The Myth About 'Evil-Eye'

“Hraomai” as it is called in my Poumai Naga dialect can best be translated as 'evil-eye'. It is a common belief that if a person from such a family of 'evil-eye' casts a spell in the form of a compliment or something of that sort, the person upon whom the cast is spelled will fall sick. And in certain cases the so called victim (let me put it that way) would even die. One of my older brothers was considered to have been 'attacked' when he was 2 by a person with such 'accursed power' that he remained physically and mentally challenged even when he died at the age of 32. So if there is such a thing as 'evil-eye' I have strong reason to be angry with such people for bringing such hardship and suffering in the life of my parents and their children specially my brother who was the 'victim'.

I learnt that there is a slight variation between different communities about how 'evil-eye' works and how it is transmitted across generations. In the community I come from, it is believed that the 'power/curse' is transmitted from parents to children. And suppose a 'clean' person marries such 'unclean' people, then both of them eventually become 'unclean', and their children will also become 'unclean'. The implication of such belief is that 'clean' people avoid marrying such 'unclean' people. And eventually a kind of caste system prevails in the community. One group is considered clean and the other as unclean!

I have now come to believe that this story that some people possess power to cast spell on others is a myth. If a word or a speech can cast a spell that could make another person sick, how could that power be transmitted from the DNA of parents to the children's? But if it is transmitted from parents to children like sickle-cell anaemia or haemophilia is transmitted then how could it possibly give power to a person to cast a spell on another person? It does not make sense scientifically. Here someone would counter saying that it is the power of the evil spirit that make things possible. For the sake of argument let us grant that this is possible. But if it is the evil spirit that works then how could it possibly be transmitted from parents to children? The power of the evil spirit cannot be transmitted from parents' DNA to children's DNA. And if it is the power of the evil spirit, then how could the 'curse/power' infects those who confess and believe Jesus Christ as Lord and God? So the whole argument does not make sense. But if anyone invites the evil spirit and asks power from the evil one, then of course the issue is different! But as far as I know there is no one in the community who does that.

I believe the traditional story has been passed on from one generation to another. And even today the same story continues about those people about whom the story has been told. And because we typecast such people, we find allege incidents of such people having cast spell on someone. And in a close knit societies like ours where interaction between members of the community is extremely frequent such 'unclean' people interacting with other members is bound to happen, and when some sickness occurs we just attribute it to such 'unclean' people. And so this story continues in the neibourhood.

The story is passed on among the 'clean' people. But because telling the 'unclean' people in person that you are unclean will make the society unlivable, the story remains an open secret. There are stories: an 'unclean' people felt that strong urge to cast a spell on someone yet because he remained indoor the whole day he avoided harming anyone... but because the urge was so strong and he had to wrestle with the urge, the house was as if a tornado had just passed through; such 'unclean' people are able to see through the intestine and other organs of a person; such people, however, cannot cast spell on their enemy and they 'attack' only whom they don't hate, etc. Since these are all stories that cannot be verified because the 'unwritten law' prohibits one to openly discuss name or talk about such people, even if I consider them as myth I cannot prove such stories as unathentic nor could anyone prove the stories to be true. So if there is anyone out there who is a member of such family whom others consider them to be 'unclean', please write to me and provide comment about such stories. I shall not disclose names, but I wish to continue to write and discredit such stories as myths. My id is jeremiahduomai(at)gmail.com.

And those who are consider themselves clean, why do you believe that anyone could have such power to cast a spell? Comments from other communities would also be appreciated.