It was Lydia's first day at the Wattpad Paranormal Research Society. She had passed the tests the strange doctors put her through in the basement and well, they found her to be perfectly and utterly normal as far as they were concerned.
Still, Agent #2 believed in her and admitted her anyway. Lydia was a studious person by nature and exceptionally curious, and had passed all their written tests with flying colors. Her pencils and quills were sharpened, her ink pot filled, and her heavy backpack placed under her short feet as she sat at her desk in the library.
She adjusted her glasses and blew out her anxiety through her lips in a heavy sigh. The daily lecture would begin soon. Today's topic was one she had never encountered before in her culture: The Evil Eye.
The professor was an odd looking woman. She wore a big round gold monocle that magnified one of the sharp blue eyes looking down on Lydia. Her wavy brown hair tumbled messily down her shoulders. She held a book in one hand opened to the required page.
Prof. Ann Sullivan peered through her monocle, not missing any details pertaining to her young students. The trainees tended to be more active with each incoming batch and she kept a careful eye out for any misdemeanor. She brought her attention back to the book in her hand looking at the title of the page.
"Evil Eye." Her clear voice travelled through the room. "Can anyone tell me what this is?"
Her monocle glinted as she looked around the room for a response. "Anyone at all? I was hoping to have at least one student that read their textbook before class." She gave a long suffering sigh at the blank expressions that were returned.
Lydia cleared her throat and slowly raised her hand with a sheepish smile. When the teacher nodded towards her, Lydia rose from her desk and fidgeted with her skirt.
"Well, I heard about it once. Isn't it where being under the vision of someone cause the other person to feel..."
Ms. Sullivan's gaze landed on the student and she raised a questioning brow, "Yes?"
She stared at the monocle and felt her knees tremble. "Umm....well, what I mean is, " she said, quickly darting her gaze to the floor and taking a quick breath, "when someone looks at you with malice or jealousy, it can invoke bad luck by drawn attention from spirits."
Lydia bit her lip and folded her hands in her lap. She dared glance up at the teacher to see if she was correct.
"Not bad Ms. Lydia. I'm pleased to have one informed student this year." Sullivan smiled thinly at the girl before she cleared her throat, "Evil eye is assumed by most to be a malevolent glare casted upon someone who is unaware- this is what most believe. However some cultures believe that even the caster can be unaware of their infliction. This superstitious belief is also known by many names. For example: It goes by the name 'nazar' in some Middle East and South Asian cultures."
Lydia took her seat as Professor Sullivan continued her lecture,
"The power of the evil eye can be long term or short term. A gaze of admiration and jealousy can rob a person of their beauty, wealth and physical well being. This belief is strong in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America."
Prof. Sullivan's hand travelled subconsciously to her monocle, and she caressed it with an erie affection, " The powers of the Evil eye is said to originate chiefly from the eyes. It is often related to curses or spell casting. A person with particularly strong intentions can cause harm; whether intended or not however can still be debated."
"The victims of the Evil eye often weaken, with their health and beauty deteriorating even though no prior signs of illness were found to exist. Other cases such as someone losing their job or inexplicable accidents are sometimes suspected to be the work of the evil eye."
Lydia's hand froze over her notes. She felt every eye in the room staring at her. She shrunk into her seat like a timid turtle and kept scribbling the professor's words.
"...Authentic methods of warding off evil eye are practiced by the Indians. Amulets, bracelets, household items, etc. are used to ward off the effect. The typical symbol present on these objects is a crystal blue eye on a darker blue background. This is also called a 'Nazar' and is said to counter the effects of the evil eye. The nazar is also popular in Turkey."
"Professor?" asked Lydia as she raised her hand. She could feel the rest of the class staring at her back.
"Yes, Lydia?"
"Why does this particular symbol work? Can it be drawn, or does it have to be an object?" she asked.
"Excellent question Ms. Lydia. Glad to see someone is paying attention," Prof. Sullivan's eyes were fixed on a boy at the back who had dozed off in the middle. Suddenly, a crash could be heard as his chair toppled underneath him. "Wonderful to have your attention again Mr. Hunter."
The boy grumbled, glaring at Lydia from the corner of his eye.
"Now getting back to Ms. Lydia's question, this symbol equates to the eye bead: which is made by a glass art originating from Arabian artisans during the decline of the Ottoman Empire. It is a 3000 year old tradition of glass craftsmanship in Anatolia. A glass master combined the strength of the eye shape with the power of fire and created a new talisman, Nazar Boncugu: The evil eye bead."
"The nazar is typically a glass bead consisting of concentric circles in varying shades of blue, white and black or blue, gold and black. Other objects such as the Hamsa which is a palm shaped amulet popular in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the Pa Kua which is related to a practice of feng shui which believes that mirrors can be used to reflect negative energy back at almost anything."
"Professor?" asked Lydia. The class was definitely on the edge of their seats; she felt pins and needles on her back.
Ms. Sullivan sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile, her eye twinkling behind her monocle.
"Yes, Lydia?"
"Where can one buy these items? Will anything from a street vendor work, or is there something special they need to do to make it authentic?"
"The Nazar and Hamsa which are both based on the evil eye bead are readily available online and sold by street vendors in most of the countries that follow the belief. The Pa Kua mirror, is a six-sided mirror that is hung on the front door or placed in the front window in China."
"New born babies, adolescents at the time of puberty and women during marriage and childbirth are especially susceptible to the effects of the evil eye since these are times of change in a person's life. Mothers in South Asian cultures apply Kohl under their children's eyes to strengthen their eyes and prevent them from being inflicted by the evil eye. Therefore parents marked them with a black dot to add imperfection and reduce the chances of falling prey to the effects of the nazar. Similar marks are also made on cars and houses."
Lydia furiously scribbled the notes onto her paper, though her head felt the weight of everyone's judgment was pressing in on her skull, threatening to split her head open. She felt her fingers weaken the more everyone stared at her, until her hands started to shake. She looked about for an open window for a draft to explain the freezing she felt under her blue wool cardigan. She scratched in front of her ear and stared in horror at the skin flakes that peeled off under her manicured nails.
Professor Sullivan's speech didn't skip a beat as she stared at Lydia, though her eyes widened and a smile spread across her lips.
"In India cords strung with blue beads are placed on newborn babies until the cord breaks and the beads are lost. At this point the child is considered to have a strong enough aura to protect himself or herself from the evil eye. Hindus also believe that the snake is capable of giving an evil eye. In Europe the largest source of the evil eye was believed to be witches and Germans feared those with red eyes."
Lydia tried to finish writing the last few sentences, desperate to catch up, when the nib on her pen snapped. A bell tolled in the tower far above them, signaling the end of the lesson.
Professor Sullivan clapped her hands together and raised her voice as the students collected their things.
"Thank you, class. Let's take a 15 minute break and meet back here. We can practice what we have learned in the lab."
Lydia held her head in her hands and sniffed back tears. Her first day was going awfully and she wasn't sure why everyone was staring at her. She had picked the perfect outfit, her mother had done her hair and nails for her, and she had studied so, so hard. Could they tell she didn't have any abilities? Did she speak too much? Ask too many questions? Were they jealous she had lived a 'normal' life and was choosing to investigate the paranormal?
She unraveled herself from her desk and staggered over to the teacher.
"Professor Sullivan?" she asked, her voice meek and frail.
"Yes, Lydia?" Sullivan gave the girl a knowing look, she could see the negative energy that had attached itself to Lydia.
"...Do you happen to have any of those nazar, the evil eye beads on you?"