evilEye.

Do you believe in magic? The Greeks certainly do, and have for millennia. The specific magic they believe in is called the evil eye. Hesiod, Callimachus and Plato wrote about it, to name a few credible sources.

The evil eye, called vaskania in Greek, is a kind of negative power that many, if not all, people possess. It is unleashed by the act of staring at someone with either jealousy or admiration. Once evil-eyed, the victim may develop a headache, become dizzy or faint, and even, in extreme circumstances, die. The only cure is to have the spell removed by someone practiced in the art.

First, the practitioner makes sure the victim has really been evil-eyed. One method of diagnosis is to place a bead of oil in a glass of water. Usually, a bead of oil will float on water.
If, unusually, the bead sinks, the victim has indeed been evil-eyed. Once this is determined, the practitioner removes the spell using special prayers. The Greek Orthodox Church lists some of these in its Mega Hieron Syenekdymon.

Like so many other illnesses, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prevention comes in the form of beads, talismans and amulets. Most bear some resemblance to an eye, which is why cat’s eye stones and shells have been traditionally popular as evil-eye averters.
The color blue is also considered protective.

Protective beads may be worn as jewelry. Larger amu­lets, often including additional charms including those meant to represent the thing being protected (like a car or a house) are hung from doors or rearview mirrors.

Plenty of people scoff at superstitions like these; but perhaps they are not superstitions at all. Sometimes it is a good idea to believe in magic – and it certainly can’t hurt. e­­