Nazar - An effect of mind or energy?
The superstition and belief lies all together with longing attachment with folklores and grandma’s stories. Remember when your mom used to bite your nail and spit slightly when you were looking the most adorable on a Monday morning at 8o’clock before your school bus comes?
Swastika Sarkar, from Kolkara now a Beauty Consultant at Nykaa, often says “take bath on salt water” whenever anyone complained on they’re feeling heavy on head and chest.
Where our grandmothers often chose to wear the infants the biggest kajal dot on feet or forehead, the intention often came from protecting your loved ones, a tradition that may seem superstitious to so many yet wholesome where the innocence and the world’s cruelty lies all together. Protecting ‘me’ against the bad guys! - The matriarchs of families often makes their child special.
But does jealousy, success and envy causes negativity on oneself. But energy and as nowadays late millenials and genz call it ‘vibe’, it does affect the way you feel, how the surroundings affect your emotions. When feeling too proud can also impact on downfall of your success, where the beginnings of a new life can be intimidating as keeping yourself safe becomes the biggest priority. Childbirth, Puberty and Marriage are the most vulnerable stages of life - where people try to cleanse their energy.
And Nazar has origin ..
Nazar, The evil eye - existed since 5000 years ago, The eastern culture that slowly spread till central Europe. From the Paleolithic Age, the Mesopotamian civilization - this culture existed and after 8th century Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Morocco - where the diagnosing the psychic disease still remains a mystery and with no as such scientific evidence but just belief.
Signs like extreme weakness or too much hiccups are sign of negative energy dominating.
Where terrible individual glare has been often a sign of the evil eye. The supernatural harm that all depends upon the gaze of eyes, even after 8th century this holds a lot of volume in households.
Where Islamic culture believe taking in warm water bathe, and even Christianity has a deeper origin of Nazareth and it is believed to be powerful, and Hinduism have Havan ceremonies.
Even Buddhism, Jewish religion believe in it.
The Placebo effect :
“If you think so much negative, it will happen!” mentions Dr. Pandit, a psychotherapist. Where thinking negative too much ends up affecting into a manifestation as negative motivation is easy to follow, but again how does thinking one subject and turn into something you hate by your action, the entire negativity comes from one’s action somehow.
But how does one can harm oneself :
As Dr. Pandit, who is trained on this field for more than 10 years explains how unlearning and relearning habits is difficult, deleting behaviors that is practiced since childhood to survive, takes a long time - she adds “everything is practice, a sort of exercise”.
But how does something with such no stronger scientific evidences still remains such a strong practice? - Pratima Sen - Widow, Homemaker, is now a grandmother - often talked about her thighs and belly used to turn black after returning from her in laws - “my legs and thighs used to turn all black as if someone has hit me, but nothing did happened to me, definitely someone gave me nazar”. The superstition somehow has deep rooted hidden record of diseases that never got diagonised and got labelled or maybe rituals that are practiced to increase inner mental state of mind to deal with abusive household.
The significance of Evil eye;
The famous blue colour evil eye, symbolizes ‘good karma’ and the turquoise means manifesting health, growth and well being. Where Mexican culture believed in brown colour - the deer’s eye and Eastern European preferred the colour red.
Where Arabic and every desi culture, women wear Kajal, a dark black pencil eye liner - that again plays a big role in Nazar. It has always being a practice to protect eyes from sun/dust, cooling and soothing the eye and even as a yield from evil eye. A spiritual protection, that remained in culture especially in South Asian. As Moon Sen, educator and homemaker says “it is my good luck”. Kajal, a makeup that plays an important significant role in Nazar.
The jewellery such as evil eye on necklace, works as protection chakra and even ring symbolizes constant visibility.
On 1967 where cross cultural survey by folklorist John Roberts has found more than 36 percent cultures believed in evil eye.
Even though it was believed that 21st century may not believe in this but, the fashion industry industry changed the game. The accessories and even t-shirts did came all along with the trend of evil eye where even Katrina Kaif wore a Evil eye t-shirt for an event in Nykaa.
Pandemic, 2020 changed the belief to be just a superstition to actually believeing in it and ‘the evil eye’ became a part of culture.
A huge population of GenZ believes in Nazar and even chooses to wear bracelets with evil eye sumbols.
Spiritual growth played a huge role during the time of pandemic and spirituality and mental - physical well being became all interconnected with everyone’s lifestyle.
Lets revist the history of nazar;
Where so many intelligent women got all blamed as witch or sorcerer and were hurt during 15th cemtury, European culture and orthodoxy never went hand in hand when it got inclined spirituality and turned into all negativity. Where Arabic people call it ‘Al-ayn’ - The eye; the god’s eye and where the Eastern people believed in staying down to earth or else gods and goddesses would punish ego. It is all about self - manifestation, psychology, folktales, culture and superstitious.
Where your grandmothers, mothers and now us revisting the culture through the doors of fashion, sticking with the roots which had deeper history of loss, protection and survival lies where people believed rotting of crops was all about egos and bad eye and now feeling immense weak - emotions and nature, energy and supernatural are all key function of thread between science and folktales.