The “evil eye” is one of the most widespread and time-resistant popular beliefs. This is not a local phenomenon, but a universal imagination that crosses continents, religions and systems of thought. From Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean, from Africa to Latin America, the eye has been a symbol of vital energy and protection, but also of envy and danger. Today, despite the rationality of the technological era, the evil eye continues to survive as a cultural and psychological language: attributing a negative event to a “malevolent” gaze serves to give meaning to the unexpected and to defend ourselves from what we cannot control. And on social media, where the gaze of others is omnipresent, this ancient fear seems more current than ever.
Origins and beliefs of the evil eye
The association between the eye and supernatural power has been attested since the most ancient civilizations. In Italy, and in particular in the southern regions, this concept is called the “evil eye”, but it is not an exclusively Mediterranean phenomenon. Variants of the same belief are found in almost all civilizations: in the Greek world the matiin Arab countries theayn al-hasad (literally “the eye of envy”), in Latin America the bad eyesup to Indian and African traditions which attribute to the gaze the ability to directly influence the health and fortune of others.
Since Mesopotamian times, the eye was depicted as a symbol of divinity and vital energy, capable of protecting but also of striking. In ancient Egypt, the eye of Horus embodied the healing force and protection against evil, an image that already contained the double value of the gaze: bringer of life and, at the same time, vehicle of vulnerability. Classical Greece later elaborated this idea further: philosophers and physicians discussed the destructive power of baskanos: the “envious gaze”, and the diffusion of eye-shaped amulets testify to the need to defend oneself from an invisible but perceived as real danger.
The role of envy in the evil eye
At the basis of the belief in the evil eye lies a profoundly human and universal feeling: envy. Legends say that every time an individual or family shows prosperity, health or beauty in a context of limited resources, the fear automatically grows that the malevolent gaze of others can “contaminate” such good fortune. In ancient African and Mediterranean agricultural societies for example, where survival was linked to uncertain harvests and a fragile social balance, the evil eye functioned as a plausible explanation for sudden misfortunes: an illness of a child, the loss of a crop, the death of a work animal.
In the absence of scientific instruments, tracing the misfortune to the individual of others made it possible to give meaning to the chaos, to preserve a form of symbolic control and, at the same time, to regulate community tensions. The accusation of having cast the evil eye thus becomes a form of social language, which could express latent rivalries, jealousies or power relations.
Religious symbols and amulets against the evil eye
Protection rituals against the evil eye are equally ancient and reveal the ability of cultures to transform anguish into concrete practices. In the eastern Mediterranean the use of the “blue eye” spreads (nazar), amulet that still accompanies the daily life of millions of people today. In Italy, on the contrary, the Neapolitan “red horn” survives, heir to phallic symbolism linked to fertility and vitality. In the religious context, holy water and the crucifix, in some contexts that have little to do with faith, can also have the function of protection against evil forces in general. Particularly interesting are the secret formulas that in many Italian regions elderly women recite to “remove the evil eye”.
In an era in which science and technology seem to explain almost every aspect of reality, we continue to give space to the evil eye because belief responds to a psychological need: attributing misfortunes to an “evil look” represents a useful mechanism for reducing anxiety and restoring coherence to events perceived as uncontrollable. This is a process that psychology would define as “external attribution”: shifting the cause of what happens to an external element allows you to better tolerate frustration and the sense of helplessness.
It’s not just superstition: the evil eye also continues to function as a cultural language and as an identity code. Wearing an amulet, tattooing Shiva’s hand, having a chilli pepper in your pocket, making a superstitious gesture means reaffirming belonging to a community or to a certain type of belief.
The evil eye in the age of social media
In an era dominated by image and constant exposure on social media, the belief in the evil eye takes on a surprisingly current meaning: publicly showing one’s successes, travels, family, wealth, work and hobbies inevitably means attracting the gaze, and envy, of others. The logic of exposure, in fact, seems to amplify the perception of vulnerability. “Being seen and followed” has become a goal, but continues to be a risk: the more we show success, well-being and happiness, the more the possibility of attracting malevolent glances increases.
In this sense, the evil eye is more than a folkloric superstition: it is a powerful metaphor for our relationship with the social gaze, with envy and the vulnerability that comes from popularity and being exposed. It is not surprising, then, that people continue to believe it, even when they say they don’t believe it at all.
