The
Speaking and Inscribing of
Potent Words, Phrases, and Formulas
Uttering certain powerful words,
formulaic phrases, the names of God, Jesus, and the angels, liturgical
expressions, and incantations were all considered by Christians as effective
means for warding off or repelling the Evil Eye. Examples of such expressions
also are found in written form on amulets and are presented below.
. . .
--The naming of children “Abaskantos”
(“Unharmed by the Evil Eye”) and the regular speaking of that name also were
deemed effective prophylaxis.
. . .
--The Chi Rho monogram is
a symbol formed by the superimposition of the first two Greek letters of the
name CHRistos (X + R, chi + rho). As a Christian symbol it
was used widely since emperor Constantine (fourth century CE) to identify all
things Chrisitan. It recalls the crucifixion of Jesus and his confession to
being a king of a kingdom not of this world (John 18:36). IT also served
Christians as a popular apotropaic, especially in Syria but also across the
Mediterranean world including Gaul and Spain. The monogram was put over doors
and windows, at entrances to churches and grave sites, on sarcophagi, on the
shields of Constantine’s soldiers (where previously the crescent moon had stood
to ward off the Evil Eye) and also on the helmuts of the emperor of his sons.
It is on the sarcophagus of arch-bishop Theodore of Ravenna, on the columns of
the Antonius and Faustina temple in Rome, and , with a Byzantine cross and
Alpha and Omega, on Rome’s Porta Latina. It also appears in conjunction with
other Evil Eye apotropaic symbols and inscriptions.
--The first and last letters of
the Greek alphabet, alpha and omega, appear in Rev 1:8; 21:6, and 22:18
as the letters by which God and Christ identify themselves in the book of
Revelation. These letters were inscribed on parchments and papyri, on buildings
(in Syria above the house portals), amulets, jewelry boxes, medallions and on
bells, in the company of other anti-Evil Eye words and symbols (Meisen
1950:162).
--Other letters of the Greek
alphabet were also used to form potent abbreviations: CH M G (= “CHrist-Michael-Gabriel,”
or “Mary bore Christ” [Christon Maria Genna]). These were
used for exorcistic purposes and also as protection against the Evil Eye.
. . .
--Figures of Christian crosses
were inscribed on amulets, buildings, churches, sarcophagi, and tombs.
Christians in Egypt removed from buildings the images of the deity Serapis
(pagan protector against the Evil Eye) and replaced them with the cross of Christ.
. . .
--The names of angels (e.g.,
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, also Uriel Archaf) were thought to have apotropaic
power. They too were inscribed on amulets, lamina, put at thresholds and above
the entrance to churches and grave sites, along with other words and symbols.
--Holy persons likewise
were ascribed power as protective patrons against the Evil Eye. Under this
heading Meisen’s illustrative list includes Solomon, Daniel in the lion’s den,
the Three Young Men in the fiery furnace, the Magi at Jesus’s birth, the four
Evangelists, St. Sisinnios, St. Theodore, St. John and St. Veit. Their names
appear on amulets and apotropaics, often in combination with other
prophylactics against the Evil Eye. (John H. Elliott, Beware the Evil Eye:
The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World, 4 vols. [Eugene, Oreg.:
Wipf and Stock, 2017], 4:107, 108-10)
