The Red Thread: Folk Magic Against the Evil Eye

[open_space]

A tree full of amulets against the Evil Eye

Evil Eye is one of those things in daily life that exhibit a clear magical effect --the eyes and thoughts of others directed at you when they turn into jealousy, envy, anger or just plain attraction. The Kabbalists call it ayin horé, the Italians maloccio, the Scottish droj shuil, the Mexicans mal de ojo, the Romans oculus malus etc. People with sensitive nervous systems know this very well and if you start paying attention, you can almost tell what is happening when it is at work. Let's take the example of a compliment about your new charming piece of jewelry. What is the other person thinking as she does this innocent act? Many times, it is a genuine comment, but many other times it isn't actually a compliment but a reaction to mask the actual feelings of jealousy that we all feel from time to time when we see something that we like or would like to have. There is a distinctive quality, for example, between jealousy and a compliment and that is the direction the energy is taking. One gives and the other draws.

It is the latter that we need to treat with some care, and more generally with noxious energies and foreign desires, for the same reasons that we wash our hands before eating. It is not a big thing by itself but add it up or make someone really, really angry and you might lose your keys, hit your little toe against the furniture's corner or even get a headache. One way or another, especially when someone is fuming about, they might be doing unintentional magic against you as their thoughts are quite literally calling on you --calling you by name, and by image-- even if so in the split second that happens in between two moments of self-awareness and without real ill intentions.

This has happened to me too many times to ignore. I lost one of my Tarot decks to a barista that approached me, looked at it with some clear fascination when I was offering readings at my favorite bar and a few hours later it was gone. I lost the deck as soon as I went out and I was sure it was in my bag. It is as if someone called its name and jumped right out of it!

There are many versions

What can we do about this? It is one of the most widespread bits of folk magic in Mexico that wearing a red string of yarn or similar on the left wrist or ankle, or both, prevents those energies from hitting you and your possessions directly. The same piece of string, we attach to street facing plants to prevent them from withering out of the jealousy of neighbors and others; to newborn babies and children specially, to protect them from receiving this energy during their development with all the attention they get from all sorts of people; to our things so that in our daily errands they stay tied up to us and even pets.

I don't happen to know why such as simple charm can have such an effect, but it certainly seems it does. I have them on me and on my backpack for example and ever since I do, I also noticed something interesting. People just look at them less, as if they became invisible to a degree or as if it absorbs it, cutting the connection. The fact that the color red is the lowest frequency on the visible spectrum might give us some insight as to why this is. We could attempt to draw some symbolism from the knots and the circle too. Circles and closed loops contain, so do knots, belts and girdles for example. The path the Sun traces around the sky ties us into existence; the magician's circle protects him during his operations; a hairband prevents hair from becoming a mess; and in this case it creates a protection from the weight of people's eyes and minds.

Its origins are equally mysterious. Mexico been the deeply syncretic country it is I don't think it would be easy to trace it in its modern form, if we can point at single version at all --these days you can see red strung wrists and ankles from CEO offices to the most distant villages in the middle of Oaxaca as well as on Lionel Messi's wrist and several other celebrities. Some say it's origins can be traced to the Jewish story of Rachel; some others say that the story was a later addition ascribed to the folk practice in order to Judaize it since the red string tied around one's finger is mentioned in the Tosefta, in the Mishnah, Shabbat 7 Halacha 1, as a custom of the gentiles and therefore not allowed for Jews to imitate. In its present form you can find it sold as souvenirs near the Western Wall with little pieces of paper that have the Ben Porat prayer printed on them or anywhere else in the world in esoteric shops and the likes.

A red string showing the myth of Rachel's tomb

The Bible tells the story of the matriarch Rachel, wife of Jacob who gave birth, after many barren years, to two sons, Benjamin and Joseph to which's end she passed away from this world and lies buried on the roads in between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Complicated cultural and historical reasons aside, today people wear pieces of string that have been tied around Rachel's tomb seven times as a charm for protection and so do many other people outside of Judaism. If they are related or not, it seems hard to tell but today it is widely used among the people that follow the traditional guidance since, for example, it is said that on a baby too much eye can cause crying or even fever. I don't have a baby but reading sites about "what to do when people look at your baby" or "how to diagnose evil eye on your kid" suggest that it is a thing. It certainly has been my experience.

There are many versions, the ones I know are more or less variations of the same. My school has it that the color red connects you to your ancestry by blood and thus it carries the full weight of your lineage; another way of seeing it is that it is the color of the planet Mars and so on. There are versions with little blue eyes on them, given that it is harder to commit something hidden if you are being watched; there are versions with seven knots around the string or the string tied with six successive knots after the first one that unites the ends. You can probably knock yourself out about it, but here are some instructions of how I do it.

Get yourself a piece of red cotton yarn, any other red string or a red ribbon. I have found that plain, unbraided threads work better to keep the circle symbolism. You can add beads to it, deer eye seeds or other amulets that you associate with protection. Traditionally the thread needs to be tied by somebody else on you, or you need to tie it for somebody else. It is said that it is more powerful if your mother or grandmother does it, but I have done it by calling on the Mother Earth or just by reciting an incantation and tying it myself with good effect. There really isn't much to it, you just grab the string and tie it on the left wrist or ankle. Some other people put a ribbon covering the hara the area about two inches below the navel, like a belt around the waist for children and curanderos and traditional dancers wear a red belt in the same area for a similar purpose. You can use symbolism on top of it, 7 knots on the Kabbalistic version mentioned above, yo can just tie it normally and do seven knots in the end, or three knots, one per ray of the Three Rays of Light for example; or even the union of opposites into a single whole, etc.



Here are some sample incantations:

"By the power of Jesus Christ may this thread keep you from all evil, now and always. Amen"

"By your mother, grandmother and all your lineage; by the power of your father and your grandfather may you be always protected by their vigil. Ometeotl"

"Dear St. Michael by your might and your sword, protect me."

The Ben Porat or other protective prayer can be prayed over too.

If the string falls, get rid of it by burning it, burying it if it is a natural fiber or throwing it away in the trash or on the sewer. That usually happens when it is already 'done'. If for some other reason you want to take it off or replace it, don't use metal to cut it. Either break it, untie it or burn a bit of it so it comes loose and then dispose of it. As with all magic, it works even better if you yourself abstain from gossiping or murmuring badly about someone but neither of the points above are something that needs extra caution or concern.

Overall, I have found this bit of research fascinating and I hope it helps get an idea of its traditions and how to do it. There seems to be more avenues to it than I expected, and its history seems to go very far back and across cultures. With that in mind I hope you can enrich your practice and that it be helpful against the constant panopticon we live on today. So there you go, the read thread. Let me know how it works for you if you do!

Comments

[prayergardens]

Thank you very much for this post.

I've been meaning to be more meaningful about seed saving in the garden. A long time ago I heard a tip to pick the best plant out of the bunch and tie colorful ribbon around it as a reminder not to harvest but to let go to seed.

It now occurs to me that maybe I could use red cotton for this and do a blessing of the plant at the time of selection. Do you see any reason in your research why this might not work? Also, it would end up in my compost pile with the rest of the plant - would this be "burial"?

Thanks!

[open_space]

Nice! I can see that. Thanks for sharing it here.

If it's organic fibers you can totally put it on your compost pile, and actually that's the best kind of "burial" you can do, as the heat and moisture would disintegrate and recombine the energies into the earth, if not probably throwing it away with the trash is best.

If you use it for protection on yourself or on somebody else, burry it outside your house.

[open_space]

I hadn't quite understood what you meant.
Upon re reading:

That would be a very good thing to try out for plant blessings, prayergardens!

Traditionally we don't select one, we put it on many but given the seed motive I would experiment with different colors, like green, yellow and brown besides the red; having in mind something more related to fertility and reciting a proper incantation:

"May you, custodian of your species, be blessed and bear the bounty of your being" for example.

And know I can't stop thinking of a line of bodyguard plants with red ribbons protecting the seed bearer plant...

[temporaryreality]

Thank you for this very clear and helpful description and exploration!

No one in my family got very into the red bag (with salt and a nail) - it's a bit lumpy under a shirt... though the red amulets we wore from my husband's time in Tibet were large and bulky (which probably mattered less to our kids who were under age 12 than it did when they were in their late teens and early 20s and more focused on appearance).

But we've all worn various threads around our wrists throughout the years and I could see this being workable.

Edited to add: got any pics of a red thread in action in a Mexican context?

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Depends on what we mean by that. Not a lot of folk magic and tradition has a pure mexican pedigree, that is been changing as of late as the last picture shows, that's this year.

That said, here is a mexican wrist wearing a crocheted one I did, a simple piece of yarn and another with plastic beads and a little "turkish eye" as we call it.

I will elaborate on the versions, as we also use the "jewish" version with seven knots along the string and add it. It's a bit tricky to use the popular mexican terminology in English, were cultural appropriation issues are a real concern, I don't know how it sits since I didn't really grew up in the U.S and we don't have the same issues. Personally I find myself now struggling with that. My conclusion is: if it's part of popular culture, I can use it and call my own if not, I would probably need to seek permission or call it differently.

I know that's not what you asked at all, but I wonder if you have thoughts on it for a confused folk practitioner :-)

[temporaryreality]

Perfect!

This was exactly what I meant - simply "how does a regular [Mexican] person wear one?" (with or without beads, with or without knots, thick or thin thread, etc.) since the closest option you showed was of the Aztec dancers :)

I'm not super worried about the "appropriation" of such a widely practiced tradition - I came across it in Thailand (golden/saffron-colored thread matching Buddhist robes) and China (red thread), as well as through my husband's Tibetan connections. It seems to be universal at this point!

[open_space]

Ah perfect,

Thank you! As a foreigner is inevitable to want to do things the "right way".

And also, I did only emphasize that didn't I. I got caught up in the research and forgot to emphasize who _we_ use it.

[lp9]

Thank you for this!

[open_space]

You are welcome, lp9!

[sdi]

Hi open_space, and thanks for writing this up! (I apologize I'm only getting to it late—it's been a difficult week and I haven't had much time.)

Much of this is alien to me, and I was wondering if I might toss some questions out there in order to better understand it? (I apologize if a stack of questions is too much!)

• You speak of the red thread as guarding against envy or anger in particular, perhaps by deflecting casual attention. Most of the curses I deal with are rooted in other sources; do you expect this to still be effective under other circumstances?
• You mention ancestry several times. Do you think this technique is counterindicated if one's ancestry is hostile to them?
• If one is protecting an infant, is the red thread traditionally placed on them immediately upon birth, or after some period of time?
• Is it safe to keep such a string on at all times? (In particular, I am wondering if it deflects all energies, like JMG's red-bag amulet, or if this is gentler and only deflects hostile ones. Presumably it is dangerous to keep everything out for protracted lengths of time!)
• Is the string typically kept on until it is worn out, or is it untied when not in use (e.g. during bathing)?

[open_space]

I'm mexican, time flows more slowly for me so a week is not a long time ;-)

1) All evil and malefic influences of which envy and anger are the most common ones referred to as evil eye but without a clairvoyant it will be hard to tell.

2) I do expect it to have some effect against curses of any kind and I would add a protective lotion on top of it. I would recommend a homemade rosemary, rue and some mint macerated in non-denaturalized alcohol that you can rub in your hands, smell it and then clean your etheric body with it by doing a rubbing motion 2-3 inches above your skin.

3) Not necessarily, just don't call on the problematic ancestry and divine about it. You can always stop the ancestry on yourself or call the ancestry you want by name.

4) It can be tied as soon as you can do it without compromising other cares and having some private time to do a proper incantation over it. Between parents and baby alone is best.

5) I wasn't aware that the red-bag amulet countered all energies, not only hostile ones. Are you sure about this? That said, no, it won't deflect beneficial energies, as the string itself is beneficially charged by the incantation --you are choosing what it deflects. You should be fine, kids and babies (and adults) wear it all the time. If you are really worried I would do a heavy-duty salt and nail jar and have it in your house.

6) I wear it all the times until it I feel it is time to change it, including in the shower.

[sdi]

Thank you for all this, it's very helpful to me!


I'm mexican, time flows more slowly for me so a week is not a long time ;-)

I don't know what you mean, but whatever the case, I'm envious!


I wasn't aware that the red-bag amulet countered all energies, not only hostile ones. Are you sure about this?

I had tried wearing them for an extended period of time a few years ago and found doing so very depleting—though I may be more sensitive to this than most due to various issues. JMG confirmed it as well to an Anon in a Magic Monday a few weeks back.

[open_space]

I am glad it was helpful!

It means that we don't take time that seriously --we are not that concerned about doing things by the clock or delays.

Hmm interesting. Thanks for the link. I have not actually worn a red bag amulet, I have it on my door and on my bed so I have no idea what it feels like to wear them constantly. Seems like an armor in both senses for protection and to prevent close contact. The red string works more like a fragrance that doesn't led bad odors reach. That said, I would definitively devine about it if it's something that concerns you or if you note anything in particular.

Let me know!

[(Anonymous)]

I am an author and my writing and my creative & emotional life have been affected by negative reviews, as well as the occasional "bash party" where people mock my work. My stories are not for everyone, and people have a right to their opinions, but it has damaged me in a way I can't quite explain to anyone. It's a very lonely and painful feeling, and I feel like something has been taken away from me. It's not that I want to control what people say about me, but I'm tired of it draining me. Is this something that would help me? I want to have back what's been taken from me, my own creativity and joy of writing, and the safety and sanctity of my own imagination.

[open_space]

I'm sorry to hear that, anon. That sounds rough and I can relate to how other people's opinions can have a negative impact on ourselves. I suffered a lot of that when I was in school. The thing that comes to mind, at least in my case, is that it depends on how much weight we give to other people's opinions and how much power we put outside of ourselves over our own sense of self-worth. I particularly, only tend to put out there what I am comfortable with being seen and criticized and work on my strength on the side. Otherwise, I feel exposed.

This particular charm can be of help with the energetic/indirect components of gossip as described in the text but it sounds to me that you need to do some emotional healing too to deal with its effects. What I recommend for this as a reader of JMG is to do the work of the Order of Spiritual Alchemy which you can find here, start at the bottom: https://ecosophia.dreamwidth.org/tag/octagon+society

[(Anonymous)]

I've always felt exposed sharing my writing with anyone, since I was very young, and I did not think I would someday be comfortable putting my stories out there. But writing was my path out of poverty, so it's complicated. Do I want to be emotionally comfortable and safe, or do I want to have my financial needs met? It hasn't felt like a real choice for a while now, so it's been stressful to feel more burnt out, judged, and less creative as time has passed. I'm trying to seek other financial opportunities, but they are limited. And I actually loved writing for most of my life, so I want to get it back, as well as the financial help it gave me. Thank you for the link and suggestion; I will follow up on this and see if it can help me! I appreciate your thoughts and your response.