Dear miyoid:

I wish you didn’t feel selfish for writing here, not more than I feel selfish for writing here (I don’t): you are an asset here, not a burden!

“Something got into me. If I would have beliefs, I would say that the evil eye did it or something… .. Even when I overshare or share the normal amount of information about myself, I started to feel like they could harm me or their thoughts even, can harm me. I must never let anybody get jealous of me, my job, or my relationship or get the wrong thoughts about me“-

– I studied the Evil Eye belief this morning: it is the belief that someone can purposely give you bad luck by simply wishing it on you or by giving you an angry look. The idea is that if you experience any success, of if you are happy or if your positive attributes show (beauty, intelligence, etc.), someone will feel envy and give you the evil eye, and your happiness, positive attributes and success will be undone. Therefore, many people hide their positive attributes and success and make sure they look unhappy so… to avoid the evil eye.

It is true that people feel envy: from an early age, if a child has a toy that another child doesn’t, the one without the toy may get angry and snatch the toy away! But notice, the envious child does not snatch the toy away with his thoughts or with an angry look. He/ she snatches the toy away with his hands and arms! Similarly, there are adult crimes in real-life that are motivated by envy.. but again, the crimes are done not by thoughts or an angry look, but with hands and weapons. In regard to crime, I can’t recall a single violent crime reported in the news that was motivated by envy: crime is often motivated by other powerful emotions and by a crime mentality involved in criminal endeavors, such as extortion.

No one’s thoughts, or the way they look at you can hurt you… unless you believe that it can: if you believe that a person’s thoughts or the way the person looks at you can undo your success, you get very anxious as a result of this belief. Next thing, you are driving anxiously, inattentively and you get into an accident. It is not bad luck or a curse that caused the accident: it is the anxiety that is responsible for the accident. In other words, it is the belief in the evil eye concept that is the problem, not the concept itself. If you didn’t believe in it… it would have no power over you.

bbc. com/ the strange power of the evil eye: “In essence, the curse of the evil eye is not a complicated concept; it stems from the belief that someone who achieves great success or recognition also attracts the envy of those around them. That envy in turn manifests itself as a curse that will undo their good fortune”- lots and lots of people who achieved great success and recognition are successful and recognized decades after their initial success… not because no one was envious of them.

life science. com/ evil eye: “The evil eye is well known throughout history. It is mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman texts, as well as in many famous literary works, including the Bible… The evil eye is essentially a specific type of magical curse, and has its roots in magical thinking and superstition. Let’s say that a person experiences bad luck, ill health, accident, or some unexplained calamity — perhaps a drought or an infectious disease. Before science could explain weather patterns and germ theory, any bad event for which there was not an obvious cause might be blamed on a curse… Curses, including the evil eye, are an answer to the age-old question of why bad things happen to good people…

“It is tempting to view the evil eye as an ancient, discredited belief that plays no role in our 21st-century world. Instead, as folklorist Dundes notes, we ‘should keep in mind that the evil eye is not some old-fashioned superstitious belief of interest solely to antiquarians. The evil eye continues to be a powerful factor affecting the behavior of countless millions of people throughout the world” –

– miyoid, I hope that you will no longer be one of the countless of millions of people in the world who are harmed by believing in this untrue belief!

“I even thought this contamination of mine could’ve happened because I told an old friend about my work permit application earlier yesterday before I got that bad. It was like, she had the wrong thoughts and that contaminated my mind“- the belief that the friend’s thoughts or the way she looked at you could give you bad luck is.. untrue, but the belief itself causes you a lot of distress and suffering.

“Yesterday, after working well for a couple of hours, I felt exhausted… and the thoughts were all attacking… and I was suffering… I was too tired to control my mind, self-sabotaging thoughts… I even wanted to cease to exist, cause it was painful to be there, be anywhere“- if you removed from your brain the belief in the evil eye, bad luck and curses, you will have way fewer thoughts attacking and sabotaging you.

“I also realized something yesterday, I am skeptical about everyone and everything. I feel good with my BF cause he is honest and he doesn’t exaggerate stuff. But when I listen to somebody, I always know that they might add, omit and exaggerate the stuff they’re telling. I guess this is tiring“- good to read that you can trust your boyfriend to be honest. On the other hand, many people do add, omit and exaggerate, and it can be very helpful to be aware of this fact and to remain aware. Try to limit your distress in regard to this topic by thinking: how can this particular person’s adding/omitting/exaggerating hurt me? If a person is trying to sell you something for a lot of money, better consider all the ways he/ she may be adding, omitting and exaggerating. If on the other hand, the adding/ omitting/ exaggerating person is just talking to you, on a train ride, let’s say, it is a matter of no consequence to you, no use stressing over it. You can excuse yourself and.. sit elsewhere, if you have that option.

anita