evil eye, a belief held by many cultures that if a person envies you or what you have and stares at that object, the object will be cursed, pen and ink on graph paper, doodle © 2009 by ybonesy. All rights reserved.
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Note to red Ravine Readers: This doodle is related to the Topic of Envy posted for the Out of The Blue Films “ENVY Contest” at red Ravine. For background and inspiration about Envy, read the essay Cracking Envy (Or How I Learned To Stop Romancing A Deadly Sin) and the piece The Case of Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez: Is It Envy Or Earned?
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, there is a widespread assumption that Envy is an emotion. Other posts that might help jog the memory when writing about tough or secretive emotions are Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings and WRITING TOPIC – EMOTIONAL VOCABULARY.
To enter the ENVY contest and learn how to participate, go to the Contest Submission Guidelines. There is no fee to enter. You will be competing for an Amazon Kindle and a chance to have your creative work featured in a groundbreaking new documentary film. Deadline is August 15th!
Spectacular evil eye illustration. I’m full of envy. 😉
Ya know, the bottom lashes look like roots, stretching into the green earth. The upper, like flames shooting toward the night sky. Very clever yb.
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To me, it’s licks of flame up top, and dragons’ tongues down below. In lieu of going all Freudian, I’m just gonna tell you that I love, love, love those upper flames!
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W o w, ybonesy — what an amazing and scary doodle!!!
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Love it. Looks like something a very talented person with colored pencils might doodle during a very boring meeting or class.
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Thanks to all for stopping by. Heather and Sam, roots and flames, flames and tongues, I love those comparisons! Another great doodle, ybonesy. I always look forward to the times your artwork graces the pages of red Ravine.
In line with the Envy topic, I went back through our conversations on the posts Cracking Envy and Call for Entries. There are a couple of comments on the Evil Eye that I wanted to refresh my memory about:
Here’s what ybonesy says about the Evil Eye as it relates to Envy:
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Here’s another quote from a comment from filmmaker Barbara Rick about the Evil Eye as it relates to Envy:
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Wow, Ybonesy. That’s some doodle. Amazing.
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Thanks for the comments, ya’ll, and QM, for responding to them in my absence. I just got back from a weekend away.
Really interesting to read, Heather and Sam, what you each see in the doodle. Flames, roots, dragon’s tongues. I honestly don’t know what I’m drawing when I’m drawing it. There is nothing premeditated, so I can’t own up to being clever. It’s always an accident, although in hindsight I can usually see some inkling of what my subconscious might have been working out.
The Evil Eye is a wild kind of thing. I believe in it myself, although I also think that Good is stronger than Evil and so long as you are Good at heart, you have a shield against Evil. So it goes with Evil Eye. I do believe that envy is a negative energy that can do damage to a person but that there are shields to protect oneself–humilty being one. Compassion, love. I’m very J.K. Rowling- and Harry Potter-esque in that regard. 8)
And then there’s the notion of just plain wanting to stare at that which is beautiful. I don’t think that people staring at something of beauty is bad in and of itself; that is more like curiosity or the natural tendency to be drawn to beauty. What is eveil is more the intention, when someone does envy and therefore intentionally throws bad energy toward the thing of beauty. Surely not everyone who admires beauty sends an evil eye while staring.
All kind of fascinating and scary stuff.
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yb, hope you had a great week-end away! I don’t get on line often these days. Way too busy!
The Evil Eye doodle is great, but I like to focus on a mandala that our youngest son A., (Brant’s Daddy) colored in pencil. It is posted on my fridge. It is God’s Eye Hamas. You are right when you say that Good is better is than Evil. Focusing on good is healthier & does indeed give us the strength to forge ahead & lead a happier life. D
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Ybonesy, I don’t always know what I’m going to draw when I start, either. But I think your Evil Eye worked itself well enough into my subconscious that it’s rather obviously influenced what I’m working on, now.
Good and evil = cognitive dissonance. On a very basic level, each is only what it is when weighed against the other. On some other level, I agree with you and alittlediddy.
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I’ve read about the evil eye (el mal de ojo) in Italian culture as well as Latin. There’s something sort of cathartic about the idea of giving it to someone, although I never have. Your drawing is so bright and alive, generating those heat waves of anger.
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Sam, cool. Do drop a link to the piece when you’re done. I’ll want to see what the ol’ Evil Eye inspired for you, for sure.
christine, a different perspective. Yes, I can see where giving someone the eye would be cathartic. It’s an active state, whereas Monkey Mind, which must be somehow related to the Evil Eye, is much more like inertia.
diddy, did you ever used to make God’s Eyes with two popsicle sticks and colored yarn? We did, all the time during Art when growing up. And at school, too. We called them “ojos de Dios.” And for a while people made very large ones to hang in their homes. Thanks for reminding me of that by bringing up the God’s Eye mandala that Brant’s father colored.
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yb, no, we never made God’s Eye, but that sounds so very cool. Maybe Brant & I can give it a try. Perhaps I can search on line & find some instructions?
By no means did I want to implicate that your doodle is not good. The doodle is great. I was simply thinking that I would rather concentrate on good over evil.
I’m glad my comment brought back that memory for you & now I’m curious to give the popsicle sticks a try! D
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In college, I did a long (128 pps) paper on “Brujeria” which included a section “mal de ojo” or evil eye. It is a subject which has long fascinated me.
Wonderful drawing!
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Ybonesy, I’ve been snowed under in this summer heat the last few weeks by a number of unrelenting deadlines… only just saw your amazing doodle and all the responses today!
Arresting, for sure—
We have a new scholar on board the ENVY documentary project whose specialty is ‘ancient mediterranean world & the evil eye’.. can’t wait to pick her brain. 🙂
And a Classics professor from an Ivy league school, also newly on board, was telling me the other day how strong evil eye stuff is in Spain where he’s visiting right now.
We have all kinds of wonderful writings and artwork coming in as submissions to the ENVY contest. Looking forward to savoring each one!!
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Barbara, great to hear from you. ybonesy’s a million miles away, out there globetrotting the Universe (and also getting a lot of work done!). Can’t wait to hear more about the Evil Eye from your scholar (or see it in the film). So happy that Submissions for the Envy contest are coming in. I talked to one person last week who told me she had entered — delightful to hear. Can’t go wrong and I sure hope others continue to enter as we get down to the wire. With no fees, a chance to win a Kindle, and to have work featured in a film — how can you go wrong! Will look forward to connecting with you again as things wind down in mid-August. It’s been a lot of fun collaborating on the Envy Contest.
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QM, thanks so much… yes it’s been a BLAST working together!
Also, it’s such a juicy exploration and inquiry; feels very adventurous and brave at times (doesn’t it?) for those of us in the deep personal excavation of such a traditionally taboo subject.
Safe travels, yb!
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Note today from filmmaker Barbara Rick: Our red Ravine Summer Contest Collaboration with Out of The Blue Films is winding down!
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Off to MN GarlicFest. REMINDER: Writers, artists, poets, photogs – last day of our red Ravine Summer ENVY Contest with Out of The Blue Films (LINK). It ends at Midnight tonight!
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Contest ended at midnight August 15th. Thank you for all of your creative submissions! Winners to be announced in a future post on red Ravine. So much gratitude to all who participated in the Out of The Blue Films ENVY Contest at red Ravine!
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Yes, thanks so much everybody!!! Especially r R– you rock 🙂
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[…] la mano, icon of the eye in the hand (called “Hamsa” in Judaism) believed to ward off Evil Eye, doodle © 2010 by ybonesy. All rights […]
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