eye of Horus, or wedjet. The image represented the eye restored to Horus after he lost it avenging the murder of his father, Osiris. (Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs 129)

Good attracts good eye of Horus=eye

of god, divine eye attracts gaze of

good people (i.e., good-hearted people will look at it) (Rohrbaugh, Text Detectives)

Bad attracts bad Evil eye averted

by gestures, protective amulets, etc.

Other Amulets (protection against evil eye)

Source in nature?

The evil eye drama

To put the evil eye events and beliefs . . . in terms of interpersonal action, the full enactment of an evil eye event appears to involve: a gazer (actual or suspected) who gazes, a gazee (actual or one who fears he may be gazed upon), who then moves to protect some possession out of his peasant-village, nomad- or urban-artisan life in family, fields, herds, or goods. The gazee specifically displays a sign of protection. The gazer or gaze is thereby averted and the possession is safe. Or, alternatively, if the possession suffers damage, the gazee moves to restore its condition through supernatural divination and cure and perhaps to retaliate. (Vivian Garrison and Conrad M. Arensberg, “The Evil Eye: Envy or Risk of Seizure?” in The Evil Eye, Clarence Maloney, ed. NY: Columbia University Press, 1976. p. 292.)

Sources Postcard from British Museum (courtesy

Won Jung Yun) Chronicles of Ancient Egypt by Jonathan

Dee (London: Collins and Brown, 1998) Text Detectives (BAS DVD 2006) lecture

by Richard Rohrbaugh, Lewis and Clark College

Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs (Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books 1992)