, 1889-09-05
OLD sUPERsTITIONs.
A Strange Belief as to the Effects
of the Evil
Eye.
Horrible Cruelties Practioed Upon
People Accused of
Sorcery,


are too incredulous in this age TO he de-
ceived by any of the wild notions which
were prevalent In our forefathers times.
After all, however, we are not much less
then were they. The numer-
Gus hallucinations that led us astray by |
falsely alleging foundation In science
are DEVELOPMENTS of former crcdulities. |
The prevalent craze concerning various
phases of hypnotism and mcsmerism
had its predecessor in the widespread |
notions, far from extinct, concerning the |
"cvil.eyc." These have had an exist |
ence everywhere, and name for such a
manifestation of ocular power exists In
every tongue. We derive some of our
harmless words from these names. The
Greek "baskains" gives us the verb "to
bask," as well as the noun "basilisk,"
the name of the famous animal whose !
glance would destroy. No i'll meaning
attaches to the modern verb ITO iasci- |
nate" although its root, the latin 'iasci- |
mare" meant 80 bewitch.' we are
not wont to associate any especial evil
us do the Russians, with a ''black eye"
and our most ominous word TO denote
this dangerous power Is that used In
Ireland, ito eye Bite"
Our forcfatliers believed firmly enough
In the thing itself, however As far back
as we are able to pierce through the ob.
security of antiquity we hnd abundant
evidence of this strange belief Chal-
dean conjurations against the power of
the evil eye are still in existence. An
Assyrian incuntation OF the seventh cell
tury II. O., against sorccrcr, represents
glance of the evil eye as most danger.
ous to man. Various Egyptian papyri
refer to this fatal power, and formulas
are given to preserve one from its effects.
Vedaic hymns recito prayers to Aguia
against the sorcerer, with his baletul
glance.and there was formula III an
old IIindoo marriage ceremony recited
by the groom against the possible eyil
effects from the glances OF the bride.
Among the curious laws governing the
Brahmin Is one that in satisfying the
wants of nature he must not look at the
sun, moon, stars or planets, nor at Il
temple, n statue sacred tree or COW,
| for his glance would then be harmful to
any of these. The Persian sacred books
are full on the subject. man of evil
life Is here deemed able to arrest the
growth of plants and the current OF NV
ing water, or to deaden the ripcnlng
fruits.
An allusion to this deadly power is
found in Ecclesiastes, xiv. Various
ancient writers give accounts OF people
who possessed this power to wonder
ful extent. The case of Media and the
Gorgons will rccur TO everyone. Pliney
speaks especially OF ,he DScythlan ans ana
ace, Herodotus, and other classical
writer's frequently allude to it. ST. Mark
puts an allusion TO the evil eye in the
mouth of Christ, and st. Paul alludes to
1t in the Epistle to the Galatians. The
early fathers of the church reason much
about IL, with the result OF leaving the
matter in great confusion, but none of
them question this power. They usually
ascribe 10 the Deity the source OF this
great influence, but later writers assign
II to the malevolcnce of sutan. Children,
handsome people aud the aged were
declared particularly subject TO harm
from this source. For there are some,
says one of these writer. ''who have
single glance they infect others, and
particularly children, the venom ot
fascination acting upon them by reason
of the perverse or malign quality and
dangerous humor of the Injecting eye ol
the sorcerer which enters the spmpa'
thetic pupil of the child's eye"
ImFrance this wild superstition cX-
listed from the earliest times. The in
hahitants of certain districts, AS Bcarl
and Landce, were particularly regarded
askanCe as possessing the iutai eyi
glance. a Bearnese sorcerer WAS STONED
TO death in 1913 because he made tive
! young girls i'll by his malign looks
some suppose IT Il compact with satan
while Others regard the possession o
| this power as natural result ofcyil and
, corrupt tendencies in the heart of tho
/ sorccrer. Few of the writers of the iif
r teenth and sixteenth centuries werI
I bold enough to deny the thing altogether
: Some attribute It's effects entirely IL
the Imagination, others think there il
, present AN actual fluid passing from eyt
. TO eye. Sometimes 1t Is declared tina
4 the will of the operator was not con
/ cerned at all, and that these evil emana
, tions even proceed irom the body of th'
q unfortunate sorcerer without his con
! sent. Old women as usual in these mat
ters during the dark ages had to bea
the principal burden of the accusation
1 Whenever any one died suddenly or wa
taken seriously i'll of u malady unknowi
! to the physicians, sorcery was at one
! inferred, and many innocent person
suffered from the imputaiion as TO th
a supposed eject of their evil glances.
/ Some noted cases are interesting am
may be cited as occurring during tn
q present enlightened century. In 1925
|, near town called OAK, in the depart
: ment of Landcs, ~ yonng wife fell Ill O
some unknown malady, and a. wis
man" on being called attributed her Ill
ness TO the ELECTS OF the evil glances O
n certain young woman, her most int
mate friend. The husband and brothe
of the Invalid concluded to test the mat
= ter, and decoying the suspected woma
. into the house under the pretense {
h wanting nurse, they charged her wit
S having caused her friends illness an
i demanded that she ut once undo he
x work. In spite of her denials, the
n kindled u fire and roastcd her over 1t !
l. a horrible manner until she finally a'
: knowledged her agency in causing th
q disease and promised to remedy 1t. Sh
e was then, at 2 o'clock in the mornin;
l. led into a dense forest and turned adrif
g Some peasants found her, and her II
d human prosecutors were afterward
o brought to trial, but the witnesses calle
+ all declared their belief in the guilt {
p the accused and swore that the invali
i began to mend from the moment of Oh
d exacted confession.
o After the experience of Mesmer tn
o belief In the fatal power OF certain pc
(. sons increased, and scene similar
It that just related occurred in the uppt
X Pyreneese, where q couple tormented a
% old woman by burning to force her
|, confess to having "bewitched" the wifi
:, This time the victim died in her init
ries, but the court inflicted light pun
m ishment, finding ''extenuating circun
$. stances" In Italy the belief IN u
Y, "jettatura" at the present day Is almo
rs universal. 4 charm, y frequently wor,
id two middle fingers and the thur
A. closed. The last King OF Naples was
" great terror of the evil eye, and habit
Il, 9llv carricd his hand with only the indt