How to Get Rid of the Evil Eye: What Each Tradition Does, and When to Ask Someone Else
How Italian, Greek, Mexican, Muslim, Turkish and Jewish traditions remove the evil eye, what the oil test can and cannot tell you, a three-day removal you can do at home, when a child needs a doctor first, and how the evil eye removal scam works.
People search for how to get rid of the evil eye on bad weeks: a headache that will not lift, a baby who cries after a visit, a run of small disasters that started right after someone praised the new car. We write and perform rituals for a living, under our own names. Here is how each tradition actually removes the evil eye, what the evidence says, a short removal you can do at home, and the one thing almost every tradition agrees on: the removal is usually done by someone else.
Contents
To get rid of the evil eye, most traditions use three steps: a test, a removal and a protection. Italian families drop olive oil into water and say a prayer handed down at Christmas; Greek families say a short prayer called the xematiasma, while the Orthodox Church reads its own prayer against vaskania; Mexican and Central American healers sweep the body with an egg; Muslims recite the last two chapters of the Quran and use a ritual washing. A simple home version is a salt-water wash, a plain prayer or statement in your own words, and an evil eye charm afterward. No study shows that a look can cause harm, and the oil test cannot diagnose anything. If a child is sick, see a doctor first. If the removal is in your family's tradition, ask the person who knows the words.
In 20 of 39 countries surveyed, half or more Muslims said they believe in the evil eye, from 90% in Tunisia and 80% in Morocco to 22% in Bangladesh.
Source/tradition: Pew Research Center, The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity (2012)
A Pew Forum survey found that 16% of Americans believe in the evil eye, or that some people can cast curses or spells that cause harm.
Source/tradition: Pew Research Center, 'Eyed by Evil', December 29, 2009
Evil eye belief is associated with wealth inequality in weakly institutionalized traditional societies.
Source/tradition: Gershman (2015), Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 110, 119-144
Across world cultures, evil eye belief is more common in larger, more complex societies with large domestic animals and concentrated executive power.
Source/tradition: Roberts (1976), in Maloney (ed.), The Evil Eye, pp. 223-278
In a randomized n-of-1 trial, about 90% of the symptom burden patients reported while taking statins was also reported while taking placebo.
Source/tradition: SAMSON trial, New England Journal of Medicine 383 (2020)
The CDC states that no safe blood lead level in children has been identified.
Source/tradition: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention
Italian families read drops of olive oil in water for the malocchio and hand down the removal prayer on Christmas Eve; Greek families say the xematiasma, often taught across the sexes.
Source/tradition: Italian and Greek family practice (USC Digital Folklore Archives; Greek Orthodox sources)
Mexican and Central American healers treat mal de ojo with a barrida, sweeping an egg over the body while praying; Islamic tradition treats al-ayn with recitation and washing.
Source/tradition: Curanderismo; Sahih Muslim 2188
A removal followed by a month without re-testing works better in practice than daily oil or egg checks, which tend to feed the worry the ritual was meant to end.
Source/tradition: Temple of Desire practice
That a look can cause illness or misfortune, or that an oil, egg or lead reading can detect the evil eye, has not been shown in any controlled study.
Source/tradition: No controlled studies exist
VERIFIED = verifiable in scientific or official sources · TRADITIONAL = historically or culturally recorded · LIVED PRACTICE = widely practiced, experiential knowledge · NOT PROVEN = spiritual interpretation, not scientifically established.
Quick answer
To get rid of the evil eye, most traditions use three steps: a test, a removal and a protection. Italian families drop olive oil into water and say a prayer handed down at Christmas; Greek families say a short prayer called the xematiasma, while the Orthodox Church reads its own prayer against vaskania; Mexican and Central American healers sweep the body with an egg; Muslims recite the last two chapters of the Quran and use a ritual washing. A simple home version is a salt-water wash, a plain prayer or statement in your own words, and an evil eye charm afterward. No study shows that a look can cause harm, and the oil test cannot diagnose anything. If a child is sick, see a doctor first. If the removal is in your family's tradition, ask the person who knows the words.
What the evil eye is
The evil eye is the old idea that a look, usually an envious or admiring one, can bring harm to the person or thing being looked at. The harm is rarely dramatic: a headache, a sudden tiredness, a cow that stops giving milk, a child who will not settle. That is why it is called an eye and not a curse: in most traditions nobody has to mean it. A friend who says "what a beautiful baby" can cast it without knowing.
The belief is very widespread. In the 2012 Pew Research Center survey of Muslims in 39 countries, half or more said they believe in the evil eye in 20 of them, from 90 percent in Tunisia and 80 percent in Morocco to 22 percent in Bangladesh. In the United States, a Pew Forum survey reported in 2009 that 16 percent of Americans believe in the evil eye, or that some people can cast curses or spells that cause harm. Anthropologists have long tried to explain where the belief takes hold. John Roberts, comparing cultures worldwide in 1976, found it more often in larger, more complex societies with herds of domestic animals and concentrated political power. In 2015 the economist Boris Gershman, working with ethnographic samples, linked it to wealth inequality in societies with weak institutions, where fear of envy pushes people to hide good fortune and share it.
That last point matters for anyone trying to remove it. The evil eye is, in nearly every culture, a way of talking about envy. Our longer piece on evil eye protection covers the nazar bead, the hamsa, the red string and the other charms. This guide is about what to do once you think the eye has already landed.
Signs people read as the evil eye
These are the signs that turn up again and again in family lore, from Athens to Monterrey:
- A headache, heavy eyes or yawning that comes on suddenly, often after a visit or a compliment
- Tiredness with no clear reason, or feeling "drained" around one person
- A baby or small child who cries, will not sleep or will not eat after being admired
- Things breaking or going wrong right after you shared good news
- A plant that wilts, or a charm such as a nazar bead that cracks
Read that list honestly and you will notice that every item also has an ordinary explanation. Babies cry after being passed around a loud room, and we remember the times things went wrong after a compliment. That does not make the experience false. It does mean the signs alone cannot tell you what is going on, and with a child they are not a reason to wait. If you want a calmer way to sort ordinary bad luck from something that needs attention, our checklist on how to know if you are cursed works for the evil eye too.
How each tradition removes the evil eye
There is no single method. There are family methods, and they differ more than most online guides admit. Here are the main ones, as their own communities describe them.
| Tradition | Removal | Who does it | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italian (malocchio) | Drops of olive oil in a bowl of water, often holy water; if the oil spreads or vanishes, the eye is read as present; a prayer and the sign of the cross follow | An older woman in the family or the neighborhood | The prayer is traditionally handed down on Christmas Eve |
| Greek (mati) | A short whispered prayer, the xematiasma, said over the person; the Orthodox Church has its own prayer against vaskania | A relative who was taught the words; the Church prayer is read by a priest | Many families hold that a woman must learn it from a man, and a man from a woman; the Church rejects magical rites and paid "readers" |
| Mexican and Central American (mal de ojo) | A barrida or limpia: an egg swept over the body while prayers are said, then cracked into water or left under the bed overnight | A grandmother, or a curandera or curandero | A person who admires a child is expected to touch the child, which is said to prevent the eye |
| Islamic (al-ayn, nazar) | Ruqyah: recitation of Quranic verses, above all the last two chapters, al-Falaq and an-Nas; and a washing linked to the person whose look caused it | The person themselves, a family member or a trusted imam | A hadith in Sahih Muslim states that the evil eye is real and tells the one asked to wash for it to do so |
| Turkish (kurşun dökme) | Molten lead poured into cold water held above the person's head; the shapes are read | A woman who knows the practice | We do not recommend it: melted lead is a real health hazard, see below |
| Jewish (ayin hara) | Mostly prevention: the spoken phrase "kinehora" (no evil eye), a red string, modesty about good news; some families have a blessing for removal | Family; questions go to a rabbi | The phrase is said right after a compliment, the way others knock on wood |
Two things stand out when you lay the traditions side by side.
First, they all have three steps. A test (oil, egg, lead), a removal (prayer, sweeping, washing) and a protection (a charm, a phrase, a habit of modesty). Online guides skip straight to the charm, but the charm is prevention; after the eye has landed, it comes last.
Second, someone else does it. In almost every family method, the person with the eye does not remove it from themselves. A grandmother says the words. A priest reads the prayer. A curandera sweeps the egg. Even the Islamic washing involves the other person. When you feel drained and watched, part of the relief is someone taking the problem off your hands and telling you it is done.
If you belong to one of these traditions, the honest advice is simple. Ask the person in your family who knows the words, or your priest, imam or rabbi. They will do it for free, and it will mean more to you than anything a stranger can offer.
If there is nobody to ask
Many people searching for this have no grandmother who knows the words, no priest they would ask, or a family that would laugh. If you would rather hand it to someone than do it yourself, there is Ritual by a Master's Hand. You tell Leif Daniel what is happening. He plans a cleansing and protection working for your situation and performs it himself, at his own altar, then sends you a written PDF report of what was done and why, and a personal voice message. To be clear about what this is: he works in his own Western ritual practice. He does not say a Greek xematiasma, read an Orthodox prayer or perform ruqyah, and if you belong to one of those traditions, we would send you to your own people first. Temple of Desire is a small family business run by Leif and his wife Julia, his real name is on the work, and the price is fixed before you begin. He will never tell you that he found a second eye or a curse that costs extra to remove, he does not promise any result, and a ritual does not replace a doctor.
$397, one time: performed for you, documented honestly, no outcome promised
See how Ritual by a Master's Hand worksWhat the evidence says
No controlled study has ever shown that a look can cause illness or misfortune, and none has tested whether an oil, egg or lead reading detects anything. We say that plainly because we sell ritual work, and you deserve the skeptical version from us first.
The oil test in particular cannot diagnose. Whether a drop of oil stays round or spreads across water depends on the temperature of the water, the kind of oil, and above all on how clean the bowl is: a trace of soap or a fingerprint is enough to make oil spread. That does not empty the ritual of meaning. It does mean that the reading belongs to the conversation between the person and the one who tests, not to chemistry.
What research does show is that expectation can produce real symptoms. In the SAMSON trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2020, patients who had stopped statins because of side effects took statins, placebo pills and no pills in random months. About 90 percent of the symptom burden they reported on statins was also reported on the placebo. A person who is sure they have been given the eye can feel genuinely worse, and a person who is sure it has been lifted can genuinely feel relief. That is the mechanism we can document, and it is the reason the removal ritual has lasted so long in so many places.
How to remove the evil eye yourself: a three-day working
If you want to do it yourself, here is a simple version that borrows the shared structure of the traditions without imitating any one of them. It does not use another community's sacred words, and it does not need anything you cannot find in a kitchen.
What you need: a bowl, coarse salt, a white candle or tealight, a glass of water, a small amount of olive oil, and an evil eye charm or another protective object for the last day.
The three days
- Day one, evening: name it. Write down, on paper, what has gone wrong and since when. If one person or one moment comes to mind, write that too, without blame. Then light the candle and say, in your own words, what you want: "Whatever was sent toward me in envy or carelessness, I do not keep it." Let the candle burn while you sit for ten minutes.
- Day one, after the candle: wash. Dissolve a handful of salt in warm water and pour it over yourself in the shower from the neck down, or wipe your face, hands and the back of your neck with a cloth dipped in it. Our guide to the spiritual bath for cleansing and protection has a fuller version. Pour what is left out of the front door or down an outside drain, not into the sink you cook at.
- Day two: the oil, as a reflection. Fill a clean glass bowl with water and let three drops of oil fall from your fingertip or a spoon. Watch them for a minute. Treat this as a moment to check in with yourself, not as a test with a verdict: notice how you feel, what you are still worried about, what has eased. Then pour the water outside and wash the bowl.
- Day two: the threshold. Sweep your front step and doorway from the inside out. In many traditions the eye arrives with visitors, and a clean threshold is the oldest home protection there is. For more, see how to ward your home.
- Day three: protect, then stop checking. Put on or hang up your charm. Say once that the work is done. Then do the hardest part: do not test again for at least a month. Repeating the oil every morning turns a ritual of relief into a ritual of worry.
If you have a prayer from your own faith that you already know and trust, use it on day one in place of the plain statement. If you have no faith and no words, the plain statement is enough.
When a child seems to have the evil eye
This is the situation where we would be most careful. In many families, a baby who cries, runs a fever or refuses to feed after being admired is said to have the eye, and the first instinct is to call the grandmother. A blessing over a child can be a loving thing. But it must come next to medical care, never instead of it.
- A baby under three months with a fever needs a doctor the same day. Call your pediatrician or go to urgent care.
- Any child who is hard to wake, breathing fast, not drinking or not wetting diapers needs care now. Call 911 if it is serious.
- Emergency medical writers who work with families who use folk healing have warned that care can be delayed while families wait for a remedy to work, and that some children are seriously ill by the time help arrives.
Doctor first, blessing second, if it comforts the family.
A specific warning about lead. The Turkish custom of pouring molten lead into water above a person's head is still practiced in many families. Melting lead releases fumes and leaves dust and residue on stoves, pots and floors, where small children pick it up. The CDC states that no safe blood lead level in children has been identified. If you want to honor the practice, keep the reading and leave out the metal.
When it keeps coming back
Sometimes a person removes the eye, feels better for a week, and then it is back. In our experience, that pattern usually points to a situation rather than a look.
- One person keeps coming up. A colleague who comments on everything you have, a relative who competes, a friend whose praise always has an edge. The ritual can help you notice it; the remedy is distance, fewer details shared and sometimes a direct conversation. Our piece on energy vampires covers that kind of relationship.
- You are sharing more good news than feels safe. The old advice in nearly every culture is modesty: do not announce the pregnancy, the raise or the new house to everyone at once.
- You are exhausted for ordinary reasons. Poor sleep, grief, depression and illness all feel like being drained. If tiredness lasts more than a couple of weeks, see a doctor. If you are low enough that you have thought about not wanting to be here, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
- It feels deliberate. If you believe someone is actively working against you, rather than simply envying you, that is closer to a curse or a hex than to the eye. See hex vs. curse vs. jinx for the difference and how to remove a curse for what each tradition does about it.
The evil eye removal scam
The evil eye is one of the oldest openings in the psychic-fraud business, because it starts with something true: you feel bad, and you suspect someone else is behind it. The script is consistent enough to recognize.
- A reader tells you, often for free, that they see "a very strong evil eye" or "a dark energy" on you.
- They offer a cleansing for a modest sum. Sometimes an egg is cracked and shows blood or a dark spot, which is presented as proof.
- After the first payment, the problem gets bigger: the eye has become a curse, a family curse, or a spirit attached to your money.
- Each new stage costs more. Payment is requested by gift card, wire, cryptocurrency or a payment app, or you are asked to bring cash to be "cleansed" and returned.
- When you hesitate, you are warned that stopping now will make things worse for you or your children.
This is not hypothetical. In 2008 the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office in California announced the sentencing of a psychic who had taken about $108,000 from a woman she told was cursed and in need of spiritual cleansing. In Florida, the psychic Rose Marks was convicted on all fourteen federal counts in 2013 in a scheme of about $25 million, in which clients were told, among other things, that curses had to be removed and that money given for the work would be returned.
The red flags:
- A diagnosis you did not ask for, especially from a stranger or a social media account
- A price that grows after you share your story, or a second problem found after you pay
- "Proof" from an egg, a photo or a reading that only the seller can interpret
- Payment by gift card, wire, crypto or payment app, or cash you are told will come back
- Threats about what happens if you stop, and requests to keep it secret from family
- No real name, no address and no business behind the work
Our guides on how to spot a fake spell caster and how much a spell should cost go through this in detail. If you have already paid someone, you can report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
What we do not promise
We do not promise that a ritual removes the evil eye, ends a run of bad luck, heals a symptom or changes another person. We do not claim that the oil test, an egg or any reading can diagnose the eye, and we label tradition as tradition. We do not perform another community's sacred rites, and we will tell you when your own priest, imam, rabbi or grandmother is the better person to ask. What we can say is that a removal done with care gives you a clear moment to name what has been weighing on you, to set it down and to decide what you will do differently with the person or situation behind it. For a great many people, that is the relief they were looking for.
Frequently asked questions
How do you get rid of the evil eye?
Most traditions use three steps: a test, a removal and a protection. Italian families read olive oil in water and say a prayer, Greek families say the xematiasma, Mexican healers sweep the body with an egg, and Muslims recite al-Falaq and an-Nas. A simple home version is a salt-water wash, a plain statement or prayer in your own words, and an evil eye charm afterward. Then stop testing for at least a month.
Can you remove the evil eye from yourself?
You can, and a simple home working of salt water, a candle and a plain statement is a reasonable start. Most traditions, though, have someone else do it: a grandmother, a priest, an imam or a curandera. If your family has a person who knows the words, ask them. If not, you can do it yourself or ask a practitioner you trust.
What does it mean when the oil spreads in water?
In the Italian malocchio test, oil that spreads or vanishes is read as a sign of the evil eye, and oil that stays in round drops as a sign that it is absent. Physically, whether oil spreads depends on water temperature, the kind of oil and how clean the bowl is. A trace of soap is enough to make it spread, so the test cannot diagnose anything.
What are the symptoms of the evil eye?
The signs people most often name are a sudden headache, heavy eyes, yawning, tiredness, a baby who cries or will not feed after being admired, and things going wrong right after good news. Each of these also has ordinary causes. With a child, a fever or a refusal to drink is a reason to see a doctor first.
Can a spell caster remove the evil eye for me?
A practitioner can perform a cleansing and protection ritual on your behalf, but nobody can promise a result. Be wary of anyone who diagnoses an evil eye you did not ask about, shows you blood in an egg as proof, finds a bigger curse after you pay, or asks for gift cards, wire transfers or crypto.
Sources & further reading
- Pew Research Center: "The World's Muslims: Unity and Diversity," chapter 4, Other Beliefs and Practices, August 9, 2012
- Pew Research Center: "Eyed by Evil", December 29, 2009
- Roberts, J. M.: "Belief in the Evil Eye in World Perspective," in C. Maloney (ed.), The Evil Eye, Columbia University Press, 1976, pp. 223 to 278 (summary at HRAF Explaining Human Culture)
- Gershman, B.: "The Economic Origins of the Evil Eye Belief," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 110, 119 to 144, 2015 (summary at HRAF)
- Sahih Muslim 2188, Book of Greetings: sunnah.com/muslim:2188
- St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church: "The Orthodox Tradition of Exorcising Vaskania (Evil Eye)", 2020
- USC Digital Folklore Archives: "Malocchio"
- JEMS: "Understand Folk Medicine's Role in the Prehospital Care of Many Mexican-Americans"
- McGill Office for Science and Society: "Evil Eye" (on lead pouring)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "About Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention"
- Wood, F. A. et al.: "N-of-1 Trial of a Statin, Placebo, or No Treatment to Assess Side Effects" (SAMSON), New England Journal of Medicine 383, 2182 to 2184, 2020
- Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office: "Woman Sentenced for Duping Woman Out of $108,000 in Psychic Scam", December 2008
- U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida: "Jury Convicts Defendant in $25 Million Fraud Scheme", September 2013
- Dundes, A. (ed.): The Evil Eye: A Casebook, University of Wisconsin Press, 1992
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 · Report fraud: ReportFraud.ftc.gov
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