What’s an evil eye? Is this something caused by negative energy? I’ve heard of it from an Egyptian friend but don’t know if it’s a myth or a religious belief. Is it something related to social media, like people getting effects of jealous negativity created by their pictures or posts?
I don’t know about it in the context you’re asking but Evil Eye is something that exists in a lot of different cultures.
In my mom’s culture (Romani), the evil eye is a type of like curse of bad luck that can be cast by a malicious glare. Because it can be done with a look, the victim often doesn’t know that it’s happened.
It’s kind of hard to explain lol. I guess it can fall into mystical belief but not religious. At least not for us.
In our house, we call it the “stink eye.”
Something like that. A friend stopped posting pictures of his family because his mom and wife thought, people were getting jealous of their good fortune and evil eye was causing trouble.
In our Italian culture/superstition, it is the malocchio or evil eye. It is a look that people give you when they are jealous or envious. It is supposed to be a curse to cause misfortune. Some Italians may wear a horn or cornetto (shaped like a chili pepper) to ward off the evil eye. Also, a lot of making the sign of the cross:)
Latina here. We call is El Ojo. Happens mostly when you admire a child from afar and don’t touch him or her.
And then there’s the Greek/Turkish amulet called the Evil Eye which is supposed to provide protection from the curse.
A lot of cultures have this. It isn’t so much a religious belief as a cultural superstition. And regardless of culture, jealousy is a universal human emotion. And maybe not just human. The dog barks when we are petting a kitten.
D2 just sent me a video of her baby talking her very small kitty, who was sitting on the bed near her. Other same age (but almost 3 times her weight) kitty immediately jumped on the bed and knocked little kitty completely off it, then plopped into D2’s lap as though this was all normal behavior.
In the South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) culture, as well as religiously in Islam, “evil eye” is basically when misfortune or bad luck falls upon a person, caused by the negative energy/envy/jealousy of another. We call it “nazar”. On a religious note, it can be counteracted through specific prayers/scriptures.
Some uber superstitious types use talismans and other practices to ward off the evil eye.
Eastern European here. My mother swears a former friend of hers hexed one of my mom’s houseplants when she was stroking it while complimenting it. “It was dead within a week!!!”
@HouseChatte This is a slightly off topic comment but it does relate to superstition and house plants:
Decades ago, my husband had to undergo surgery for Hodgkin’s disease. When he was in the hospital, his sister sent him a plant. We jokingly named it “Cancer Plant,” and kept it alive until we had to move to Texas a few years later. Since we weren’t allowed to move our plants, we gave it to a neighbor in Massachusetts. Twenty years later, she confessed that she had cared for that plant assiduously because she was convinced that its survival was tied to my husband’s.
A lot of cultures have this superstition. My Polish grandma, when she was young, had beautiful blond wavy hair of which she was rather proud. Another young woman was jealous and, according to grandma’s story, gave her the “evil eye,” which made grandma’s hair fall out. Grandma told this story as a warning to not be overly proud, show off too much–because that could trigger jealousy/evil eye, and that thing you are so proud of could be lost.
If it’s present in every culture than may be there is something to it? Before social media, envy wasn’t as wide ranged as it is now with everyone having several hundred “friends” and sharing pics and details of everything from food, enhanced beauty, love, wealth, travel and whatnot. Everyone is not as fortunate or good hearted to be genuinely happy for others without envy so likely it directs a whole lot more negative energy towards you.
With these beliefs, it makes sense for people to connect bad happenings to recent posts, even when they know it’s irrational and there is no scientific explanation for it.
@Massmomm - we have a peace lily aka “appendicitis plant” which was sent to us by my husband’s (now former) employer. It is still going strong after many years, just like my Mr. I am not superstitious about it, it just happens that plants do well in my house (and it is really, really hard to kill a peace lily!). Wishing good health and many more cancer-free years to your husband! 
May y’all keep reaping the benefits of your plants.
@BunsenBurner @CupCakeMuffins I am fairly certain I could kill even the hardiest plant! (I have no idea whether our former neighbor still has Cancer Plant.)
But I have managed to keep my husband alive by nagging him to get regular check-ups and by preparing healthy foods. So maybe I am better with people than with plants?
The teenaged slang for the evil eye when we lived in Albuquerque was mad dogging. As in, “Josh was mad dogging Kevin because he was talking to his crush.”
I don’t think anybody yet has mentioned those evil eye bracelets, something like this https://www.originalbotanica.com/evil-eye-protection-bracelet/
My daughter got one about ten years ago from a friend who visited Turkey and brought it home for her as a souvenir. I believe they originated in that area of the world (Greece/Turkey). At the time they were not that popular, today you can buy them in lots of places.
People are like plants, as tender and as stubborn.