 |
Evil
eye |
|
|
| Sant'
Tobia, 'mmiezz' a 'na via;
|
passa
lu Figlij' r' Maria. |
Che
faij', Tobia, 'mmiezz' a 'na via? |
Tengh'
n'uocchij' sicck' e 'ncantat'. |
Sciàt',
uocchij' sicck', ra 'ndo n' sit' v'nut'; |
p'
lu nom' r' lu Patr', r' lu Figlij' |
e
r' lu Spir't' Sant', |
uocchij',
n' àut'ann'! |
Ammèn. |
| calitri
tradizioni |
| Saint
Tobias is on his way;
|
Mary’s
son passes by. |
What
are you doing on the road, Tobias? |
I
have an eye that’s dry and bewitched. |
Dry
eyes, go back to where you came from; |
In
the name of the Father, the son and the Holy Spirit |
Eyes,
go back for another year! |
Amen. |
| calitri
tradizioni |
| The magic formula was repeated three times a day
and each time it was ended with a prayer chosen at
will (Apostle’s Creed, the Our Father, etc.). |
| According to another ritual, the sorceress, after
making the sign of the cross, would use her thumb
to draw on the patient’s forehead many signs
of the cross, uttering the following magic words:
“Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday,
Holy Thursday, Holy Friday, Holy Saturday, Passion
Sunday, and all you evil eyes come out”. |
|
|
|
The
magic formula ended with an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory
be repeated three times. All this was repeated three more times
with one variation: the sign of the cross was traced on the patient’s
neck instead of his forehead.
|
The
sorcerers insisted that in the case of swollen eyes, symptomatic
of major envy, during the treatment they themselves would become
greatly stressed and tired. They could free themselves from this
condition only after yawning a lot.
|
The victim of this kind of charm had to be completely
freed before going to sleep, otherwise, if the charm persisted
while sleeping, the condition would worsen.
|
In the past people feared that the evil eye could also dry up
a nursing mother’s breasts, and for this reason, when nursing,
women usually covered their breasts with a towel as protection
against envy.
|
They were also convinced that even porkers were
not spared, and the evil eye was believed to be responsible for
their lack of growth and lack of appetite.
|
|
|
