One for the gaze
One of the things that currently fascinate (..) me is the word “Fascination”.
All meanings of it eventually seem to go back to the idea of binding, control, and sex. So basically everything that's interesting.
Even if in today's world we use it (much too lightly) when something draws our attention and it captures the imagination, it does describe a binding.
Looking into the word's origin is always a good start.
In (Italian) Witchcraft it originally referred to the evil eye or malocchio, and is one of the attributes or powers of the jettatore – one who brings bad luck wherever he goes (literally “one who throws” which of course is what you do when you look: you cast your eyes just like you cast a spell..)
There is no object being thrown, it literally is the look itself which is being wielded as the weapon. Anyway.
Sticking with words, it's funny that the fixed gaze is called the stare, and the resemblance to the word for star – the fixed lights in the sky; just like the Sun and Moon were thought of as the eyes of Horus / Ra, the stars were or are seen as the eyes of the Angels – and the connection to the word “stern” (German for star by the way) When the gaze is stern it can make one uncomfortable.
But the tricky thing with the real evil eye is that it isn't really cast intentionally.
Sympathetic Magick:
The Fascina, coming from fasces, is a faggot, or in other words, a bundle of sticks. In older times it was a practice to (lightly) beat the livestock and women with these bundles to transfer the lifeforce from the branches of the mighty tree to them. They were however also used to punish disobedient children, and as firewood. Relevant for this post is that these sticks were tied or bound together. You probably know the term as the root for the word fascism. It is also a source for fascination (the act of binding anything – with the eyes) and also the main repellent of this type of witchcraft.
The Fascinum is an amulet against the evil eye. It has the form of a penis and was worn visibly around the neck. There can be a couple of reasons why this organ specifically was chosen. It definitely catches the eye and acts as a distraction. Another angle might be that it is benevolent, life bringing and it gives confidence. Now let's take a look at a condition called
Ophthalmophobia
A perhaps more common term might be scopophobia, and what this means is the fear of being stared at. It often comes from insecurity about one's appearance or behaviour, or in other words, how you look in someone's eyes and then also, how you look into someone's eyes.
We say that eyes are the mirror of the soul, and therefore anything that we try to hide, any secret weakness is exposed through them.
Because eye contact is normal, we immediately notice when someone tries to avoid it, and this then naturally makes us think about and look at the individual more than usual. It is fascinating behavior.
There are in general three types or levels of this type of fear:
The first is that of the shy person who, for whatever reason, prefers to avoid direct eye contact. This is pretty common and usually can be overcome in the moment even if blushing cheeks or other symptoms reveal the slight discomfort.
The second degree is worse, here it truly is a handicap, and the person suffering from it will feel much mental and physical pressure whenever he has to meet others or be among people. He or she will try everything to be unnoticed in schools or workplaces. Sweaty palms, dizzyness and even losing consciousness can occur if these people are forced to “mingle” and be “social”.
These first two types are what some today might call being hyper sensitive, and even if the root of it is the fear of what might happen if someone looks in their eyes, the true malochio (or the fear of it) is what we see in the following.
The third variant is different, and is that of the public figure who probably is justified in thinking that there are people who wish him harm, in some cases because of jealousy because envy is the source of the evil eye. Here too it can be a case where the subject might have a reason to believe he isn't worthy of the position he is in, and he (perhaps subconsciously) thinks the public will see through the facade when they can look into his eyes. Among the ladies there is a funny way in which the evil gaze is averted:
The fascinator – a little hat or fashionable headpiece – to capture the eyes.
The origin of the fascinator might be the horns of the Goddess, the lunar crescent. And this, like the fascinum, is a phallic symbol.
Dio introduced hardrockers to the horned hand, or the mano cornuto which originated in Italy as gesture that mimics the lunar crescent and is believed to ward off the influence of the jettatore and his evil eye.
The crescent shaped handle of the ritual dagger originally had the same function. By pointing the tip of the athame toward any direction, you are then combining the protective powers of Mars, the iron, the tip of the dagger, and that of the horns of Luna.
This is also the meaning behind pendants of a shark tooth, a pepper, basically anything that in shape resembles a “horn”. The singular repels, and the double one even is a symbol of luck, think of the horseshoe ( = the crescent) which is placed above doorways or on the facades of houses.
Now that we have come to the moon, it might be good to include this charm against the evil eye which is called
The Anathema of the Angel Gabriel
In the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Evil Eye went forth from the eye of the heart, and the angel Gabriel met her. He said: Whither goest thou, o daughter of destruction? She replied: I am going to destroy men and women, boys and girls, and the souls of beasts and fowl.
Gabriel said to her: Hast thou not been to Paradise, and seen the Great God, the One who is surrounded by thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of Angels who sanctify Him? By His name thou art bound by me, and I bind thee, O Evil and Envious Eye, the eye of strangers, the eye of those dwelling in our midst, the eye of people far off, the eye of those who are near, the green-colored eye, the blue-colored eye, the dark-grey eye, and the tearful eye, the eye of the seven evil ones, from off the body and members, from off the servants, from off the sheep and the oxen, and the vineyards and fields of him who carries this charm. Through the prayers of my Blessed Lady Mary, and of John the Baptist. Amen.
What is to be noted is that the Evil Eye is described as being female. Now, maybe the fascinator, the phallic symbol, then has a dual purpose: it is a decoy that attracts the evil that was being targeted towards the wearer but at the same time represents what is wanted – it is (biologically) what is desired and therefore lessens any evil cast towards it.
Continuing this; Envy, the evil eye, seeks to destroy or weaken, and so it might also be linked to the “ligature” (witchcraft with the purpose of causing impotence. Usually this is done through knotmagic, but a metal – always hard – fallus as a pendant will show the witch she has no power.
Maybe related:
wizardforums.com
One of the things that currently fascinate (..) me is the word “Fascination”.
All meanings of it eventually seem to go back to the idea of binding, control, and sex. So basically everything that's interesting.
Even if in today's world we use it (much too lightly) when something draws our attention and it captures the imagination, it does describe a binding.
Looking into the word's origin is always a good start.
In (Italian) Witchcraft it originally referred to the evil eye or malocchio, and is one of the attributes or powers of the jettatore – one who brings bad luck wherever he goes (literally “one who throws” which of course is what you do when you look: you cast your eyes just like you cast a spell..)
There is no object being thrown, it literally is the look itself which is being wielded as the weapon. Anyway.
Sticking with words, it's funny that the fixed gaze is called the stare, and the resemblance to the word for star – the fixed lights in the sky; just like the Sun and Moon were thought of as the eyes of Horus / Ra, the stars were or are seen as the eyes of the Angels – and the connection to the word “stern” (German for star by the way) When the gaze is stern it can make one uncomfortable.
But the tricky thing with the real evil eye is that it isn't really cast intentionally.
Sympathetic Magick:
The Fascina, coming from fasces, is a faggot, or in other words, a bundle of sticks. In older times it was a practice to (lightly) beat the livestock and women with these bundles to transfer the lifeforce from the branches of the mighty tree to them. They were however also used to punish disobedient children, and as firewood. Relevant for this post is that these sticks were tied or bound together. You probably know the term as the root for the word fascism. It is also a source for fascination (the act of binding anything – with the eyes) and also the main repellent of this type of witchcraft.
The Fascinum is an amulet against the evil eye. It has the form of a penis and was worn visibly around the neck. There can be a couple of reasons why this organ specifically was chosen. It definitely catches the eye and acts as a distraction. Another angle might be that it is benevolent, life bringing and it gives confidence. Now let's take a look at a condition called
Ophthalmophobia
A perhaps more common term might be scopophobia, and what this means is the fear of being stared at. It often comes from insecurity about one's appearance or behaviour, or in other words, how you look in someone's eyes and then also, how you look into someone's eyes.
We say that eyes are the mirror of the soul, and therefore anything that we try to hide, any secret weakness is exposed through them.
Because eye contact is normal, we immediately notice when someone tries to avoid it, and this then naturally makes us think about and look at the individual more than usual. It is fascinating behavior.
There are in general three types or levels of this type of fear:
The first is that of the shy person who, for whatever reason, prefers to avoid direct eye contact. This is pretty common and usually can be overcome in the moment even if blushing cheeks or other symptoms reveal the slight discomfort.
The second degree is worse, here it truly is a handicap, and the person suffering from it will feel much mental and physical pressure whenever he has to meet others or be among people. He or she will try everything to be unnoticed in schools or workplaces. Sweaty palms, dizzyness and even losing consciousness can occur if these people are forced to “mingle” and be “social”.
These first two types are what some today might call being hyper sensitive, and even if the root of it is the fear of what might happen if someone looks in their eyes, the true malochio (or the fear of it) is what we see in the following.
The third variant is different, and is that of the public figure who probably is justified in thinking that there are people who wish him harm, in some cases because of jealousy because envy is the source of the evil eye. Here too it can be a case where the subject might have a reason to believe he isn't worthy of the position he is in, and he (perhaps subconsciously) thinks the public will see through the facade when they can look into his eyes. Among the ladies there is a funny way in which the evil gaze is averted:
The fascinator – a little hat or fashionable headpiece – to capture the eyes.
The origin of the fascinator might be the horns of the Goddess, the lunar crescent. And this, like the fascinum, is a phallic symbol.
Dio introduced hardrockers to the horned hand, or the mano cornuto which originated in Italy as gesture that mimics the lunar crescent and is believed to ward off the influence of the jettatore and his evil eye.
The crescent shaped handle of the ritual dagger originally had the same function. By pointing the tip of the athame toward any direction, you are then combining the protective powers of Mars, the iron, the tip of the dagger, and that of the horns of Luna.
This is also the meaning behind pendants of a shark tooth, a pepper, basically anything that in shape resembles a “horn”. The singular repels, and the double one even is a symbol of luck, think of the horseshoe ( = the crescent) which is placed above doorways or on the facades of houses.
Now that we have come to the moon, it might be good to include this charm against the evil eye which is called
The Anathema of the Angel Gabriel
In the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
The Evil Eye went forth from the eye of the heart, and the angel Gabriel met her. He said: Whither goest thou, o daughter of destruction? She replied: I am going to destroy men and women, boys and girls, and the souls of beasts and fowl.
Gabriel said to her: Hast thou not been to Paradise, and seen the Great God, the One who is surrounded by thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of Angels who sanctify Him? By His name thou art bound by me, and I bind thee, O Evil and Envious Eye, the eye of strangers, the eye of those dwelling in our midst, the eye of people far off, the eye of those who are near, the green-colored eye, the blue-colored eye, the dark-grey eye, and the tearful eye, the eye of the seven evil ones, from off the body and members, from off the servants, from off the sheep and the oxen, and the vineyards and fields of him who carries this charm. Through the prayers of my Blessed Lady Mary, and of John the Baptist. Amen.
What is to be noted is that the Evil Eye is described as being female. Now, maybe the fascinator, the phallic symbol, then has a dual purpose: it is a decoy that attracts the evil that was being targeted towards the wearer but at the same time represents what is wanted – it is (biologically) what is desired and therefore lessens any evil cast towards it.
Continuing this; Envy, the evil eye, seeks to destroy or weaken, and so it might also be linked to the “ligature” (witchcraft with the purpose of causing impotence. Usually this is done through knotmagic, but a metal – always hard – fallus as a pendant will show the witch she has no power.
Maybe related:
Kaoz Cache 4 - Occult Eyes
This is an article i wrote up dated at 2018, an article is a stretch since i had no intention for it as such But the obsession and dive into the rabbit hole was no joke. And it's high time i made marks in this section... Anyway, i can't be bothered to style and add fluff, on account that im...
wizardforums.com
