What is the evil eye (vaskania)?
The evil eye, called “mati” (eye) or “vaskania” in Greek, is the belief that someone’s gaze, usually out of envy or excessive admiration, can bring harm to another person. The word vaskania is ancient Greek. Plutarch discusses the phenomenon in his Table Talk (Symposiaka) and describes it as something hard to explain. Similar beliefs exist across the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East and southern Italy.
What are the signs that you have the evil eye?
According to tradition, the most common signs are:
- a sudden headache, especially across the forehead and temples
- tiredness and heaviness for no obvious reason
- yawning again and again
- dizziness or a general feeling of being unwell
All of these have far more ordinary causes, such as too little sleep or too much food. If the symptoms persist, the right choice is a doctor.
How is a xematiasma done with oil and water?
Most traditional healers follow these steps:
- They fill a deep plate or a glass with water.
- They dip a finger in olive oil and let three drops fall into the water, often making the sign of the cross.
- They watch the drops. If they spread and disappear, the person is considered jinxed. If they stay round, there is no evil eye.
- They whisper the prayer, saying the baptismal name of the person being treated.
- They repeat until the drops stay round. Finally they cross the plate and pour the water somewhere nobody walks.
The details vary from village to village and from family to family.
Why does the healer yawn?
Yawning is considered the surest sign that the evil eye is leaving. The belief is that the harm passes briefly into the healer and leaves through the yawn, which is why many healers yawn and tear up while saying the prayer. The more yawns, the heavier the evil eye is thought to be.
Who can perform a xematiasma?
Anyone who knows the prayer. According to tradition, the prayer can only be passed from a woman to a man or from a man to a woman. If someone learns it from a person of the same sex, it is said to lose its power. In some places it is only passed on during certain days, such as Holy Week, and it is never written down.
What other methods are there?
| Method | How it works | Sign that there was an evil eye |
|---|---|---|
| Oil in water | Three drops of olive oil in a plate of water, with the prayer | The drops spread and vanish |
| Cloves | Cloves on a pin are burned in a candle flame | The clove pops loudly |
| A priest’s prayer | A priest reads the prayer against the evil eye from the Euchologion | There is no test, the prayer is simply read |
What does the Church say about the evil eye?
The Orthodox Church accepts that vaskania is a harm born of envy. Its prayer book, the Euchologion, contains a specific “Prayer for the evil eye”, read by a priest. It views folk rituals with caution, especially when they resemble magical practices.
How do Greeks protect themselves from the evil eye?
- With the blue eye bead (the “mataki”) on a bracelet, necklace, baby’s pram or above the front door.
- By saying “ftou ftou” (a symbolic spit) after a compliment, or “na mi se matiaso” (may I not jinx you).
- With garlic in a pocket and, in tougher cases, a firm “garlic in your eyes”.
- With a small cross or an amulet blessed at church.
Can a xematiasma be done online?
Tradition already accepts remote xematiasma. Many grandmothers do it over the phone, as long as they know the name. Ftou Ftou takes it one step further, for fun: you enter your name, your father’s name and your date of birth and watch the oil fall into the plate as it happens.
Lift my evil eye, on the house
Sources
- Evil eye, Wikipedia
- Βασκανία (Vaskania), Greek Wikipedia
- Plutarch, Table Talk (Symposiaka), book 5, question 7