Paranormal Lore

Lore: Evil Eye

It was Lydia's first day at the Wattpad Paranormal Research Society. She had passed the tests the strange doctors put her through in the basement and well, they found her to be perfectly and utterly normal as far as they were concerned.

Still, Agent #2 believed in her and admitted her anyway. Lydia was a studious person by nature and exceptionally curious, and had passed all their written tests with flying colors. Her pencils and quills were sharpened, her ink pot filled, and her heavy backpack placed under her short feet as she sat at her desk in the library.

She adjusted her glasses and blew out her anxiety through her lips in a heavy sigh. The daily lecture would begin soon. Today's topic was one she had never encountered before in her culture: The Evil Eye.

The professor was an odd looking woman. She wore a big round gold monocle that magnified one of the sharp blue eyes looking down on Lydia. Her wavy brown hair tumbled messily down her shoulders. She held a book in one hand opened to the required page.

Prof. Ann Sullivan peered through her monocle, not missing any details pertaining to her young students. The trainees tended to be more active with each incoming batch and she kept a careful eye out for any misdemeanor. She brought her attention back to the book in her hand looking at the title of the page.

"Evil Eye." Her clear voice travelled through the room. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"

Her monocle glinted as she looked around the room for a response. "Anyone at all? I was hoping to have at least one student that read their textbook before class." She gave a long suffering sigh at the blank expressions that were returned.

Lydia cleared her throat and slowly raised her hand with a sheepish smile. When the teacher nodded towards her, Lydia rose from her desk and fidgeted with her skirt.

"Well, I heard about it once. Isn't it where being under the vision of someone cause the other person to feel..."

Ms. Sullivan's gaze landed on the student and she raised a questioning brow, "Yes?"

She stared at the monocle and felt her knees tremble. "Umm....well, what I mean is, " she said, quickly darting her gaze to the floor and taking a quick breath, "when someone looks at you with malice or jealousy, it can invoke bad luck by drawn attention from spirits."

Lydia bit her lip and folded her hands in her lap. She dared glance up at the teacher to see if she was correct.

"Not bad Ms. Lydia. I'm pleased to have one informed student this year." Sullivan smiled thinly at the girl before she cleared her throat, "Evil eye is assumed by most to be a malevolent glare casted upon someone who is unaware- this is what most believe. However some cultures believe that even the caster can be unaware of their infliction. This superstitious belief is also known by many names. For example: It goes by the name 'nazar' in some Middle East and South Asian cultures."

Lydia took her seat as Professor Sullivan continued her lecture,

"The power of the evil eye can be long term or short term. A gaze of admiration and jealousy can rob a person of their beauty, wealth and physical well being. This belief is strong in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America."

Prof. Sullivan's hand travelled subconsciously to her monocle, and she caressed it with an erie affection, " The powers of the Evil eye is said to originate chiefly from the eyes. It is often related to curses or spell casting. A person with particularly strong intentions can cause harm; whether intended or not however can still be debated."

"The victims of the Evil eye often weaken, with their health and beauty deteriorating even though no prior signs of illness were found to exist. Other cases such as someone losing their job or inexplicable accidents are sometimes suspected to be the work of the evil eye."