VIII. The Evil Eye

Like many other peoples, the Moroccans believe that there are magical powers hidden in the human gaze. This belief is of special interest because of the influence it has had on decorative art, and thus it deserves an entire chapter of its own.

It is through the eye that evil wishes are transmitted onto the person or object upon which the gaze is cast. Such a transmission occurs more easily if the gaze is followed by speech; it is said that the most dangerous of all people is he who has a black heart and a joking mouth. Indeed, some remarks can cause injury even when there are no bad intentions; a person who praises a thing that belongs to another must, without fail, add the phrase [tabārak Allāh], ”May God be blessed”. Also, the gaze alone can bring bad luck: there are eyes that emanate evil involuntarily. There are stories of fathers who have killed their own children simply by looking at them.

Certain persons and entire families have poor reputations because of their eyes. Persons with deep-set eyes, one eye and those whose eyebrows are united over the nasal bridge are particularly dangerous. Blue and grey eyes also inspire much fear in areas with Arabic-speaking populations, where such eyes are rare and therefore make an uneasy impression; in [Jbel lă-Ḥbíb] one of [Buʿassab’]s sons stared at me and exclaimed: ”You have terrible eyes!” But in the Great Atlas Mountains where blue-eyed people are not so rare, they are not feared. As we saw earlier, women have dangerous eyes; this is particularly the case with old women and brides.

Certain people are also more vulnerable to harm from the evil eye of others: this is the case with small children, especially boys, brides and bridegrooms, as well as women in child-bed. Anybody who is afraid of the evil eye is more liable to be hurt by it. This is in accordance with the general principle that fear leads to misfortune; if, for example, a person who buys a mule suspects that it is not good, an accident will soon happen to it, whereas if they are convinced that it is good, this will act as a kind of insurance against accidents. The danger of being harmed by the evil eye is also very high when eating, as the evil force then enters the body directly. To take food in the presence of hungry lookers-on is the same as taking poison.

The destruction that the evil eye causes is immense. It is said that it ”owns two-thirds of the graveyard” – not to mention the ravages it causes among domestic animals, fruit trees and other property. So firm is the belief in this evil force that if an accident happens at a feast where a person reputed to possess an evil eye is present, he is held responsible for the accident and must pay damages.

Naturally, all conceivable methods are used to protect oneself against such an enemy. The safest precaution is to avoid exposure to the evil eye altogether. A person who is considered dangerous on account of his eyes must not pitch his tent in the immediate vicinity of his friends, nor is he permitted to take part in feasts or other events where many people are gathered. One avoids as much as possible speaking of one’s own affairs in the presence of others as ”a closed mouth no fly can enter”. If a person carries food from one place to another, he must keep it covered; otherwise he is obliged to offer some to each person he meets on the way, especially to each woman. If a person wishes to eat in the presence of another, he must ask them to partake of the food, and only a close friend has the right to refuse.1 If a person has had sons who have died in childhood due to the evil eye, the next son is said to be a girl. And to protect children against envious looks, they can sometimes be given names which are commonly given to slaves.

In some cases, the intention is to burn the dangerous gaze. If a stranger enters a house where there is a new carpet, the housewife singes the fringe of the carpet; and a common cure for illness is to burn a piece of alum and allow the patient to breathe in the smoke, whereby the ”eyes” that appear on the burned alum represent the eyes that have caused the illness. In other cases, the intention is to blind the evil eye, for example by throwing earth at a person looking at you, or by squeezing the juice from a pomegranate over the horn of an ox hitched to a plough when beginning the autumn ploughing. Another method is to puncture the evil eye using an amulet consisting of hedgehog bristles or the stalks of thistles.

Another method is to divert the dangerous gaze. When a young man, in his finest clothes with a gun on his shoulder, goes to a feast and on the way meets someone who can be expected to look at him with an envious eye, he places his hands on his back, stretches out the middle finger of the right hand towards the palm of the left, turns the tongue backward in his mouth and whispers quietly: ”May God let your eye fly!” Quite often the protection used is an object intended to attract the first glance, which is where the main danger lies. For this purpose, the skull or some other bone of a donkey or horse, or a sooty pot, is hung up in the kitchen garden or orchard; and during threshing, a large lump of soil is laid on the heap of grain.

An extremely common method for protecting oneself from the evil eye is to reflect the evil force, [], emanating from the eye. This takes place largely by means of the hand. If the Moroccan believes he is in danger of being harmed by another person’s evil eye and does not consider himself to be bound by any considerations of courtesy, he stretches out the fingers of his right hand towards the other’s eyes and says: [] (or in shelḥa, ) ”five in your eye”. Or he may make the same gesture first with the right hand and then the left hand, with the words [], where the diminutive [], ”little five”, represents the fingers of the left hand. I was told that the aim is to throw back the eye’s harmful influence at the person looking at him; but it is possible that he is also implying that he will put out the evil eye with his outstretched fingers.

As the hand and its five fingers are considered to be protection against the evil eye, it is easy to see that the same applies to each representation of a hand or its fingers. In this belief system, the difference between reality and image disappears, and no importance is given to the likeness of the image. Small flat silver pieces representing a hand are a very common amulet against the evil eye; and in certain towns, for instance Marrakesh, there is hardly a house, and least of all a shop, whose wall does not in some way bear the hand or five fingers. Sometimes there is a rough image of a hand with outstretched fingers, sometimes only the forepart of a hand, highly conventionalised, sometimes five fingers united by a horizontal line, but most commonly five isolated lines, longer or shorter, which occasionally dwindle almost into dots. The figures are painted with tar, red earth, henna or blue. Figures 1–5 [on page 217] represent a series of these various types. Not infrequently, the five fingers are provided with a common shaft from which they emerge (Figures 6–8 [on page 217]).

These wall paintings show that what is mostly important is the number of fingers. In the incantation that accompanies the protective hand gesture – ”five in your eye” – the word ”finger” is not mentioned, but in its stead is the number five. The number five has thus by itself become a charm against the evil eye. Anyone looking at an object belonging to another person and thereby admiringly calls out , the owner of the object averts the danger by saying [], ”five and fifteen”. If a journey lasts five days, the traveller considers himself to be protected to some degree against the evil eye by the number of days. And the expression [], which means Thursday, or literally ”the fifth day [of the week]”, likewise possesses protective power; if a father hears someone praising his small son, he answers: ”He was born on a Thursday.” The number five has been so closely associated with the idea of the evil eye that it is considered improper to mention the number, or in general any number including a five, in the presence of an official. Instead of 5 one says 4 and 1; and instead of 15, 25 and so on, one should say 14 and 1, 24 and 1 and so on, or 16 minus 1, 26 minus 1 and so on. Sometimes one also hears instead of [], ”five”, the expression [], which means ”your hand”.

Due to its protective power, the number five is used in many ways in amulets against the evil eye. A common amulet of this kind is a bean-pod containing five beans. Figures 9 and 10 [on page 218] represents two amulets from the [Mnáṣara] tribe, of which the first consists of five shells attached to a piece of cloth and the other of glass beads in five different colours grouped in two circular series. Another amulet is a five-pointed star, drawn on paper without lifting the pen (Figure 10 a [on page 218]). Figures 11 and 12 [on page 218] represent two amulets of a very common type, the so-called [] or ”five”. These amulets are made of two thin silver plates with conspicuous knobs – partly impressions in the plate, partly pieces of coloured glass – which form together two fives, one larger and the other one smaller, with the piece of glass in the centre common to both.

On the latter two of these amulets the knobs are grouped in the form of a cross, and the opposing knobs of the inner group are actually joined by a cross. A combination of a five and a cross also occurs in figures 13–15 [on page 219], representing parts of ornaments worn by women, which at the same time serve as charms against the evil eye. In the middle of the first of these amulets is a circle surrounded by four drop-like knobs in the form of a cross, and in the middle of the two others is a circle surrounded by a double cross. The circle and double cross obviously represent the two fives which are represented on [] by round knobs or several pieces of glass. But also the simple cross, consisting of two lines intersecting each other at right angles without a particularly marked centre, is used as a charm against the evil eye. For this reason, one often sees a small black cross tattooed onto the ring finger of the right hand, on both men and women. In some areas, women have small crosses tattooed on their faces. And among certain Berbers south of Fez, it is custom within families who have lost many children to protect the life of the next born son by tattooing a cross on the tip of his nose. Figure 16 [on page 219] represents a charm against the evil eye that I have seen painted in henna on the head of a greyhound.

Although the cross itself is seen as a five, one asks oneself why the five is so often represented in the form of a cross. A reason for this is probably that the cross is considered to be a diverter of the evil energy emanating from the eye; in my book on the origin and development of morals, I have shown that it serves a similar purpose in certain other cases. To prevent it from harming the person or object upon which the gaze falls, the evil energy is dispersed by the cross to all four quarters of the wind. That is why it is a brilliant idea to place a cross on the most prominent part of the face, the tip of the nose.

Figures containing the number five are frequently found on guns, pottery, trays, bags, textiles and other objects. Such figures are often considered purely ornamental. But that they originally possessed a magical character is obvious not only from their similarity to amulets and charms, but above all from the fact that they are still, in many cases, regarded as protection against the evil eye, even while serving as ornaments. Some reproductions of ornaments and designs found on various objects will give the reader an idea of the extent that the protective hand gesture, ”five in your eye”, is the basis for Moorish decorative art.

In the Antell collection in Helsinki, there is a collection of pottery from [Rīf] in northern Morocco, which feature numerous paintings representing hands (figures 17 and 18 [page 220]). In many cases, the torso has been added for the sake of completeness, although Islam prohibits the representation of living beings. Figure 18 [page 220] shows, besides a double pair of hands, two pairs of outstretched fingers, which are reminiscent of the Italians’ method for protecting themselves against the evil eye. In these paintings it is impossible to draw the line between magic and decorative art. They are made by women, who are better versed in the secrets of magic than men.

The brass hands shown on the plate on page 221 are amulets and decorations at the same time. They are part of suspended lamps made by the Jews in southern Morocco, who are equally fearful of the evil eye as are the Moors.

Numbers 4 and 10 on the same plate [page 221] represent two daggers, which are both protected and embellished by five figures in relief on the sheath and the handle. In one case (number 4, representing a dagger from the [Rīf]), these figures consist of three squares and two round ”eyes” on the sheath, while on the other dagger (number 10) they consist of five very conspicuous elevations. Of this latter type, which is prevalent among the Berbers in the eastern part of the Great Atlas Mountains, I have seen numerous copies, and the number of elevations has invariably been five. The natives themselves told me that their purpose was to protect the dagger and its bearer against the evil eye.

Figure 19 [page 222] shows a hand pattern which can be found on the drapery featured on the plate (number 1 [page 221]). Its resemblance to one of the charms shown above (figure 7 [page 217]) is obvious.

Figure 20 [page 222] represents an ornament which is embroidered into a saddle- or horse-cloth from [Glawi], shown on the plate on page 221 (number 8). The original of figure 21 [page 222] is found on a Berber gun. In figure 22 [page 222] the same pattern is doubled. That this design, which is very frequent on metalwork, represents two fives with a common centre is proved by the fact that each alternate side pattern is dulled while the others are burnished. This brings us to the eight-petalled rosette, which, with or without a common centre and with the petals embroidered in different colours, is frequently found on bags. The bags shown on the plate (number 5 and 6 [page 221]) are typical instances of this ornament.

The ornament shown in figure 23 [page 222] is found on another leather bag (plate on page 221, number 7), and it is something intermediate between an eight-petalled rosette and a double-cross with a well-marked centre. Figures 24 and 25 [page 222] show ornaments or charms painted on leather pouches. They suggest that the spots or circles of the kind shown in figures 11 and 12 [page 218] and lines in the form of a cross may represent the same idea – the number five.

If the reader now compares figures 20–25 [page 222] with figures 11–16 [page 218], the similarity is striking. The figures with which the Moroccans decorate their objects are thus largely identical, or almost identical, with those figures representing the number five, by which they protect themselves or their animals from the evil eye of their fellow men. And in most, if not all, of the cases referred to, the aim of the design is not only to embellish but also to protect the object on which it appears. This is the case both with the simpler figures and with the eight-petalled rosettes. The latter is found as a charm on both sides of gates.

New figures have, however, evolved from the double-cross and the eight-petalled rosette. By joining the extremities of the two lines intersecting each other at right angles, forming each of the two crosses, two intersecting squares emerge, an ornament that is very common in metalwork and woodwork as well as embroidery. Figures 26 and 27 [page 223] are from the same tapestry (plate on page 221, number 1) where they occur side by side with one another. That figure 26 is regarded as a double-cross appears from the fact that the two single crosses are embroidered in different colours; and many circumstances indicate that the two intersecting squares have developed out of a double-cross. When the artisan paints the double-square on a wooden plate, he first draws a double-cross, which he then paints over. In figure 27 we also find that one of the crosses has been partially preserved within the squares; moreover the points at which the two crosses would have intersected the sides of the squares, had they been preserved, are clearly marked. That the sides of the squares are only to be regarded as lines joining the extremities of two crosses which consist of radii in a circle, is moreover proved by the circumstance that the same points are sometimes joined, not by straight lines but by curves, which of course give to the figure an appearance that differs from the double-squares. Figures 28 and 29 [page 224] are designs which are found in the middle of two metal trays. Both of them are undoubtedly derived from the same figure, a double-cross. Only the joining lines vary. In figure 28, they are straight, in figure 29 curved.

It may be asked why the extremities have been joined at all. Perhaps the desire for variety, the endeavour to create new forms, is a sufficient explanation; but I believe that there may also be a deeper motive. It will be shown that not only the hand and the number five, but also the image of an eye or a pair of eyes are used as charms against the evil eye, and that these preventives are very frequently combined with each other. As appears from the ”eyes” on the dagger from [Rīf] (plate on page 221, number 4) and from certain amulets against the evil eye (see figure 12) [page 218] , the eye is also represented in the shape of a square. It therefore seems by no means improbable that the two intersecting squares represent a pair of eyes. It is certainly worth noticing that the intersecting squares themselves, either alone or drawn on a paper together with some magic words or signs, are used as a charm against the evil eye. The intersecting squares also occur as the main figure on one of the amuletic hand ornaments mentioned earlier (see the plate on page 221, number 2), while on other similar amulets we find two intersecting triangles (see the plate on page 221, number 3) – a figure that is still more likely to represent a pair of conventionalised eyes.

Within woodwork, the intersecting squares have produced the empty octagon, either by painting over all the lines which fall within the figure, or by hollowing out the inside of the figure. Wooden plates containing a great number of such octagonal holes are used as windows (figure 30) [page 225].

In the intersecting squares the joined extremities – or the angles of the octagon – are at the same distance from the centre; in other words, the two crosses from which the figures are derived consist of radii in a circle. But it may also be that the extremities of the two crosses are at different distances from the centre. Figure 31 [page 225] represents a silver amulet against the evil eye, containing three fives with a common centre, grouped in the form of crosses of varying lengths. If the four side-knobs in each five are joined by straight lines, there arise three squares of different sizes, as is seen in figure 32 [page 225], which also form an amulet against the evil eye. That the four corners of each of these squares, together with the common centre, represent the number five is the more obvious, as the largest five is clearly marked with special ornaments. We are led to the same conclusion by figure 33 [page 225], a design created on miscellaneous pieces of cloth which consists of a larger and a smaller square, the one inscribed in the other, exactly as the two inner squares in figure 32, but with all the eight corners marked with coloured circles – in other words, it is a double-five and a double-square at the same time.

There is thus a general tendency to produce the number five in doubled form: as a double-five, a double-cross, or an eight-petalled rosette with a common centre for both the fives. The reason for this may be that the protective hand gesture, which is the origin of the magic efficacy ascribed to the number five, is especially effective when performed both with the right and the left hand. Such a supposition is supported by the fact that the inner five on the amulets of the type shown in figure 11 and 12 [page 118] is called by the same name as the left hand’s fingers in the formula accompanying the hand gesture, namely [], ”little five”. But as appears in figure 31 [page 225], it may happen that the number five is represented in amulets not only doubled but tripled; and the same tendency towards multiplication occurs in ornamentation. Thus were formed a twelve-petalled rosette with a common centre for the three fives and a sixteen-petalled rosette – a standard pattern, of which the central ornament of figures 28 and 29 [page 224] could serve as examples. Figure 29 indicates very clearly that two petals have evolved out of each of the original eight. In the interior presented on page 227, there is a twelve-petalled rosette in each of the two double-squares on the arch over the entrance to the inner room, while a sixteen-petalled rosette occupies the centre of the large ornament on the wall, which is both an amulet and a decoration. The latter rosette is itself the central figure in a five, the other components being four hands. But in addition to these hands, on the arch near the ceiling there are two others with no less than seven fingers each. Hands with six or seven fingers are not uncommon amulets against the evil eye.

Besides the fingers of the hand there is another frequent means of throwing back the baneful power which emanates from the evil eye, namely, the image of an eye or something resembling an eye. If [] can be transferred by the eye, it can obviously also be thrown back in a similar manner. We come thus to a new class of charms and ornaments.

Figures 34 and 35 [page 228] represent two paintings which I found on the interior wall of a Moorish coffee-house in Tangier. They are charms consisting of images of hands and eyes. In figure 35 one eye is made in the form of a square and inscribed in the other – a circumstance which seems to give additional strength to my previous conjecture that the intersecting squares represent a pair of eyes. Figure 36 [page 228] represents an embroidery pattern (from the drapery shown on the plate on page 221, number 1), consisting of a pair of eyes and a hand, the latter of the same kind as in figure 7 [page 217]. Figures 7 and 8 are likewise a combination of hand and eye; the round spots representing eyes. They are placed in such a way as to suggest that they are intended to illustrate the gesture ”five in your eye” rather than to represent eyes which throw back [].

Figure 37 [page 228] represents the middle part of a charm made of glass beads of varying colours. The charm contains altogether five pairs of eyes of which only two pairs are seen in the figure. The girls in the tribe of the [Mnáșăra] from whom I received the object drew my attention to the eyes and their magic efficacy. It is probable that the piece of glass in the centre is also intended to imitate an eye.

Figure 38 [page 228] represents a painting which I found on the outside of a small box in which gold is kept. The painting is undoubtedly intended to protect the box and its contents from envious looks. Eyes of a similar type are painted on pottery from [Rīf] (see figures 17 and 18 [page ]).

One of the most striking designs that the belief in the evil eye has given rise to is embroidered on the cloaks worn by the Berbers of the Great Atlas (figure 39 [page 229]). Almost the whole back of the cloak is covered by a colossal eye, generally orange-coloured, with an elaborate embroidery in the middle, presumably representing the pupil. The pattern varies somewhat – as can be seen in the copies found in the Antell collection – but the basic idea is the same. In this way one protects oneself against enemies threatening from behind.

Figures 40–43 [page 229] represent pairs of eyes of different types. The originals are of bone inlaid on Berber guns from the south of Morocco, and are evidently meant to serve as charms. Of particular interest is the conventionalised head of a man, placed there on account of its eyes.

Figure 44 is a design painted on a small brass box in which the Moroccan sometimes keeps his prayer-book. The round piece of glass in the middle is light blue; blue eyes are, as mentioned, especially apt to transfer, and therefore also to throw back, [l-bas]. The design is a combination of eyes and a double-five. Around the eye in the centre there are four pairs of eyes (a ”five”), and there are moreover four single eyes (a ”little five”). And all these figures are placed within a big eye. Many of the figures mentioned above present a combination of the five and the eye. In figures 11 and 12 [page ] the double-five consists of eyes, of which the blue piece of glass in the centre particularly attracts our attention. In figure 10 there are two eyes in five colours. Figures 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 32 and 33 [] and the ornament on the wall on page 227 have an eye as their centre. Figures 21, 23, 24 and 25 [] represent an eye. The bag which is reproduced on the plate on page 221, number 7, is protected by many eyes, each of which contains a double-five inside (see figure 23 []). The five shells in Fig. 9 are charms against the evil eye not only on account of their number, but presumably also because they have the form of an eye. Just as the number five has come to represent the five fingers of the hand as a magical charm against the evil eye, so anything round and curved may become a charm on account of its resemblance to an eye. The crooked tusk of a wild-boar (see figure 32 [page 225]) and the claw of a lion are popular amulets. The Jews in southern Morocco make silver amulets in the shape of a crescent; and in old Punic inscriptions, which are presumably intended to constitute a charm against the evil eye, the eye is represented in the shape of a crescent with the pupil connected to it or disassociated from it – which gives us reason to conjecture that the Turkish crescent with a star has its origins in an amulet against the evil eye. Perhaps even horseshoes are used as amulets against the evil eye on account of their form. In Fez horseshoes are seen hanging in shops, houses and gardens.

The eye is also represented as a triangle. Figure 45 [page 229] is a design which I found on a gun-bag of leather, and there can be little doubt that it is intended to represent an eye. In this case the triangular form lends itself best to the material. The mountain people of northern Morocco also have big triangular designs on their bags, side by side with small circular ”eyes” impressed in the leather with a round instrument. But if the eye is thus conventionalised into a triangle, we may suppose that the two intersecting triangles with a small round figure in the centre represent a pair of eyes with a common pupil. This figure is very prevalent. It occurs, for instance, on Moroccan coins (figure 46) [page 230], and, drawn on a paper and provided with inscriptions from the Koran, it is used as a charm against the evil eye. Sometimes a small ”eye” is added outside each point of the triangles, as is shown by figure 47 [page 230], representing an amulet from Fez. One of the brass hands (number 3) reproduced on the plate on page 221 contains not only two intersecting triangles

Figure 48 [page 230] shows another type of eye: a round spot representing the eye and above it a conventionalised eyebrow. Tousi had this design tattooed on his arm and he told me that it was common in his tribe, the [Shawîa]. I have also seen it on Berbers in central Morocco, who have it tattooed above the bridge of the nose. The reason why the eyebrow in these cases is made in the shape of the two sides of an angle is not difficult to find: it is easier to incise into the skin two straight lines than a curve. There is an obvious resemblance between the tattoo design and figure 49 [page 230], which is a design acquired from a saddle- or horse-cloth from [Glawi] (plate on page 221, number 8), on which the original is embroidered in lively colours. The eye itself is here triangular, whereas the eyebrow has exactly the same shape as that of the tattoo. If this figure were to be weaved instead of embroidered, it would naturally have to be adapted to meet the requirements of the weaving technique. I would dare to conjecture that figures 50 and 51 [page 231] show rows of such modified eyes and eyebrows. These and similar patterns appear extremely frequently on Berber rugs (see the plate on page 221, number 9). They undergo a variety of both combinations and simplifications. Thus, by placing two rows of eyes and eyebrows opposite each other a design is produced in which not the triangle, but the square is the most conspicuous figure (see the plate on page 221, number 9). Another combination of the two rows of eyes, together with a process of multiplication – very common in ornamentation – has led to the design shown in figure 52 [page 231] (see the plate on page 221, number 8). On the other hand, it seems that the single zigzag line (figures 53 and 54 [page 232]; see also the plate on page 221, number 8, left side) is a row of conventionalised eyebrows. Figure 53 [page 232] is exactly similar to the eyebrow line in figure 51 [page 231], the only difference between the two designs being that in figure 53 the eye itself has been left out. This pattern also occurs on the carpets or cloths where the fuller design is found.

The eyebrow design is also found in architecture. I would ask the reader to take note of the edges of the arch that links the two pillars in the interior on page 227. The similarity between the designs in question and figure 49 [page 231] is so great that we must regard them as variants of the same type. And the same is the case with the eight figures placed in a row inside the wall ornament, above the ”five” and underneath the upper eye.

The reader may remark that by my trying to explain a large part of Moroccan designs based on the belief in the evil eye, I have overlooked the possibility of them being borrowed from other peoples. In actual fact, we know that several of these designs are widespread and ancient. But we also know that the belief in the evil eye is prevalent across the whole of the Mediterranean, India, Persia and other parts of Asia, and that the hand and the image of an eye are common charms against the evil eye. These charms can be found above old Punic inscriptions, and alongside them we find figures such as the four-petalled and eight-petalled rosettes with a circle in the middle. Nothing seems more natural than that people should, to the best of their ability, endeavour to protect themselves and their property from the danger that they believe threatens them in the envious looks of their fellow men. And on this basis alone, it is likely that the belief in the evil eye has exercised a profound influence on decorative art, although this influence has hitherto almost completely escaped the attention of students of art history.

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VIII. The Evil Eye

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