In 15th century China sunglasses, coloured lenses, had two main purposes, one was they thought that they had magic power, depending on the colour of the lens, and the other was they set down the protective power of the lenses against curses.
Fear of a curse done with an ‘evil eye’ goes back to ancient cultures; we can find references in ancient Roman culture, in Christianity and Hindu mythology. In the Middle Ages people were so terrified of the ‘mesmerising’ look (back then the meaning of mesmerising was the opposite to what it is today) of witches that they sent them to be burnt at the stake. They put blindfolds on to cover up the eyes of those people who were to be executed in order to prevent them from performing a curse with an ‘evil eye’ (in order to stop them hurting their excutioners).
From an esoteric point of view eyes are considered to be energy transmitters, since with the help of the eyes we can transfer energy from one person to another or the other way around (we can give energy or we can take energy away). Science has also dealt with this phenomenon and discovered many cases where the eyes are able to issue electromagnetic signals. For example, Colin A. Ross, a psychiatrist, noted cases in his thesis the ‘Background of the electrophysiology of cursing with eyes’.
A ‘caressing glance’ or ‘if looks could kill’ and ‘frozen stare’ are very familiar and widely used expressions. And moreover the associated feelings too, familiar for most of us, are not necessarily easy to put in words. The curse could occasionally be quite visible, see the story of the Gorgons in Greek mythology. Their story is interesting, because their ugliness is an ‘acquired’ trait, and they also had the skill of the curse, of turning something into stone, with their eyes.
Defence against evil eyes is difficult, and sometimes even impossible. Numerous methods are know. In Transylvania, for example, smouldering coal is placed into a glass of