Eye to eye

Aah wait! Don’t worry I am not going to write about this infamous song but I have to say something else.

I have heard this many times, sometimes with believe, but often as old age tradition transferred to us by grandmothers. Nazar or evil eye is the most commonly used and believed concept in Muslims, Hindus, and many other cultures around the world.

I always thought that there could be some authenticity in this or may be its just our fear based thinking, until yesterday. I had the most severe headache for two days with back pain and tension in my cervical. There wasn’t any physical symptom, just unknown depressive feelings or extreme anxiety attacks. I went for acupressure & reiki to ease myself because I couldn’t think of anything else.

For some reason I couldn’t stop thinking what my teacher once told me, ‘rinse yourself from head to toe with rock salt (lahori namak) or simple salt, and then wash off the salt with plain water. This will clean your aura from negativities, nazar or evil sights’.

So I did it, and to my complete amazement all my symptoms that were almost killing me for two days disappeared within few minutes. Should I say that I was under the influence of Nazar, well yes.

The best way to understand the concept of evil eye or nazar is to accept the idea of auras. All human beings have an aura around them, known as the energy body. It is a kind of energy shield or magnetic field emerging from our physical and mental health status. You can get an idea of this from the image below:

A beautiful or healthy object has positive aura, which is why looking at them makes us happy; they energise us. An ugly or unhealthy object has a negative aura, which is why looking at them makes us unhappy; they drain us of energy. 

It is possible to draw energy from positive aura objects and lose energy to negative aura objects. An evil eye, on the other hand, can cause us to lose our aura, feel drained and disempowered.

Anyone can possess an evil eye briefly. This follows envy, or even admiration, of something pretty or beautiful, like a child, who is most susceptible to nazar or evil eye. Inadvertently, even a mother's gaze, can drain the child of positive aura resulting in sickness.

My niece is a beautiful baby and her elder sister in her love publishes the baby’s pictures on facebook, on her timeline and on their mother’s profile. Both my sister and I are completely against putting baby’s pictures, so now she has taken some strict measures. Although my niece is hardly a year old but this is not the question of age, a child is a child no matter what age.

I discourage parents from publishing their children’s pictures on social sites, children have delicate and developing auras which makes them extremely vulnerable. This is not only applicable to children but to their parents, and on anything that we can think of. 

Muslims believe that saying 'Mashallah,' or 'God wills it' creates a protective shield from the evil eye. Similarly, praying, reciting and blowing of 4 Quls from the Holy Quran along with Ayatul Kursi also creates a protective shield.

The apparently modern idea of keeping your fingers crossed has its origin in using the Crucifix to keep away evil and ensure success.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the 'Eye of Horus' protected one from the evil eye. In Turkey, the blue 'Nazar' amulet is sold everywhere. In many Arab countries, one finds the hand of Khamsa or Hamsa, which is a palm-shaped amulet to ward off the evil eye.

I know this is strange but sometimes we get to experience things that could not be understood with a logical mind or seen by our bodily eyes, yet they exist.

Have a great Saturday and a happy Sunday!

Sonya Syed. (Day 448)