Sharing is Caring… or is it?
Recently, I happened-upon an Instagram reel.
In this reel, a woman claimed that the reason her life started falling apart a few months prior, was because she’d posted all her good news on social media, and as a result was targeted by “The Evil Eye.”
So all those same successes she’d posted about were quickly diminished by the fearsome power of, uh… Jealous People On The Internet Looking At Her.
I’ve never opened a comments section faster in my life.
The comments were full of people (mostly women) corroborating OP’s fearful post:
“Yep, this is why I never share photos of my boyfriend.”
“I can’t share my business wins, because people will put their Evil Eye on my success.”
“I get the worst Evil Eye from my own family.”
Comment after comment, people exposed their commitment to fear at the cost of sharing Truth, Beauty, and Joy.
Stunned, I put my phone away and deeply contemplated what I’d just witnessed.
What is the Evil Eye?
If someone is “giving you the Evil Eye,” it means they’re looking at you with jealousy, criticism, hatred, or malice because you have, do, or are something they either want for themselves, or don’t approve of.
It can also refer to somebody “hate-watching” you to take pleasure in your negative updates, like secretly celebrating when you lose your job or break up with your partner.
The Evil Eye is believed to have the power to destroy whatever it looks at. And given that, according to quantum physics, “observing a situation or phenomenon necessarily changes it,“ there may be truth to the idea of the Evil Eye having destructive power…. sort of. (But hold that thought, we’ll come back to it later.)
Considering that humans are a deeply social species who depend on each other for survival, it’s no wonder we ascribe so much psychic power to the eyes of others. How we’re seen can determine whether we survive.
Indeed, the entire psychological Shadow exists because we reject and repress parts of ourselves due to our ingrained fear of being excommunicated by our tribe…
…and the entire point of Magick is to undo that psychological fracturing, by uniting the Unconscious with the Conscious mind in order to become a whole person again.
And, given that magick is arguably the real objective behind all major religions, it could be inferred that this tension around how we’re perceived is what motivates most, if not all, spiritual endeavors.
Underneath all our religious and spiritual charades… are we not merely seeking to be seen through eyes of love?
Have our cultures, media, and religious institutions not been organized around the deep ache we share, to be approved-of by each other — indeed, to be approved-of by God?
Magick
As an antidote to the Evil Eye, many recommend wearing a Nazar amulet (🧿) or putting the Nazar amulet emoji on one’s social media profiles, to “project the Evil Eye back to the sender.” Historically, other charms (like the Italian mano cornuta) have also been used.
In short: Just as you would fight fire with fire, you fight symbols with symbols.
In this case, the Evil Eye is a symbol of (the fear of) betrayal, malice, and social ruin.
And its counter-force, the Nazar amulet, is also a symbol representing protection and safety.
But neither of these symbols is intrinsically powerful. No symbol is.
“The alchemy stone is waiting to retire and confess…
something in us is its power.”
~ Hafiz
Any magickal object (charm, talisman, amulet, etc.) is in a psychic dialogue with its carrier, makes it so that any object you imbue with your Conscious intention becomes an object of power for you. This is why children instinctually have “security blankets,” and it actually makes them feel safer. Just like ceremonies and rituals, magick objects are only as powerful as the amount of Conscious intention — Willpower — you imbue them with.
In other words: If you decide something is powerful, then it is — whether that “something” is the Evil Eye people send to you on social media, or the amulet that protects you from said Evil eye.
And then, of course, there’s always the option of bypassing those things entirely and just… giving that power to yourself. 😉
Because even if it is true, in a quantum-observer sense, that the Evil Eye really does hold the power to destroy that which it looks at,
why would it not also be true that you have the power to heal that which you look at, by seeing the world through Eyes of Love?
It seems pretty clear to me that the “Evil Eye” is never actually coming from outside of us — but rather, from inside. What we feel when we see any eye looking at us, merely indicates our own insecurities, our own impurities, and our failure to be Conscious of how we apply our perception to the world around us.
When we fear the Evil Eye, we choose to see only the lack and malice in other people, reducing them to the worst possible version of themselves…
…which makes us the source of the Evil, no?
What Could Be
It’s no secret that my Pisces Moon ass lives in a near-constant state of lamentation over how much more beautiful the world could be, if only humans really knew the limitlessness of our spiritual potential (as I recently explained in my posts We Used to Build Cathedrals and If Porn Were Beautiful).
I swear, sometimes I genuinely feel like I’m an alien who came from some Utopian world of Love and Happiness…
and I remember its beauty and perfection, in my heart, in my sex, in my bones…
…but now, I’m surrounded by people who insist upon living in Hell, for “reasons” that will never make sense, no matter how hard they try to convince me (or themselves).
By spreading fear of The Evil Eye, people are essentially voting for a world where nobody is publicly happy, because other people’s insecurities might get triggered.
I don’t know about you guys, but…. I would hate to live in that world.
In fact, I think what the world needs most IS constant, blatant, in-your-face representations and reminders of All That Is Good — of What Else Is Possible!
I also think that this tendency to hide What Is Good is a kind of anti-Truth — a lifestyle of lying-by-omission, or conditional honesty. Not that anybody on instagram is entitled to know what’s going on in my life, good or bad. But whether I share the Truth about myself or my life should not be contingent upon whether other people might accept that Truth.
To give other people the power to decide what I do or don’t express, is to disempower myself.
It is also a failure to recognize how the version of the world I experience, originates in my perception.
In other words:
If you think receiving the Evil Eye is scary,
just wait ‘til you real-ize
nobody was ever looking at you but you.
I talk about the power of talismans and amulets, empowering the self through personal symbols, and so much more, in my new course,
SYMBOLSPEAK: Decrypting and Rescripting Reality for Health, Wealth and Happiness
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Thank you very much for this eye-opener. Learning to transform ourselves and learning to see through the eyes of love, that is indeed the panacea, the universal medicine.
Alicen, this very wise and very relatable explanation for how the version of the world we experience originates with us resonated with me deeply. I want to remember that whenever I fear the judgment of others, I will be tempted to see only their lack and malice, thereby reducing them to the worst version of themselves. Recognizing this as the source of evil is bracing. It inspires me to renew my commitment to seeing myself and others through the eyes of love and acceptance. I think I’ll post an image of your evil eye meme on my bathroom mirror so I am constantly reminded of this profound truth. Thank you for sharing your truth!