Now the concepts of evil eye, damage and curse are often used, replacing each other, although this is somewhat incorrect. In this article we will understand how they differ, where they come from and whether they have a real manifestation in life.
Evil eye
Evil eye is a widespread superstition among many peoples about the harmful influence of the gaze of some people ("evil eye") or under some circumstances. People and animals allegedly get sick from the evil eye, trees dry up, and failure befalls. The evil eye was especially feared during childbirth and at weddings.
Belief in the evil eye is reflected in many ancient sources, for example, in the German sagas, a man with thick fused eyebrows kills his enemy with a glance: a demon in the form of a butterfly flies out of his eyebrows and causes death. The earliest (1584) mention of belief in the evil eye in Russia is found in the "Discovery of witchcraft" by the Englishman Reginald Scott. The author attributes it to the Irish, Muscovites and the West Indies. The first Russian text mentioning the evil eye, according to the data, is a prayer of the 16th century against "the evil meeting and the evil eye."
It is believed that the source of these beliefs lies in the primitive demonology, which saw the presence of demonic power in every person, as well as in some incomprehensible real phenomena (suggestion, hypnotism).
A curse
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Curse - Currently used to express extreme resentment towards something.
In earlier times, a curse was seen primarily as a magical action aimed at inflicting (or the desire to inflict) all kinds of trouble without the desire to personally participate in causing harm.
Curses are "applied" primarily as revenge or influence. But also in order to protect, usually houses, treasures, graves and cemeteries. The curse takes effect either immediately or after many years.
Any person can cast a curse, simply by expressing a desire that such and such damage be done to such and such a person. However, the effectiveness of the curse depends on the condition and position of the curse.
Spoilage
Corruption (from the verb spoil) is a harmful magical influence from ill-wishers. Superstitions and myths about the existence of damage, as well as about the possibility of destroying such an influence (removing damage), to one degree or another, were widespread among all peoples and persist to this day.
Targeting damage (in occult practice) is a deliberate magical effect, the purpose of which can be to “target” the victim of any “negative” - from deteriorating health, mental disorders and family scandals to “setting” to become a victim of a car accident or crime. It is believed that damage can be done both on the person himself and on his relatives, property or animals. Sorcerers, magicians, witches, etc., who specialize in this type of service, cause damage, usually at the request of any person who believes in such an opportunity, seeking to get rid of rivals, competitors, foes, or those people whom he simply envies. At the heart of any damage is the desire of one person to harm another to one degree or another and make his life worse in some way: destroy his family, bankrupt, deprive him or his loved ones of health or life, etc.etc.
There is also the possibility of getting rid of induced damage - "removal of damage" - is most often attributed to priests. It is believed that an Orthodox Christian can "cleanse himself from corruption" with the help of confession and communion. Also, those who believe in damage can turn for similar help to healers, psychics, to the same witches and other similar "specialists".
Scientific view of the phenomenon
From a mystical point of view, the "evil eye", "damage" and "curse" are explained by the connection of the people who send them with various supernatural forces. In this section of the article, we will look at possible scientific explanations for these phenomena.
Analyzing the peculiarities of the perception of these phenomena by people at whom they are directed, we can say with great confidence that auto-suggestion plays an important role in the mechanisms of their action.
An example is the following case:
“It is known that in the 19th century, some superstitious Polish peasant women died of panic in front of the 'curl' - a knot found on growing cereals. One woman stole several pieces of linen from her neighbor. She made a "curl" on the field that stole, wishing her death. When the culprit noticed that the "curl" was in her bread, she turned pale, her head made a noise, and she barely made it home. She died three days later …"
However, active methods of influencing a person are not limited to this. Rituals of "directing" spoilage often include influencing a person through eating, drinking, or putting on him "pretended" things. These actions can be dangerous to his health and life, since, in addition to verbal exposure to them, chemically and biologically hazardous substances can be used in rituals.
Let's look at a few examples:
Example 1. Braids of hair, worms and snakes.
The most common example of the result of "removal of spoilage" is called the exit from the body of worms, hair, and sometimes even snakes. Examples are taken from:
- “In one day I drank 5 liters of water spoken by the healer. Very soon my stomach started to hurt. But then diarrhea opened up, and a braided female braid as thick as a finger and 10 cm long came out of me."
- “I began to feel bad: headaches, insomnia, severe lethargy. As she began to be treated, nausea and frustration appeared. Worms came out."
“After following all the recommendations of the healer, I felt that something began to creep out of my anus. It got really bad. But it began to crawl stronger and stronger. It turned out to be a snake about 50 cm long."
It should be noted that when "removing spoilage" is often used a water-salt solution, and it is a good laxative, and cleanses the intestines of stubborn substances that settle on its walls, and worms. (Often such substances are hair, lint, wool, accidentally falling into food. They decompose for a very long time and sometimes even affect the human condition. From here, with deep cleansing, braids and lumps of hair are taken.)
Helminths are divided into three main groups:
- tapeworms (cestodes) (from fractions of a millimeter to 10 meters);
- flukes (trematodes) (from tens of microns to several centimeters; in some cases, the length can reach several tens of centimeters.);
- roundworms (nematodes) (from 80 microns to 8.4 m).
Worms can cause various diseases of internal organs, bleeding, etc.
A person may well mistake helminths (depending on their size) for worms or snakes.
Infection with helminths is possible both by the person himself (from unwashed hands and products, undercooked meat, etc.), and forced (for example, the addition of products containing helminth eggs to food).
Example 2. Water obtained by washing the deceased. It is often used to "induce spoilage" by adding or wiping objects with which a person will come into contact with food.
On the one hand, this is a pure ritual that is aimed at "linking an object with the attributes of death." On the other hand, it is based on the generally accepted delusion of the instantaneous formation of cadaveric poison after the death of a person or animal.
Biogenic amines (oral cadaveric poisons, ptomains) are obtained as a result of putrefactive processes - partial decomposition of protein and decarboxylation of its amino acids, the leading role among which belongs to putrescine and cadaverine, as well as spermidine and spermine. They have a characteristic disgusting "sweetish" (typical cadaveric) smell. However, the acute toxicity of polyamines (in experiments on rats) is relatively low: cadaverine - 2000 mg / kg, putrescine - 2000 mg / kg, spermidine and spermine - 600 mg / kg.
However, harm can indeed be caused by contamination with pathogenic microorganisms, for example, by getting into an open wound.
Example 3. One of the signs of spoilage is the appearance of "swamp vomit" or "green vomit".
It is believed that when "spoiling" a person is added to food some harmful substances (for example, crushed frogs), so the stomach begins to "rumble and croak", and then vomiting appears.
This is not true. Green staining of vomit is typical for many diseases of varying severity.
A gradual change in vomit is characteristic, for example, of obstruction of the small intestine. In the initial period, they consist of the contents of the stomach, then there are green-yellow, bile-colored masses, which eventually turn dark green and, finally, brown-black, smelling of feces. In a small percentage of cases, helminths, pus, bodies of foreign origin can also be mixed with vomiting - it depends on the cause that caused this condition.
Thus, it turns out that the use of various harmful and hazardous substances in "spoiling" may be justified or be a delusion on the part of the victim.
Output
From the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:
- The concepts of "evil eye" and "damage" are very different. The evil eye refers to passive actions, and damage to active ones. An intermediate link between them is the "curse", which, unlike "corruption", affects only by word.
- Beliefs in these concepts have mystical roots, but the facts associated with them can have very real causes and consequences of varying severity.
- The section of facts about spoilage can also include various magical rituals of love spell, lapel, etc., based on active actions with the object (for example, adding various ingredients to food and drinks that can harm life and health).
