Our ancestors feared the evil eye, believing that just one glance could bring about bad luck, poverty, or even death.
Anyone could cast the evil eye. A person looking at you with jealousy in their heart was casting the evil eye. Old people were infamous for giving the evil eye. When out in public, absolutely no one was safe from being cursed unless they took precautions.
Rosemary
An easy way to protect yourself from the evil eye is to wear a sprig of rosemary herb. A satchel made of dried rosemary and worn around the neck or kept in a pocket will also give protection.
Red Ribbon
In Russia, if a young woman felt that she had been cast the evil eye, she would get a bit of red ribbon and tie it around a birch tree to break the spell.
Urine Foot Bath
If you wish to avoid the evil eye and all bad luck for the day, you are supposed to wet your feet in your morning urine.
Silver Crescent Moons
Horses and livestock can also be affected by the evil eye. To protect horses from misfortune, Italians would dress their horses in silver crescent moon amulets and numerous other charms.
Wear a Radish
In old Germany, if someone believed the evil eye was cast about them, they would wear a radish until they felt the bad was gone.
Shoe Spit
If you believe someone has just given you the evil eye, remove your right shoe, spit in it, and put it back on. This is said to ward off the magic.
Pine Tree Sweep
A parent who believes her child has been given the evil eye or fears that the child will be looked upon wrongly, will take a branch of pine and sweep off her child’s face. This banishes and protects the child from evil influences.
Blue Beads
Blue beads are one of the most common ways to protect oneself against the evil eye. Glass blue beads are strung and hung around the necks of those people and animals.
Frog Amulets
Both the Italians and Greeks would wear frog charms as protection against the evil eye. The frog was once considered a highly magical creature with supernatural abilities. The frog figure protects the wearer from all forms of spells and fascinations.
