Evil Eye

A Few Tips for Good Luck

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If you visit Ireland or read Irish folklore and traditions you will undoubtedly come across many important warnings with regard to gaining peace, happiness, and good fortune. Now, there are very few of us that do not want good luck and the good fortune that it brings. So, for those of you who desire to have good luck I have gathered some of the more well-known warnings that fill Irish tradition.

The first of these is that you should never put a boot on your foot until you have two stockings on, i.e. one on each foot and not two on one foot. Any person who does not pay heed to this warning should abandon any hope of luck. It is said that Columbcille once put on a sock and a boot on one foot, intending to do the same with the other foot. Unfortunately, the saint’s enemies came upon him just as he was preparing to put on the second sock and was, therefore, unable to run away and avoid capture. It was at this time that the saint put his course upon any person who should do the same as he had done.

Market Day

Another warning says that if you are driving any animals to market and you meet a person who does not ‘bless’ them, be sure that before the person passes on you say, “God Bless your heart, your eye, and my share.” By saying this you will protect the animals from being ‘blinked’ by that person’s evil eye.

It is equally important that the ploughman guards his horses from the same dreadful evil of ‘blinking’. When he is approaching the end of the field, if he sees any person standing there to whom he must speak, he should never allow the horses to stand until he has turned their faces towards the other end, with their tails to the person. This will ensure the horses will be safe while the ploughman talks to the person.

All of the above warnings are means of preventing the ill luck of ‘blinking’, and it is always said that “Prevention is always better than cure!” But you might wonder if there was a cure for ‘blinking’, and the answer is “Yes”.

It is often said that “Quick is the glance of an eye under any circumstance, but quicker by far is the glance of blinker’s eye.” The harm that we fear could have already been done before we can guard against it. So, counteracting such an evil spell should be our immediate aim, and there is, thankfully, an effective antidote that we should remember. Firstly, the animal should be struck with any part of your clothing. In older times it would be said with ‘the tail of your coat’, and next the ground. This procedure should be repeated three times if a complete cure is to be obtained.

You are also warned that when you travel along a lonely road at night you should keep to the centre of the road, walking between the wheel tracks and keeping in the tracks made by your horse. Doing this will ensure that nothing can harm you while you follow those horse tracks.

Now that we are approaching the Christmas season it is important that you don’t give anything away on New Year’s Day. But if you find this unavoidable ensure the person who gets it from you brings something to you first. For example, if your neighbour’s fire happens to go out in the morning, do not give the neighbour any coal until you first receive turf. In the same way never, for any reason, allow a coal to be taken from your house while there is any person within the house who is sick. Also, it is important that you remember that under no circumstance allow a coal out of your house on a Monday morning.

It is also important that you give away no milk from the first churning, and the person to whom you give milk from your dairy should ‘bless’ the milk and the cow which gave it.

In the North of Ireland, it was always said that you should not “dung the byre” after the sun had set. Tradition forbade any removal of manure, or the sweepings of the house, after that time. Such chores were to be attended to during the day, “after the sun had risen, and before he has set.” Furthermore, on New Year’s day no ashes or food waste should be put out, and all the water you need for use in the house is to be brought in before dark on New Year’s Eve.

J.W.                                                                            

Things to Remember

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There are many important bits of advice among the Irish that you need to remember if you need ‘Good Luck’ in your life, and God knows none of us want ‘Bad Luck.’ So listen now to what you are being told.

Never put a boot on your foot until you have two socks on. Now, not two sock on the one foot, but one on each. You will say goodbye to your luck if you neglect this bit of advice, for St. Columbcille once put a sock and a boot on one foot, with the intention of doing the same to the other. But his enemies who were pursuing him came upon him just as he was putting on the second sock. He was unable to run away and was caught. He then gave the curse to the person who should do as he had done.

If you are driving any animals to market and you meet a person who does not ‘bless’ them, remember that you should say before the person passes on. “God Bless your heart, your eye, and my share.” The evil eye of the person cannot then ‘blink’ the animals.

The ploughman, too, needs to guard his horses from the same dreadful evil of blinking. When he is approaching the end of the field, if he observes any person standing there to whom he must speak, let him on no account allow the horses to stand until he has turned their faces towards the other end, with their tails to the person. They will be quite safe in that position.

The foregoing are preventatives, and we are all pretty familiar with the adage “Prevention is better than cure.” But is there no ‘cure’ for ‘blinking’? Indeed, there is, why wouldn’t there?

Quick is a glance of the eye under any circumstance, but quicker far is the glance of the blinker’s eye. The harm may be accomplished before we can guard against it. To counteract the spell should then be our aim. There is an antidote. Remember it. Strike, first, the affected animal with any part of your apparel or, to be accurate, with, as we say in Gaelic, the “tail of your coat,” and next the ground. Repeat the operation three times and you have affected a complete cure.

When travelling along a lonely road at night take the centre and walk between the ruts so that you can keep in the tracks which horses have made. Nothing can harm you while you follow the horses’ tracks.

Don’t give anything away on New Year’s Day. If, however, it is unavoidable, make the person who gets it bring something to you first. For instance, if your neighbour’s fire happens to be dead in the morning, don’t give a coal until you receive a turf first. Never on any account allow a coal to be removed from your house if there is any person sick within; and do not under any circumstance allow a coal out on a Monday morning.

Give no milk from the first churning. The person to whom you give milk from your dairy should ‘bless’ the milk and the cow that gave it.

Do not, as it is said in the North, “dung the byre” after sunset. It is strictly forbidden to re the manure after that hour also to put out the house sweepings. Such things should be attended to during the day, “After the sun has risen, and before he has set.”     

Put out no ashes or slops on New Year’s Day. Also have all the water required for domestic use in before dark on New Year’s Eve.JW   

The Charms of Salt

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Traditional Folklore

Salt

Salt, as we all know, is useful for many purposes in life. But there are many applications for this preservative which are not known outside of the Irish community. For your sake and to remind those Irish who have forgotten many of their traditions in this modern world let me enlighten you as to some of the ‘Charms of Salt.’

You should never attend a funeral or a wake until you have taken the precaution of fortifying yourself against evil by eating a few grains of salt. At the same time, you should also take with you. If you do these things you will be safe. Neither the ‘evil eye’ of a neighbour, nor the tricks of spirits, who are forever on the alert to take advantage of those people who fail to provide themselves with protection against them.

Salt is also regarded as an infallible remedy for the traumatic effects that occur when one sees a ghost.

A pinch of salt is always put into milk that is given away and the woman of the house should never permit milk to be taken out of the premises unless this is done, whether the milk be sold or given free to a friend in need. One grain of salt will be enough, but if none were added it would result in a great misfortune of some kind befalling the dairy or the cow.