The Evil Eye

THERE be none of the affections which have been noted to fascinate or to bewitch, but love and envy; they both have vehement wishes, they frame themselves readily into imaginations and suggestions, and they come easily into the eye, especially upon the presence of the objects which are the points that conduce to fascination, if any such there be. We see likewise the Scripture calleth envy an evil eye." (From the Book Introduction) With hundreds of footnotes and illustrations, This work is the a study of the superstition that sometimes involuntarily, and other times voluntarily, people can cast a malignant spell on others simply by looking at them. Frederick Thomas Elworthy gives examples of the belief on a world-wide basis and far back in time, to classical paganism and beyond.