Mal de ojo: the evil eye between Spain and Latin America

In the Spanish-speaking world the evil eye is called mal de ojo or simply ojo, while in Brazil people speak of mau-olhado or olho gordo. These beliefs reached the Americas with the Iberian colonists and became intertwined with Indigenous and African traditions, giving rise to a very varied set of customs. The favourite target remains, as in the Mediterranean, the small child, whose beauty can attract a gaze that is too intense, even in the absence of ill intent.

Azabache and the higa

In Spain the most typical amulet was carved from azabache, jet, a black and shiny variety of lignite mined above all in Asturias. In Santiago de Compostela, as early as the Middle Ages, specialised craftsmen known as azabacheros sold pilgrims scallop shells, figures of saints and jet amulets. The Way of Saint James thus helped to spread these objects throughout Europe, along the roads travelled every year by thousands of pilgrims.

The most characteristic form was the higa, a small hand closed into a fist with the thumb thrust between the index and middle fingers, the same gesture that in Italy is called mano fica. The amulet was hung around children's necks or on animals' harnesses. From Spain it passed to the Americas: in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic the custom of giving newborns a bracelet with a small jet fist is still widespread.

Ojo de venado and figa

In Mexico and Central America the ojo de venado, the «deer's eye», is popular: a large brown seed of a tropical plant, tied to a red thread and sometimes decorated with the image of a saint or of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The seed, with its pale band resembling a pupil, combines the idea of the protective eye with the prestige of the colour red, which in Europe too was considered a defence against the envious gaze.

In Brazil the best-known amulet is the figa, the Portuguese version of the higa, often carved in wood, stone or metal. It is so widespread that it has become a typical craft object, sold in the markets of Bahia and Minas Gerais. Its success shows how an ancient gesture, already found in amulets of the Roman period, crossed the ocean while keeping the same function of protection and good wishes.

Curanderas and purification rites

In the rural and urban communities of Latin America, mal de ojo is traditionally recognised and dealt with by specialised figures, the curanderas. Anthropologists have described the limpia, a purification rite accompanied by prayers in which eggs, sprigs of herbs and holy images appear, at the end of which a verdict is drawn. These rites blend Catholic devotion, Indigenous knowledge and elements of African origin, and should be read as part of a complex cultural system.

The history of mal de ojo shows how well the belief in the evil eye can travel and transform itself. Setting out from the Iberian Peninsula with its jet amulets, it took root in new contexts, met plants, deities and practices unknown in Europe, and came out enriched. Today it can be observed in markets, in families and in the research of ethnologists, as a living chapter of the popular culture of the Americas.