The Evil Eye, Thanatology, and Other EssaysPark, Roswell
Religion
The Evil Eye, Thanatology, and Other Essays
Park, Roswell
Bruno, Giordano, 1548-1600; Evil eye; Knights of Malta; Medicine; Mythology; Religion; Students
To us in the medical profession it is of no little interest that in
Rome, according to Varro, there stood three temples on the Esquiline
dedicated to the goddess of Fever and one to Mephitis. Tacitus relates
that a temple to Mephitis was the only building left standing after the
destruction of Cremona, where there was also an altar dedicated to the
Evil Eye. We know, also, that in the very centre of the Forum there
stood an altar to Cloacina, the Goddess of Typhoid. What complete sway
this goddess has held from ancient times to the present I need scarcely
tell you. "When Rome, after the fall of the empire, relapsed into its
most insanitary condition this old worship reappeared in another shape,
and a chapel arose near the Vatican to the _Madonna della Febre_, the
most popular in Rome in times of sickness or epidemic." This simply
shows a transfer of ideas, the attributes of Diana being conveyed over
to her Christian successor, the virgin, whose cult became equally
supreme.
The principal symbol of this cult was the horned moon or crescent,
and, in consequence, horns in one form or another became the most
common of objects as amulets against the Evil Eye. So comprehensive
and persistent is this belief in Naples that, in the absence of a horn
in some shape, the mere utterance of the name _corno_ was supposed to
be an effectual protection. Even more than this, the name _Un Corno_
became applicable to any and every charm or amulet against the Evil
Eye. We may find many references to the Horn in Scripture, where it
served both as an emblem of dignity and as an amulet. Most curious it
is that the phylactery with which the Pharisees adorned their garments,
and which called forth the most scathing denunciation by the Master,
was undoubtedly an emblem of a horn, and worn as an amulet against
the Evil Eye. At the beginning of the Christian era it had become
fashionable to wear these, and how they were enlarged and made not only
badges of sanctity but marks of worldly honor, we may read in the New
Testament.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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