The Evil Eye...

[Who2]

Don't know quite why I've been pondering this...I have great respect for local traditions..and the world wide view regarding the evil eye.

My mates here are always knocking on about how 'bad eyes caused this or that crap,
Around my house there are quite a few symbols warding off the evil eye,
I once found a lady expat had stuck that blue eyed symbol on all my doors.
The hand of fatima are around somewhere, also those little leather bags of 'hokempokem hang in corners.
Our gates topped with the 'honed gold & silver fleurs-de-lys are no afterthought,
if it's good enough for Buck Hse, it's good enough for me.
Plus a couple of horseshoes and the masonic brass door-knockers, do a pretty good job.

Oh! yes, and if all else fails ? the dogs are quite esoteric as well, their happy to 'bite everything....

Ps: It's a rough & tough world out there, So 'be prepared! or else become just chaff upon the wind! 'deep eh?
'One should become an expert in spotting evil if, one wishes to survive...

[newcastle]

I’ve always thought that the best defence against the evil eye, evil spirits, curses etc. etc. is to treat them as the superstitious nonsense they are......i.e. with contempt.

[Who2]

Your talking to a guy who once knew The Reverend Christopher Neil Smith the church's top exorcist.
Big guy, wife was mad son committed suicide...
And someone who was once exorcised by the keyboard player of the Rickenbackers....

"I fought the law and the law won' but on the evil side I've ruled supreme...
Now where's my Dr's kit..?
......

[newcastle]

You might be - indeed are - as mad as a box of frogs......but that doesn’t make you evil!

[John Landon]

I could carp on for hours about this subject, but put simply Evil is merely negative energy.
Nothing.. Zero, Seff.

It is inexplicable in the best part, as it has no substantial existence, no physical or ethereal point from which it emanates.
People try to create one and call it Satan or the Devil, but if that were the case then that means that to prove the Devils existence you would also have to prove God's existence so far despite all of mans efforts this still has not happened and it will never happen.

The battle rages on, put simply again, it is the negative judgement one puts upon a situation or a persons acts, or even something that happens that an individual or group of people do not like. for naturally occurring events, the truth of the matter, it is what it is. be that the destruction of Pompeii or a child with cancer. You cannot create evil out of those situations, but people do.

Peoples actions are not evil, at worst they are perversions or lack of self discipline,
in the case of those who do others physical harm or worse.

One man's pleasure is another man's poison, Disagreements begin arguments start people take sides and hey presto !
God and the Devil are born..

It's all in the mind. from Latin mentem, accusative singular of mēns.
Noun: ment f (plural ments)
the mind
the spirit



Evil. Turn that around and it is Live.

[DJKeefy]

I’ve always thought that the best defence against the evil eye, evil spirits, curses etc. etc. is to treat them as the superstitious nonsense they are......i.e. with contempt.

I would agree with you, that was my way of thinking but my last Month in Egypt had me questioning this and it still does today.

I was riding my motorbike, out and about taking photos for Luxor4u forums and facebook group, riding along the canal near Minsha a tree branch on the floor somehow flew up in the air and stabbed me in the thigh, it went through a thick pair of jeans and stuck right in my thigh, i could not believe how it went through the jeans, the branch was about a quarter inch think but rounded like when you break a branch, it was not sharp at all, blood was coming from the wound and I was about to turned back and go to a friend (who I know in Minsha) to get it cleaned, but instead I decided to ride on, a few minutes later a vicious dog come chasing after the bike, ive been bit by a dog in Egypt before and I was scared to death for months that I might have rabies, so I was not going to get bitten again so I sped up a bit to lose the dog, just has I thought i had lost the dog I hit a pile of sand the bike slid down on to the ground banging my left knee on to the floor, cutting a long story short, I had broken my knee in a few places and torn ligaments in my leg, the hospital put a plaster on from my toes up to my thigh.

I questioned was the twig that stuck in my leg a warning not to go on or was it just coincidence what happened?

My visa was due in 2 weeks and I normally went to Hurghada to get my visa, 1 - I used to stop for a month or so with a friend in their Villa with swimming pool and private beach. 2 - Luxor visa office had a problem with me and use to **** me about saying you have to go to Cairo to renew your visa cause you have been here too long without leaving the Country, I still believe any problems was down to someone I wont mention paying someone at the visa office a large amount of money to refuse me a visa, I wont go into the in and outs of what I know, but it was very suspicious on learning this information that I had a problem with the visa office in Luxor.

Same computers and checks in Hurghada, but hey ho, I always got my previous visas without any problems.

Anyway due to me having my whole leg plastered I had to go to the Luxor visa office, It was very difficult getting there with the leg plastered all way up
Same story again at Luxor visa office you have been in the Country for 13 years without leaving, you will have to travel to Cairo to sort the visa out, of course I laughed and said really in this state, she said she will send it up to Cairo, so I went back home, my visa was now 2 weeks out of date and the woman rang me to say I had to go back to the visa office, So once again I struggled to get there, the lady from the flat upstairs helped me again, when I got to the visa office the captain there said immigration has refused me my visa and I have to leave the Country, they said I would have to wait in the police station till a flight was available, cutting a long story short (ive gave my account of this in some post a few years ago) after 3 days I was back in the UK, the next day in the UK I went to the hospital, they found something wrong, I had a scan and found a blood clot in my leg, I was told I was lucky that I returned home when I did else in 3-7 days I could have been DEAD.

I just think there is something odd, strange, some invisible force caused these chain of events, I know some people wanted me out of Egypt could it be possible that the evil eye works, or in my case was it a miracle it happened cause it saved my life

[newcastle]

Probably the biggest reason some people believe in “dark forces”, or whatever, is that coincidences can, and do, happen.

I’m sure everyone, if they put their minds to it, can recall circumstances in their life which leaves them wondering.....

Fortunately, in my case, it’s usually been the thought that some higher power is watching out for me in a positive way.

Last October I was troubled by stomach pains which initially I put down to the usual “Egypt tummy”. The problem persisted and I went to a Hurghada hospital, had ultrasound scans and was diagnosed with some stomach bug. By chance I had a routine scan due in London in Dec which I was intending to postpone (I always spend Christmas in Egypt)..but decided to travel to London anyway as I was still suffering occasional stomach pains.

Just as well.....I collapsed ,whilst having the scan, and was rushed to theatre with a ruptured duodenum.

Had I been in Egypt I’d be dead. In fact, if it hadn’t ruptured whilst I was in a hospital, I doubt I’d be alive. I spent the following 6 months in hospital!

[John Landon]

But what happened to you Keefy was not Evil though was it ? Same as with newcastle's more positive assistance from above.
Good often does things we don't like, but that does not make it Evil.
Coincidence ? I think not..
co as in mutual and incidence as in something happening. Read on..

I have no doubt there are esoteric forces at work we don't understand and maybe even karmic forces at work ?

I do believe more and more life is a lesson of sorts. Now I'm talking of the things I didn't really want to get into,
but yes like you I too have had many strange things happen in my life that I could at the time say were the forces of the Devil and evil, but over time I realised they were for the force of good and were trying to prevent me doing something or saved me.
Knee jerk reactions to an event that is non too nice at the time are not good, I think you need to ponder what happened and try to extract the good from it. Although sometimes that can take years.

Even if you believe in curses and the like, those who profess to be able to cast those kind of spells will tell you the limitations and boundaries, and they cannot act without impunity, so they too have to be careful in what they do.

A Witch doctors voodoo curse wont work on you if you dont know about it, ( A bit like the Indians rain dance. Timing has a lot to do with the outcome ) but if you are that bad, I think karma will get you in the end. But karma is not about punishment, its also about reward as well, so you will be rewarded for your good deeds so long as you dont think about a reward when doing said good deed..

[John Landon]

Of course, Having said all that, I do wear a lot of black clothes especially when going out, ( Something I have done since I was a teenager ) I keep a Rowan Tree branch across the threshold of my house, and I have a lot of crystals and Quartz dotted about the place.

Well, Better safe than sorry, especially living in the foothills of the mountains here in Wales.

[A-Four]

I have always been interested in the personal religious beliefs of the ancients, today's most are either never understood or simply laughed at, a bit, I suppose how some interpret modern day world religions,.......quite a lot of old into new I image.

I have never really understood much of the so called 'evil eye', except that it seems to have come about in the late Greek era and developed by the Romans. Today this such superstition is alive and kicking throughout the Mediterranean countries, and especially in both Spain and Upper Egypt. All this seems rather silly when you think that the 'all seeing eye' of Horus thrives throughout the Mediterranean Sea. The Eye of Horus was always seen as the protector eye to guide the 'ghost boat' through the night sky into the afterlife. Throughout the Mediterranean Sea you will come across fishing boats that have near the name of their boat an 'eye', it is seen even to this day as the protector of the boat and its journey to and from home.

Today in Islam, as with Christianity, people seek guidance from their troubles through their faith. Many look towards God for help, many speak to be heard by some devine understanding being, as in Catholicism, often a person would pray before a statue of the Virgin Mary. The same thing was so in Ancient Egypt, for the ordinary person, but this was only possible where a pilgrim could find a picture representation of the 'all seeing eye' of Horus or the 'all hearing ear', which was simply a picture of a human ear on the wall. Such ancient representations can still be see in various temples. Such classical examples are with in the complex of the Osirien at Abydos.

Perhaps the most superstitious people I have ever come across are those of Upper Egypt. Many of the village homes are still either painted light blue or yellow, simply to keep away the 'evil eye', but it's very strange to note that many such people, both Muslim and Christian, seek help from the old ancient beliefs. Often it can be seen at Dendera a young man with his new bride accompanied by her mother enter a certain crypt where is found a relief of the goddess with son on her knee. It is here they prey for healthy future children.

At Abydos, within the complex of the Osirien, at its southern end, within a central shrine you will notice a very important relief showing the dead body of Osiris on a funerary bier, notice the darkened area around the 'still' erect penis of the god. This is caused again by superstition of the modern day by mother and daughter visits to seek a 'good' life, and thus, by touching this area their belief will come true.

[Horus]

I always thought that shiny bit around the erect penis of Osiris on a funerary bier and those of the god Min was because of people like me giving it a quick rub.
On a more serious note the 'Lucky Evil Eye' (never could figure that one out) is on sale just about everywhere in the Greek and Mediterranean islands.

[Who2]

While we are on the subject I have been asked the name of this sculpture.

Anyone know ?.....

[newcastle]

I always thought that shiny bit around the erect penis of Osiris on a funerary bier and those of the god Min was because of people like me giving it a quick rub.
On a more serious note the 'Lucky Evil Eye' (never could figure that one out) is on sale just about everywhere in the Greek and Mediterranean islands.

The phallus is one of the devices thought to be a protection against the evil eye....let’s hope that explains your predilection for giving it “a quick rub” The story goes that it ejaculates and blinds the evil intent of the unseen enemy.


I expect the fact that it’s rubbed to death on Egyptian monuments may be more to do with women hoping for success in love - or at least a well-endowed lover

The wearing of evil eye amulets - particularly prevalent, as you say, in the Mediterranean- is to do with the belief that the eye amulet reflects the bad wishes back to the unseen enemy.

[A-Four]

While we are on the subject I have been asked the name of this sculpture.

Anyone know ?.....

Wow, this is a quite difficult one to work out, most people I believe would consider it to be a statue of Min, but I think not.

The head features a distinct representation of a figure of the Old Kingdom up to the start of the 18th Dynasty, made of a very hard stone, and usually placed in a tomb. It could be a copy of the God Ihy, son of Hathor, and instead of holding a sistrum, some wit has replaced it with a phallic, but then again it could be a representation of a God of a later period being either Mithras, Bacchus or Dionysus.

The problem though, is that the legs of this item are in a squat position, and the only Egyptian God that comes to mind is Bes, a very popular God throughout time, that originated probably in southern Sudan. Everyone knew of this character that brought happiness and joy, a favourite use for such a statue of Bes in ancient times was as a door stop, by ordinary people throughout Egypt.

In my opinion, if there is any provenance to this item, I believe it is a very crude version of the God Bes, made on a commercial basis of terracotta, dating around the 1st Century A.D., during the Roman occupation, and used as a door stop at the local brothel, for there were many in each and every town of the Empire, and we all know how crude the Romans were.

One interesting point is that the fingers on the hands of this statue are correct within the framework of ancient Egyptian art, often it can be ignored on modern day fake Egyptian statues,...........so, at least it has that going for,it, good luck my dear Dr.

[BENNU]

One afternoon during a dance session to live music, my favourite occupation, I suddenly felt a strong pain in my chest. I turned around and to no surprise, a primadonna was giving me a disapproving look, the kind that local men wrongly mistake for jealousy.

I gave up dancing and took a taxi home. A little later, I had a call from the driver. The musicians had phoned him, asking him to look after me - they are all worried that I'll die from the evil eye.