A question regarding Eastern superstitions

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I come from a very devout Maronite Catholic family and recently I’ve come across the superstition of the Evil Eye, which is a concept I’ve never been familiar with since I live in Australia. I’m currently on vacation in my native homeland of Lebanon and unfortunately I’ve realised that all my relatives are exceedingly worried about me, my brother and mother getting hurt due to other people’s strong sense of envy, which according to them, has the power to negatively affect our health and good fortune. Recently, my brother was supposedly affected by “The Evil Eye”, as he suddenly fell sick again after two days of having suffered from a virus. My aunts all gathered around him and repeatedly recited the Nicene Creed which is believed to dispel any evil spirits. As they were doing this, they started to yawn uncontrollably and also began to feel the physical pain that my brother was feeling. One of my aunts also got up and vomited, which she claims always happens to her when someone receives ‘The Eye’. After the whole debacle, my brother did calm down a bit, but was still quite weak and sick, due to being diagnosed with gastro.

Now, I’ve never been a superstitious individual, but I’m afraid that this is really beginning to affect my view of people. I now have a grave fear of even going out of the house, because something I’ve noticed is that lebanese people have a habit of staring at you (especially if you’re foreign, beautiful, have good fortune or dress well). I REALLY don’t want to believe this, because personally, I don’t think that God would allow something so cruel to spawn merely from someone’s feelings, rather than their actions. It just makes me feel unsafe and it makes me feel as if the power of human emotions supplants the power of God. And it doesn’t help that every time I go out into Lebanon’s streets that I’m constantly reciting prayers in my mind JUST so that someone doesn’t affect me with their ‘eye’. It’s very disconcerting. Plus, I’m also having fears of affecting others with MY ‘eye’. The other bad thing is that I can’t seem to shake off this superstition, because I saw it happen before my eyes and now I’m quite frightened. So, my main question is… can what happened to my Aunts and brother be classified as the workings of an evil spirit OR as merely being psychological? Because I’d REALLY prefer it to be the latter, since that wasn’t the only time I’ve seen it happen since arriving to Lebanon (i’ve seen it three times)… so if it is real, it must happen often. But yeah, it’s making me very paranoid, since I do like to go out looking nice and well dressed… therefore, if it is real, could someone possibly lead me to a prayer against evil eyes? That would be great, but I’m still holding out for it as being a mere superstition that stems from psychological belief. Much thanks. =)

P.S. I also read elsewhere that it’s more of a occult/pagan belief, which hence makes it non-christian.
 
if you believe in that kind of stuff than most likely it will happen but if you don’t and trust God then He will protect you from evil spirits, God bless
 
You are never alone. Your Guardian Angel is with you. Put on the armor of God.

Ephesians 6: 10 Finally, grow strong in the Lord, with the strength of his power. 11 Put on the full armour of God so as to be able to resist the devil’s tactics. 12 For it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the principalities and the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world, the spirits of evil in the heavens. 13 That is why you must take up all God’s armour, or you will not be able to put up any resistance on the evil day, or stand your ground even though you exert yourselves to the full. 14 So stand your ground, with truth a belt round your waist, and uprightness a breastplate, 15 wearing for shoes on your feet the eagerness to spread the gospel of peace 16 and always carrying the shield of faith so that you can use it to quench the burning arrows of the Evil One. 17 And then you must take salvation as your helmet and the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God.

Be not afraid.

greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world 1 John 4:4

drbo.org/cgi-bin/s?q=greater+is+he&b=drb&t=2

peace
 
If the diagnosis of gastroenteritis was correct (that is the condition, right?) then he should have gotten better in a few days of keeping to broth, juice and other clear liquids. The other actions may have been superstitious or there may have been legitimate reason to suspect demonic influence. It may be impossible to know exactly what happened at this point, however.
 
SonCatcher said:
If the diagnosis of gastroenteritis was correct (that is the condition, right?) then he should have gotten better in a few days of keeping to broth, juice and other clear liquids. The other actions may have been superstitious or there may have been legitimate reason to suspect demonic influence. It may be impossible to know exactly what happened at this point, however.
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Yes, it was gastroenteritis and I believe that he was feeling better, until he ate potatoes… But that was a day before he got sick again. And the funny thing is, that he started vomiting again as soon as my mother and I started our evening prayers (and my brother isn’t familiar at all with the concept of the evil eye). He only had a bit of a headache before then. Meh, I don’t know. But what I do know, is that while we were trying to get rid of the eye through saying the prayers, I was the only one not yawning. Which could either mean that it’s psychological or I’m just weird. Anyway, thank you for all your answers. They’re very encouraging! =) and my brother has fully recovered, thank god. 👍
 
Oh and my brother really isn’t very spiritual. He hardly prays or goes to church (but he’s still a very strong believer). Do you think that may be a reason as to why he was affected and not other members of my household who are more religious? I think that might be it, if there really is such thing as an ‘Evil Eye’.
 
Welcome to CAF. 🙂 and to the Eastern Catholicism section.
laceteacup7 said:
Oh and my brother really isn’t very spiritual. He hardly prays or goes to church (but he’s still a very strong believer). Do you think that may be a reason as to why he was affected and not other members of my household who are more religious? I think that might be it, if there really is such thing as an ‘Evil Eye’.
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How wonderful that you’re there visiting your native homeland of Lebanon!
Wikipedia has a good article about the “evil eye” tradition. It’s not something that was ever part of my family’s “culture”. And I haven’t been blest to travel where it is. But at the Greek Orthodox festivals I’ve been to there are always various “evil eye” pendants etc. for sale. If you have access to a priest there I would ask him about this. And when you get home I would ask your Maronite priest also about these experiences you are having. I think it is important to have them put this into an orthodox Christian framework.
laceteacup7 said:
Yes, it was gastroenteritis …and my brother has fully recovered, thank god. 👍
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Gastroenteritis, “traveler’s diarrhea” is called Montezuma’s revenge where I have traveled. LOL
 
laceteacup7 said:
I was the only one not yawning. Which could either mean that it’s psychological or I’m just weird.
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laceteacup7 said:
Oh and my brother really isn’t very spiritual. He hardly prays or goes to church (but he’s still a very strong believer). Do you think that may be a reason as to why he was affected and not other members of my household who are more religious? I think that might be it, if there really is such thing as an ‘Evil Eye’.
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Difficult to tell on both fronts. Your or your brother’s level of spirituality does not really have as much to do with spiritual vulnerability as faithfulness. So IF there was a spiritual attack it may have played out exactly as it did OR you and your brother may have had entirely different reactions.
Anyway, thank you for all your answers. They’re very encouraging! =) and my brother has fully recovered, thank god. 👍
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You’re welcome. 🙂
 
The “evil eye” is part of the folklore of the entire eastern Mediterranean, including Greece and even southern Italy, so it is certainly not limited to Lebanon. A Google search will give a good number of links, and I even recall having seen one a while ago to a Greek Orthodox website. Perhaps one of our Greek Orthodox members might have more to say about it.

Anyway, as I said, it’s nothing but folklore, and while I’m not an expert, here’s some of what I’ve run across over the years:

Certain people are said to have the capacity to “curse with the eye” and they reputedly do this mainly out of envy, or jealousy. Sometimes out of sheer hatred. At the same time, the “evil eye” doesn’t affect everyone. A turquoise amulet in the shape of an eye is often worn to ward it off. These can be seen all over the eastern Med, including Israel and Turkey, as well as Lebanon and Greece. Certain people are disposed while others are resistant. Nor, for that matter, does everyone have the capability of removing it. Those who do will “weep” and often or become ill themselves, normally when touching the affected person (it’s usual to hold the person’s hand). Incense is often burned along with the prayers; sometimes the burner is placed on the floor and the afflicted person is made to walk over the smoke in a cruciform pattern.
 
Hispanics also believe in “mal de ojo”, though they also believe in el cucuy, so I’m not sure what to think about that…luckily my grandmother was never very superstitious, beyond making the sign of the cross while cooking so it would turn out good. And I don’t consider that a superstition anyway. 😉 (Her cooking proved that it worked!)
 
I’ve seen lots of people from the Near and Middle East wear the blue evil eye amulets, there are worry beads made of them and I used to know a Greek Orthodox priest who said he would bless the amulets for people to wear with their neck crosses . . .

It would be wrong to say that Christians don’t have their own spiritual armour in the form of sacramentals and the most important one of all is our Cross that we wear on our neck as a sign of our covenant with Christ in God.

In the Christian East, it is proper to wear our (blessed) neck Cross on a long (30 inch?) chain or cord - and we should NEVER take it off, if we can. We can and should put it in our hand (thus the need for a longer chain or cord) and use it to cross ourselves before bed, in the morning, whenever we can and reverence it with a kiss. We kiss the bottom of the Cross as a way to “worship at the Lord’s Footstool.”

We can add medals to it, of course, but we should never be without the protection of the Holy Cross (also the Cross of St Benedict which can be used in exorcisms and is otherwise very powerful as a sacramental).

We should make the Sign of the Cross over ourselves and other things, our food etc. as often as we can, slowly, thoughtfully, reverently. Whenever we are in a place that “doesn’t feel right” or if and when we are tempted, the Sign of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross infuses us with our Lord’s Grace and Protection! Tertullian wrote that Christians “wear out their foreheads with the Sign of the Lord’s Cross” - he wrote at a time when Christians made the Sign only on their foreheads.

The Cross we wear and the Sign of the Cross we make with our hands is our great protection. Evil eye amulets have no such power so we should forget about them. Wear a large neck Cross if we like, but get it blessed and wear it always.

If we wear the evil eye amulet, we are basically expressing distrust in God to protect us - not a good thing!

Alex
 
not that this is terribly helpful, but i’m from a region in the US where there are a lot of Italian Americans, and many of them still believe in the evil eye as well. Once custom we have here, especially when complimenting a new baby is to deliver you compliment followed by “God bless him/her”, signifying that the admiration is genuine, and not of envy or jealousy, which apparently is the root cause of the evil eye. (Not that i believe in it).
 
laceteacup7 said:
I come from a very devout Maronite Catholic family and recently I’ve come across the superstition of the Evil Eye, which is a concept I’ve never been familiar with since I live in Australia. I’m currently on vacation in my native homeland of Lebanon and unfortunately I’ve realised that all my relatives are exceedingly worried about me, my brother and mother getting hurt due to other people’s strong sense of envy, which according to them, has the power to negatively affect our health and good fortune. Recently, my brother was supposedly affected by “The Evil Eye”, as he suddenly fell sick again after two days of having suffered from a virus. My aunts all gathered around him and repeatedly recited the Nicene Creed which is believed to dispel any evil spirits. As they were doing this, they started to yawn uncontrollably and also began to feel the physical pain that my brother was feeling. One of my aunts also got up and vomited, which she claims always happens to her when someone receives ‘The Eye’. After the whole debacle, my brother did calm down a bit, but was still quite weak and sick, due to being diagnosed with gastro.

Now, I’ve never been a superstitious individual, but I’m afraid that this is really beginning to affect my view of people. I now have a grave fear of even going out of the house, because something I’ve noticed is that lebanese people have a habit of staring at you (especially if you’re foreign, beautiful, have good fortune or dress well). I REALLY don’t want to believe this, because personally, I don’t think that God would allow something so cruel to spawn merely from someone’s feelings, rather than their actions. It just makes me feel unsafe and it makes me feel as if the power of human emotions supplants the power of God. And it doesn’t help that every time I go out into Lebanon’s streets that I’m constantly reciting prayers in my mind JUST so that someone doesn’t affect me with their ‘eye’. It’s very disconcerting. Plus, I’m also having fears of affecting others with MY ‘eye’. The other bad thing is that I can’t seem to shake off this superstition, because I saw it happen before my eyes and now I’m quite frightened. So, my main question is… can what happened to my Aunts and brother be classified as the workings of an evil spirit OR as merely being psychological? Because I’d REALLY prefer it to be the latter, since that wasn’t the only time I’ve seen it happen since arriving to Lebanon (i’ve seen it three times)… so if it is real, it must happen often. But yeah, it’s making me very paranoid, since I do like to go out looking nice and well dressed… therefore, if it is real, could someone possibly lead me to a prayer against evil eyes? That would be great, but I’m still holding out for it as being a mere superstition that stems from psychological belief. Much thanks. =)

P.S. I also read elsewhere that it’s more of a occult/pagan belief, which hence makes it non-christian.
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This is prominent in the Italian culture in which I was raised also. They call it the maloik (malo occhio).

It is pure hogwash and superstition and a sin against the First Commandment. Refuse to have anything to do with it. But belief in it can be very psychologically damaging. You are in no danger unless you allow yourself to be caught up in it, and that can cause you psychological harm. The human mind can do strange things to one’s body, and dwelling on it can cause you to lose your peace of mind.

My great-grandmother put the maloit on me when I was born, out of spite. My mother refused to believe in the nonsense and so have I. Nothing has ever happened to me because of any curse, and I am 62 years old. It is all nonsense, and no Catholic should be practicing it, wearing amulets to protect against it, or even believing in it.
 
What about the “Hand of Hansa” that people wear? What’s that all about? Alex
 
It is traditional, especially in Russia, to wear a neck Cross made of bronze. This hearkens back to Christ’s words in the Gospel of John, chapter 3 “Just as Moses raised the brazen serpent in the desert, so too must the Son of Man be raised up.”

So the OT allusion to Christ on the Cross (and all who are bitten by the serpent of old and who go to the Cross and look upon “Him Who was pierced” and will be saved) came to be symbolized by bronze Crosses.

I’ve also seen Russians wear a little bronze snake WITH their bronze neck Cross with this same symbolism. Bronze icons (made so in connection with the same symbolism) will sometimes also have the representation of a snake in the frame . . .

Alex
 
Yes, sorry - i’m sure there are a lot of geniuses among them too! 😉

Alex
 
i agree with CBCATHOLIC, i think if you ignore it, it holds no power over you. maybe your aunts and mom were reacting in a psycosomatic way, since they believe it, their behavior conformed to the belief (with the yawning, et c.).
 
There is a Ukrainian language book by the Orthodox Metropolitan Ilarion Ohienko on “Pre-Christian beliefs of the Ukrainian people.”

He not only discusses the pagan traditions, but also how they continue to exist in language and everyday practice.

For example, in Ukrainian, it is common to say the “rain is coming along” which, in Ukrainian, is a personalization of rain, hearkening back to the times when the god of rain was honoured.

He shows how, for example, certain Christian saints “took over” from pagan deities who had similar “characterstics” in their cult. So the first Christian Church in Kyivan Rus’ was dedicated to the Prophet St Elias and was situated on the same site of a shrine to the pagan god “Perun” the god of thunder. Elias is invoked whenever thunderous storms occur or when someone is dying in the home (he went up to heaven in a chariot and so is thought to have power over the clouds etc.).

He also lists all sorts of daily practices (which my parents practiced) such as “never take out the garbage at night because you might be taking out your good fortune without knowing it (as it is dark),” or covering mirrors with cloth when someone dies to prevent seeing their soul’s reflection and the like.

There is the curious tradition of never giving a Cross as a gift to someone because one is thereby wishing suffering on them . . .quite the pagan practice!

At the end, the author also writes about the four volume “Trebnyk” or “Euchologion” which is the Book of Blessings of the Eastern Church. The Slavs added two more to the original two to include the blessing of all manner of things in people’s daily lives, including four blessings having to do with beekeeping (blessing of new bees, new honey, the blessing of beekeeping tools and a new apiary).

I am most familiar with this one as my name, “Alex” was given to me by my father who was an avid beekeeper (he at one time had more than 1,200 hives) after a patron of the bees.

On March 30th, the feast of St Alexius, the Man of God, beekeepers go out to their bee-yards to have them blessed by a priest and to set up little outdoor shrines in honour of the patron-saints of the bees with icons of St John the Baptist (who ate wild honey), St Alexius the Man of God and Sts. Savvaty and Zossima of the Solovetsky Islands who were said to have brought bees to Rus’. On this day, the Queen Bee begins to lay eggs and it is also called the day of “Warm Alex” since it is often the first warm day of spring. My nick-name growing up was always “Warm Alex” or “Teplij Oleksa.” 🙂

The author of the book above wrote that it was because of the fact that the Church in Rus’ adapted itself to the life of the people and their traditions (as much as possible and without turning things into a “double faith” of Christian and pagan elements), that Christianity took such a firm hold among the people.

Add to this the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition of using a language that was close to the dialects spoken by the people that led to people actually reading the lives of the Saints and using liturgical prayers for their home use, including a good familiarity with iconography via icon corners.

FYI, other patron saints of bees include St Ambrose of Milan, St Gobnet of Ballyvourney in Ireland (at whose shrine bees still make their nests!), St Modomnoc who brought bees to Ireland, St Job the Much-Suffering (because of the pain of his skin disease resembling the pain of bee-stings), St Bernard of Clairvaux and St Benedict (beekeeping was practiced by the Benedictines throughout Europe), St Basil the Great (the great “Bee of the Lord who produced much spiritual honey”) and St Procopy in Yugoslavia.

Alex
 
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