The evil eye: how to tell if you have it and how to remove it, step by step

We're saying this at the start, not in the small print. Persistent tiredness, headaches that won't ease off, anxiety or trouble sleeping are medical symptoms and may have a cause that's worth looking into. If you've been feeling like this for a while, book an appointment with your GP. This guide is about a tradition and about rituals that many people have practised for generations; it is not a diagnosis and doesn't claim to be one.

With that said, and once anything medical has been ruled out, here is the tradition in full, clearly explained.

The evil eye is an ancient and very widespread belief: the idea that a look charged with envy can leave its mark on whoever receives it. It turns up around the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, in Latin America and in North Africa – and in old British folklore, where someone affected was said to have been “overlooked” – with different names and similar remedies, which explains why it has survived to this day.

The tradition agrees on one thing: no ill will is needed. Envy is enough, even intense admiration. And it singles out as most exposed young children, newlyweds and anyone who has just had good news – a new job, a pregnancy, a move – precisely because those are the moments that draw the most eyes.

In folk tradition, signs like these are associated with the evil eye:

• Tiredness you can't explain and that sleep doesn't fix.
• A headache that comes on suddenly and keeps coming back.
• Yawning again and again without feeling sleepy, especially when talking about what's going on.
• Sudden mood swings, irritability or low spirits with no clear cause.
• A run of bad luck: several things going wrong in a row, opportunities falling through.
• Feeling uneasy when you walk into your home, as if the atmosphere were heavy.

The tradition itself adds a detail worth remembering: what matters most isn't the list of signs but when they started. If everything changed after a visit, a remark or a piece of news you shared, that's where the tradition puts its focus.

There are three classic ways to check, and all three can be done at home with things you already have. You don't need to do all three: choose whichever feels most natural to you.

• The egg. The best known. A fresh egg is passed over the body and then cracked into a glass of water. What forms in the water is what you read.
• The oil. The quickest. A few drops of olive oil are let fall into a dish of water, and you watch what they do.
• The incense. The most discreet. A stick is lit beside the person and you watch how the ash falls.

Below, we guide you step by step through whichever you choose, with the right timings and order, and then help you read what came up.

Take the test

The egg

This is the test with the most possible readings, which makes it the richest. Look at the glass against the light, without moving it, a few minutes after cracking the egg. The tradition recognises five results: threads rising from the yolk towards the surface, a white cloud or film spread across the top, round bubbles on the yolk that look like eyes staring back, fine spikes radiating from the yolk in every direction, and clear water with the yolk whole, which is the calm result.

What the tradition reads in each result:

• The Thread: threads rising from the yolk. It's taken as something that needs drawing out.
• The Cloud: a white veil at the top. It's linked to something clouding your mood or the atmosphere at home.
• The Eyes: round bubbles on the yolk. The tradition reads it as eyes fixed on you.
• The Spikes: fine spikes in every direction. It's associated with envy.
• Clear Water: clear water and a whole yolk. The calm result: nothing to report.

The oil

Look from above, into a deep plate or a white bowl filled with water. The reading depends on what the drop does: whether it opens into a ring with a clear centre – the figure that gives the test its name – breaks into lots of tiny droplets scattered about, stretches into an irregular slick, or stays round and whole, floating in the middle.

What the tradition reads in each figure:

• The Eye: the drop opens into a ring with a clear centre. It's the figure that gives the test its name and the one the tradition links most directly to the evil eye.
• The Swarm: the drop breaks into lots of tiny droplets. It's read as several small burdens at once, spread out rather than concentrated.
• The Slick: the drop stretches and loses its shape. It's read as tiredness or heaviness that has been building up.
• The Pearl: the drop stays round and whole. The calm result: nothing to report.

The incense

Here you watch the ash. What the tradition reads in each case:

• The Column: the ash holds up without falling and forms a long, curved column. It's taken as something to cleanse.
• The Break: the ash breaks and veers off to one side. It's read as movement: something is shifting around you, and the tradition recommends cleansing your home and protecting yourself.
• The Clean Fall: the ash falls straight down and gathers in a little pile underneath. All is well.

These are the readings of folk tradition, and they vary from one family to the next. Take them as a guide to what to do next, not as a diagnosis.

The tradition doesn't stop at spotting it. What it offers is a cleanse in stages, and the order matters: first the body, then the space, and finally protection. We spread it over three days, which is how it works best.

Day 1 · The body

A salt bath. It's the most repeated remedy across every tradition and the simplest: hot water, salt, in you get, and when you step out, let yourself drip dry without rinsing. If you'd rather have a ready-made blend, the Evil Eye Cleansing Bath is made for exactly this; if you want something gentler, try Energy Cleansing Bath Salt or Purification Bath Salt. For the days after, our Handmade Rue Soap.

For day 1

Your bathEvil Eye Cleansing BathGentlerEnergy Cleansing Bath SaltFor afterHandmade Rue Soap

Day 2 · The home

Smoke-cleanse. Open a window, light your incense and walk slowly through the house, starting at the back and finishing at the front door, so whatever is stirred up has a way out. Evil Eye Protection Incense is the one made for the job; Home Cleansing Incense is for monthly upkeep. A Rue Bundle behind the door and a little Black Salt in the corners round off the day.

For day 2

The specialistEvil Eye Protection IncenseBehind the doorRue BundleIn the cornersWitch's Black Salt

Day 3 · Protection

Light a candle. This is the closing step: once body and space are cleansed, you set an intention. The Protection Intention Candle is the direct choice; the Saint Benedict Prayer Candle comes with its prayer printed on it, and the Protective Shield Double-Effect Candle is the strongest of the three.

For day 3

The direct oneProtection Intention CandleWith its prayerSaint Benedict Prayer CandleThe strongestProtective Shield Candle

See all our protection candles

And afterwards, keep it on you

The tradition insists that after cleansing you must protect yourself, or you'll end up back where you started. The two amulets most used against the evil eye are the Turkish eye (nazar) and jet: there's the Turkish Eye Necklace, the Red 7-Knot Bracelet with Turkish Eye – which brings the red thread and the eye together in a single piece – and the Jet Fig-Hand Pendant. For those who prefer the Christian route, the Saint Benedict Medal.

To wear

The classicTurkish Eye NecklaceRed thread & eyeRed 7-Knot Bracelet with Turkish EyeJetJet Fig-Hand Pendant

What the tradition says, in a nutshell and without frills:

• Don't tell everyone everything. It's the most repeated piece of advice: good news is best shared once it's a done deal. That's where the old habit of not showing off a new baby too soon comes from.
• Wear your amulet, don't leave it tucked away in a drawer.
• Cleanse your home every month, without waiting for something to happen. A monthly smoke-cleanse is upkeep, not an emergency.
• Be mindful of the company you keep. The old version of this talked about envy; today's version is about who leaves you feeling uplifted and who leaves you drained.

Can I remove it myself, or does someone need to do it for me?

The tradition allows for both. Cleanses with salt, water and incense are done on your own and are the most common. The figure of the folk healer, or the person who “takes it off”, comes in when what you do at home isn't enough. Start with the simple things.

How often can I do the egg test?

The custom is not to overdo it: once, and if you've done a cleanse, repeat it a few days later to compare. Doing it every morning adds nothing and tends to end in obsession.

What do I do with the egg afterwards?

You don't stare at it, you don't keep it and you don't throw it in the household bin. The tradition says to flush it down the loo or, if you can, bury it well away from the house. And wash your hands afterwards.

Will any candle do?

For protection, the tradition calls for white or black: white to protect and black to absorb whatever is surplus. Our protection ritual candles come already ritually prepared and with their prayer, which is what many people look for so they don't have to set it all up themselves.

Does a Turkish eye need charging or cleansing?

Just rinse it with water and dry it now and then, nothing more. And if it breaks, the tradition reads it in a positive light: it's said to have done its job. You thank it and replace it.

The evil eye is, above all, an old way of naming something very familiar: the feeling that something from outside is weighing on you. The tradition offers an orderly path for dealing with it – look at what's happening, cleanse the body, cleanse the home, set an intention and protect yourself – and that, whatever it does for your energy, helps you feel back in control. And if the ritual is a beautiful one, all the better.

And remember what we said at the start: if what you're going through is physical and won't go away, that's for the doctor's surgery, not the glass of water.

See all our amulets