Understanding and Protecting from Evil Eye

All of us have likely had the experience of looking up in a crowded place and locking eyes with someone across the room. Perhaps we perceived that we were being watched, or acted out of our subconscious.

This phenomenon is known as gaze detection and is a mysterious ability of human perception. This indicates that some degree of information can be passed, and sensed, ostensibly through our eyes likely from our intellect.

Now, consider that if our emotions are comprised of corresponding electromagnetic frequencies, it's plausible that the emotional content of that information could impact the person at the other end of the stare. For example, if one is sensitive enough, they might feel the difference between a loving or hateful gaze.

This begins the foundation for a fascinating topic known in Jewish tradition as the Evil Eye.

Evil Eye

Evil Eye, known in Hebrew as "Ayin Hara" (עַיִן הָרָע), is the belief that a malevolent gaze can bring some degree of harm or misfortune to those it befalls. Though many cultures share a concept under a similar name, the Jewish tradition has interesting nuances worth exploring.

Many modern Bible readers have likely never heard of this idea, and I imagine many might consider it to be an ancient superstition. However, Christians should be aware that Jesus mentions Ayin Hara multiple times in the Gospels, and in perfect accordance with Rabbinic tradition.

Ayin Hara in the Bible

In the Bible, Ayin Hara is mentioned several times¹, often in relation to the impulses of jealousy or selfishness. In Proverbs², we find a connection to coveting.

The prohibition against coveting warns of the devastation of improper thoughts. Coveting functions as a type of atheism - beginning with discontentment with what the Creator has given them, inciting them to seek ways of acquiring [what they covet] through their own efforts.

The Chasidic masters connect coveting with the law of attraction.

“wherever a person directs his mind and thoughts, that is where he is bound.” - Baal Shem Tov

Ayin Hara in Rabbinic Literature

In the Mishnah, we're told the following:

The evil eye, the evil inclination, and hatred of the creations remove a person from the world.
- Pirke Avot 2:11

Though the Evil Eye is associated with the Evil Inclination (Yetzer Hara)³, here we learn that it stands as a separate force all its own.

Later in Pirke Avot⁴, Ayin Hara is connected with arrogance and pride, and the traits associated with the wicked pagan sorcerer, Bilaam.

Evil Eye in the Gospels

Other sources include desire⁵ within the range of Ayin Hara, closely resembling the words of Jesus in the 'Sermon on the Mount'.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw
it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell." 
- Matthew 5:27-29

Jesus essentially warns that the debilitating spiritual impurity that comes through adultery can be acquired through a lustful gaze, long before the physical act is committed.

Notice that Jesus is careful to mention the right eye. As the left eye is often metaphorically associated with the Evil Eye and the Evil inclination - he is teaching that you might be in danger if your right eye has also become infected with this spiritual disease.

It gets deeper in the next chapter.