Evil Eye

The egg, the black Christ of Esquipulas and Martin de Porras.

My godchild, Gabriela, was over last evening, with her three boys. The youngest, Saúl Andrés, is just about a month old. He was fussy and holding, bouncing, and soothing him was wearing out successive kinfolk. Gabriela noted that Saúl would tense up every few minutes, grunt, then relax or cry. Ana, the proud grandmother, observed that babies do this for the first three months of life. But the fussiness continued and Cira, an aunt, declared that the child was ojeado “eyed”. Everyone agreed and then began discussing who should cure him, and which remedy to use. The cures getting the most votes were the egg and black peppercorns. The application of each is the same: the egg or peppercorns is/are passed over the child repeated in the form of a cross, while praying. Paulino, an uncle, asked what prayers one should say and was told that any basic prayer from the Catholic liturgy would work: the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Credo,... After the prayers and crossing, the cure is completed by a diagnostic phase and the cleansing is completed. If an egg was used, it is broken into a bowl of clear water and placed under the baby’s bed overnight. If the egg is “cooked” when examined in the morning, this shows that the child had been afflicted by the evil eye, and the heat of this gaze had been transferred successfully to the egg and the cure effected. If one has used peppercorns, these are dropped onto hot embers. If the peppercorns hiss, whistle and then pop, this shows the evil has been absorbed and expelled.

flowering plant

This is pretty standard evil eye treatment, for Maya and non-Maya alike here in Guatemala. Over the years, I have learned a few other ways to treat this ailment. I was interested to hear Cira go on to detail how the child could have been afflicted. She offered two of the most common causes: (a) someone oohs and aahs over the child, admiring him, and, perhaps, unwittingly coveting him, cause him to become “heated” and so colicky; (b) a drunk, heated by alcohol, gazes at the baby, with the same result. Cira didn’t mention another common source: people with “light” eyes, eyes that are green, gray, blue, or hazel, rather than brown. Such people are supposed to be “heated” as well. Since both the grandfather, my compadre, and I have “light” eyes, this omission may just have been politeness. Babies here are typically well bundled when they are out in public, with a light blanket or carrying cloth swaddling them. Many people make sure to cover their babies’ faces around strangers, to protect them from the accidental transfer of heat through the gaze of people who are themselves “hot”, due to envy, drink, or eye-color. Babies’ accoutrements often include buckeye bracelets and red cloth cloches as protection against this evil eye. In recent years, the cloches, cuyuscates, have appeared in colors other than red, often with elaborate woven designs, style interacting with functionality.

But, you wonder: what happened to Saúl? His “evil eye” was transferred successfully to the egg. He slept well and began today with his usual sunny disposition and a healthy appetite.