E-mail: maxiaarmando@tiscali.it Tel.: +39 (334) 834-03-26
Parco Comunale “Pastissu”, Aritzo (Nuoro), 08031, Italia
Director and Researcher, Ethnographic Museum of Sardinian Mountain Culture
In this article, the author outlines the current state of beliefs and magical practices associated with the evil eye. His study is based on surveys conducted in 2022—2024 in various regions of Sardinia, a conservative rural region in Italy which has preserved traditional folk culture to a high degree. The author was drawn to this topic both due to the high index of belief in the evil eye in this region as well as our poor understanding of this phenomenon. In the course of the research, he notes: the distinctive features of the local vision of those from whom the evil eye emanates as a type of aggression; the catalysts and triggers of the evil eye (in particular, envy); “channels” of its implementation (through blasphemy and through praise); the objects of this influence; the measures of protection against the evil eye (verbal and non-verbal ways to protect against “aggression”, such as amulets, etc.); methods of getting rid of the effects of the evil eye. Also examined are the traditional figures of folk healers who operate with ancient magical techniques and who continue to enjoy wide popularity. The “living material” captured in surveys allows the author not only to deduce a high degree of faith in the evil eye, but also to trace the level of cultural continuity in Sardinia, as well as to shed light on many aspects of island culture.
Anfossi A. (1968) Socialità e organizzazione in Sardegna [Sociability and Organization in Sardinia]. Milano: Franco Angeli. In Italian.
Bowie F. (1999) The Anthropology of Religion. Oxford: Blackwell. In English.
Cabiddu G. (1966) Usi, costumi, riti e tradizioni popolari della Trexenta [Customs, Rituals and Popular Traditions of the Trexenta]. Cagliari: Fossataro. In Italian.
Cannas M. (2023) Riti magici e amuleti. Malocchio in Sardegna [Magical Rites and Amulets. Evil Eye in Sardinia]. Sassari: EDES. In Italian.
Cossu N. (2005) A luna calante. Vitalità e prospettive della medicinа tradizionale in Sardegna [At Waning Moon. Vitality and Prospects of Traditional Medicine in Sardinia]. Lecce: Argo. In Italian.
Delitala E. (1990) Il ciclo del pane: un problema aperto [The Bread Cycle: an Open Problem]. Brads. Bollettino del Repertorio e dell’Atlante Demologico Sardo [Brads. Bulletin of the Sardinian Demological Repertory and Atlas]. 1990. Vol. 14. Pp. 3–12. In Italian.
Derriu A. (2023) Magia in Sardegna. Storie tra ‘800 e ‘900 [Magic in Sardinia. Stories between ‘800 and ‘900]. Roma: Nemapress. In Italian.
Di Nola A. M. (1983) La medicina popolare: questione di metodo [Folk Medicine: Question of Method]. La ricerca folklorica [Folkloric Research]. 1983. No. 8. Pp. 7–12. In Italian.
Eliade M. (1988) Le sacrè et le profane [The Sacred and the Profane]. Paris: Gallimard. In French.
Gallini C. (1973) Dono e malocchio [Gift and Evil Eye]. Palermo: Flaccovio. In Italian.
Gallini C. (1977) Tradizioni sarde e miti d’oggi. Dinamiche culturali e scontri di classe [Sardinian Traditions and Myths of Today. Cultural Dynamics and Class Clashes]. Sassari: EDES. In Italian.
Gallini C. (2003) Il consumo del sacro. Feste lunghe di Sardegna [The Consumption of the Sacred. Long Feasts of Sardinia]. Nuoro: Ilisso. In Italian.
Giusberti F., Nori R. (2000) Il pensiero quasi magico [Almost Magical Thinking]. Psicologia Contemporanea [Contemporary Psychology]. 2000. No. 160. Pp. 50–55. In Italian.
Guerzoni C. S. (2020) Sa mejighina ‘e s’oju. Ritualità medico-religiosa nel Nord Sardegna [Sa Mejighina ‘E s’oju. Medical-religious Rituals in Northern Sardinia]. Sestu (Ca): Domus de Janas. In Italian.
Hutton R. (2018) Witches and Cunning Folk in British Literature 1800–1940. Preternature: Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural. 2018. Vol. 7. No. 1. Pp. 27–49. In English.
Meyer B., Pels P. (2003) Magic and Modernity: Interfaces of Revelation and Concealment. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press. In English.
Pettazzoni R. (1980) La religione primitiva in Sardegna [The Primitive Religion in Sardinia]. Sassari: Carlo Delfino. In Italian.
Pinna T. (2012) Il sacro, il diavolo e la magia popolare [The Sacred, the Devil and Popular Magic]. Sassari: EDES. In Italian.
Piquereddu P. (2004) Gioielli, storia, linguaggio, religiosità dell’ornamento in Sardegna [Jewelry, History, Language, Religiosity of Ornament in Sardinia]. Nuoro: Ilisso. In Italian.
Rudas N. (1999) L’interazione arcana. [The Arcasn Interaction. At the Origin of Sardinian Creativity]. In: L’ora dei Sardi [The Sardinian Hour]. Ed. by S. Cubbeddu. Cagliari: Fondazione Sardinia. Pp. 255–292. In Italian.
Saba G. (2013–2014) Varietà e complessità del magico in Sardegna. Tesi di dottorato in Antropologia culturale — Università degli studi di Sassari [Variety and Complexity of Magic in Sardinia. PhD thesis in Cultural Anthropology — University of Sassari]. Anno accademico, 2013– 2014. In Italian.
Scafoglio D., De Luna S. (1999) La cultura dell’invidia. Il malocchio e la iettatura nell’Italia meridionale [The Culture of Envy. The Evil Eye and Iettatura inSsouthern Italy]. Salerno: Gentile. In Italian.
Maxia Armando. The Phenomenon of the Evil Eye in the Past and Present (The Case of Sardinia). Traditional Culture. 2024. Vol. 25. No. 4. Pp. 127–138. In Russian.