What Is the 'Evil Eye'? How This Ancient Belief and Symbol Connects to 'El Mal de Ojo' and Why People Wear It

Superstitions are pretty common. Whether it’s stepping on a crack, putting your purse on the floor or throwing salt over your shoulder, all cultures and people have superstitious beliefs. And the evil eye is one symbol and belief that exists across cultures and continents to impact all of us in some way (even if it’s just by knowing its name) because of how widespread it is.

Whether it’s on clothing at major retail stores or jewelry popping up online, the evil eye has left a pretty big mark on modern culture. However, the evil eye obviously has origins and a history that goes way, way back.

Today, the evil eye is seen most often in Greece, Turkey and Middle Eastern countries. But, again, it’s something that isn’t hard to find in the States either. Celebrities like Meghan Markle, Gigi Hadid and even Naomi Campbell (during the famous blood diamond case she testified in) have sported evil eye jewelry. The belief in the power of the symbol against bad luck and bad intentions is not uncommon.

But what is the evil eye’s meaning and how can someone honor it? How does it connect to “el mal de ojo” and is there a difference between a red evil eye’s meaning and a blue evil eye’s? We’ll explain the meaning of the evil eye, mal de ojo, how to use it and much more.

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What is the 'evil eye' meaning?

"Evil eye" means two separate things that are connected to each other. For one, there’s the evil eye that is a negative energy that is sent toward someone. And then there’s the evil eye symbol that people wear to protect them from that. As the BBC reported, if someone is very successful, beautiful or happy, odds are that others might be jealous of that and send bad vibes their way. This can be a “curse” to thwart their happiness or it could just be bad thoughts that can throw them off.

While the evil eye might be seen as an outside, pagan practice or something antithetical to Christianity or major religions, a lot of cultures have the evil eye incorporated into their practices or beliefs. Plus, the evil eye shows up in the Bible and the Quran.

Again, even though it has the word “evil” in it, it doesn’t have to be evil intent or something aimed at you on purpose. It could be jealousy or wishing that you’ll mess up something. It can be a mean or envious thought someone sends to you in a very errant way.

What is 'mal de ojo'?

“El mal de ojo” is the name of the belief or superstition that bad thoughts, vibes or intentions can be sent your way and seriously (or even slightly) impact your physical and mental health. It’s the Spanish/Latin American equivalent of the evil eye. “El ojo” is the name of those bad vibes that are sent; a mal de ojo bracelet or pendant is worn to protect the wearer from it.

“Ojo” means “eye” in Spanish and “mal” means “evil,” making “el mal de ojo” translate directly to “the evil eye.”

Even though words like “mal” or “evil” can give off a sinister vibe, someone doesn’t always have to send you “evil,” just like with the evil eye. El ojo (what el mal do ojo is protecting you from) is believed to be sent because of envy, bad thoughts and just general negative energy. In Mexican culture, el ojo can cause sickness, bad luck and just overall bad vibes within your life if you’re hit with the evil eye and don’t have protection.

As stated before when talking about the evil eye, el ojo doesn’t always have to come via deliberate bad thoughts. A lot of times, babies are given el ojo bracelets or medallions because something as small as jealous or bad thoughts about how pretty a baby is or the life they’re growing up in can be enough to send the evil eye their way.

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What is the history of the evil eye?

While the evil eye and mal de ojo belief has existed for centuries and in several different countries (in various forms), some of the first examples of the evil eye exist in ancient Greek artifacts. As the New York Times reported, Mesopotamians in Syria had evil eyes on idols and other objects, and Egyptians had their Eye of Osiris. It was all in the same belief that there was something to protect yourself from and that this eye would do that.

Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and more were among the first big groups of people to create evil eye beads, jewelry and the like. They typically made them blue and historians believe it’s most likely because people in these areas tend to have darker eyes, making blue eyes more uncommon. They then thought that people born with blue eyes could ward off the evil eye even better.

But the evil eye didn’t just stay in the east, obviously because of the Latin American tradition of mal de ojo, but also because Celtic and Polish lore contained messaging surrounding the evil eye as well.

Nowadays, you can buy a ton of evil eye merchandise in Greece, as well as mal de ojo bracelets and more at many traditional Mexican stores or botanicas.

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How to protect yourself from el mal de ojo, or the evil eye

As mentioned above, you can protect yourself from el ojo or the evil eye by wearing a mal de ojo or evil eye symbol. Just like how some people wear crosses or specific saints on medallions to keep their faith with them at all times or protect them from specific things, the evil eye can come in the form of most kinds of jewelry. And yes, of course, there are bracelets and rings made for men as well; this isn’t just a practice or belief taken up by women.

You can also buy a ton of other items with the evil eye on them—there are keychains, bowls, magnets and much more.

Wearing the evil eye symbol is enough to protect you against any bad thoughts or intentions sent your way. And once it breaks, you know that the item has done its job.

Yes, your evil eye jewelry, pendant or symbol is supposed to break once it's protected you from the evil eye (which is why you shouldn't use evil eyes in things like phone cases, nails or tattoos)

But no matter how your evil eye breaks, make sure to get rid of it as soon as you can. This can either be done by burying it off of your property or, more sensibly, you can throw it away off of your property or in a way that you know it’ll be taken away eventually. Don’t keep wearing or using a broken evil eye or mal de ojo item; it won’t work anymore and some people believe it's bad luck to keep those broken items.

What hand does the mal de ojo, or evil eye bracelet go on?

In terms of Mexican belief or tradition in general, when it comes to el mal de ojo, it doesn’t particularly matter which hand you wear your mal de ojo bracelet.

There are some spiritual beliefs regarding the left and ride sides of the body and what they control, which would then impact which side you wore it on. However, you can wear the mal de ojo or evil eye bracelet on whatever wrist you prefer. And the same goes for rings or anything else.

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What does each evil eye color mean?

Traditionally, evil eyes were made in the color blue and that remains the most common color to date.

While any evil eye will protect you from what you want (el ojo, the evil eye or bad intentions and thoughts), some do believe that different colors are helpful for more specific things. On top of that, they believe that the different colors act almost like talismans or crystals with the ability to give you a general energy boost depending on what you want. For instance, orange evil eyes are all about happiness and motivation. Red evil eyes are meant to bring you bravery and protect you from fears and anxieties. And white evil eyes are all about purity, focus and calmness.

But again, this isn’t always the belief. The colors can hold a specific meaning for you, or they can just be your choice for evil eye protection because liked it the most.

How to get rid of mal de ojo or the evil eye

If you forget to wear your evil eye or if a particularly bad hex, el ojo or evil eye was purposely put on you, there are ways to get rid of the mal de ojo or evil eye.

When it comes to mal de ojo, many that believe in it consider a lot of physical symptoms signs of mal de ojo or a hex. This can include nausea, fatigue, insomnia or more. Emotional symptoms include bad luck (we know, kind of arbitrary), loss of appetite and crying in children.

If you’re hit with the evil eye, the symptoms are also very similar. You can experience a ton of yawning, hot and cold flashes, lots of sneezing, random bruising and more.

Now, these are ancient beliefs that, of course, hold a more traditional meaning than an actual explanation for illness. There are very superstitious people that might see these things and think it’s the cause of el mal de ojo or the evil eye, but really, it’s just a cold or the flu. Modern medicine is important to consult first.

But if you’re feeling off, emotionally, or you’re still sick after going to the doctor and taking medicine, there are ways to get rid of the evil eye. Mostly, you just want to cleanse yourself of the bad intentions and spiritual burden. To get rid of the evil eye, you can take a bath, pray or set intentions through meditation. You can use a smoke cleansing ritual with incense or dry herbs as well.

When it comes to el mal de ojo, the same remedies can help: smoke cleanse, meditation with clear and good thoughts and intentions There’s also an egg cleanse or limpia that is only to be practiced within the culture.

Now that you know about what an evil eye is and why people wear it, make sure to always have respect for other cultures' traditions and beliefs when you want to dive into it, especially if it's not your own.

Next up, see how numerology can predict things in your life and what 777 might mean if you've seen it everywhere lately.