Did Someone Give You the Evil Eye? There's One Way to Find Out

The health ben­e­fits of olive oil are well doc­u­mented – from pro­tect­ing the heart to pre­vent­ing skin can­cer and so much more. But were you aware of olive oil’s role in ward­ing off the evil eye?

This fas­ci­nat­ing notion of the evil eye dates back to ancient times. It is still an inte­gral part of many cul­tures in the Middle East, West Africa, Central America, Asia and the Mediterranean. Consequently, it is woven into all the major reli­gions — Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Christian Orthodox.

Some the­o­rize that Alexander the Great was par­tially respon­si­ble for dis­sem­i­nat­ing the idea of the ​‘evil eye’ – the con­cept spread­ing east in par­al­lel with his empire.

The evil eye is believed to cause bad luck, injuries, and even death. Sometimes it is done unin­ten­tion­ally, sim­ply because of jeal­ousy or dis­like of the vic­tim.

Here are some com­mon signs that are said to indi­cate that some­one has cast an evil eye on you:

• Unexpected bad luck or mis­for­tune
• Sudden phys­i­cal ill­ness or pain
• Mental or emo­tional dis­tress
• Unusual fatigue or weak­ness
• Financial prob­lems or loss of wealth
• Loss of appetite or dis­turbed sleep
• Unexplained acci­dents or mishaps
• Difficulty in rela­tion­ships or com­mu­ni­ca­tion

It is impor­tant to note that these symp­toms could also result from other causes and may not nec­es­sar­ily mean you have been cursed.

Various amulets, also known as nazars, and tal­is­mans are used to ward off the evil eye; these come in all sorts of shapes and sizes — blue eyes, disks and balls worn on the per­son or kept on their prop­erty. They can also be seen on the prows of many Mediterranean boats — the star­ing eyes are meant to deflect the wicked gaze back onto the per­pe­tra­tor.

The evil eye is a curse believed to be cast by a per­son’s eyes. It is thought to cause bad luck or mis­for­tune to the cursed per­son. There are many ways to test for the evil eye, but one of the most com­mon is the oil test.

You will need a glass of water, olive oil, and a spoon to per­form the oil test. Fill the glass with water and place a drop of olive oil on the water’s sur­face. If the oil floats, there is no evil eye. However, if the oil sinks, the evil eye is believed to have been cast.

There are a few vari­a­tions of the oil test. In one method, you place two drops of olive oil on the water’s sur­face. If the drops remain sep­a­rate, then there is no evil eye. However, if the drops merge, the evil eye is believed to have been cast.

Another vari­a­tion involves plac­ing three or nine drops of olive oil on a plate of water. If the oil drops become larger and even­tu­ally dis­solve in the water, then the evil eye is believed to have been cast. If the drops remain sep­a­rated from the water in small cir­cles, there is no evil eye.

The test is not sci­en­tific. It is a tra­di­tional folk rem­edy used to detect the evil eye. No sci­en­tific evi­dence sup­ports the claim that the oil test is accu­rate.

The oil test is often per­formed pri­vately by a healer or a per­son believed to have spe­cial knowl­edge about the evil eye, accom­pa­nied by a secret chant or prayer.

Those among the ancient Romans and the civ­i­liza­tions they con­quered who found them­selves with­out the safe­guard of their pro­tec­tive amulet would resort to crude sex­ual hand ges­tures to avoid the evil eye.

While the orig­i­nal mean­ing may have been lost, many of these ges­tures are still used today.

If you are con­cerned that you or some­one you know has been cursed with the evil eye, you may want to con­sult with a healer or a tra­di­tional prac­ti­tioner.