Ojo de Venado: The Deer's Eye Amulet Against Mal de Ojo

The ojo de venado ("deer's eye") is a protective amulet widespread in Mexico and Central America: a large, glossy brown seed whose markings resemble an eye, bound with red thread or yarn and usually decorated with a small image of the Virgin of Guadalupe or a saint. It is believed to guard against mal de ojo, the illness thought to strike babies and small children when someone looks at them with strong admiration or envy. Today it is mostly worn by adults, hung in a car or kept near a child rather than on the child, for safety.

How to do it§

1. Obtain the seed. Ojo de venado seeds are sold in markets and botánicas, often already decorated. If you are making one, choose a smooth, whole seed and wipe it clean.
2. Attach the image. Glue a small printed image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Sacred Heart or a protective saint to the flat face of the seed. Let it dry.
3. Wrap the thread. Wind red yarn or thread around the edge of the seed and secure it with glue, leaving a loop for hanging. Many add a short red tassel; red is the protective colour against the evil eye in much of Latin America and the Mediterranean.
4. Bless it. Light the white candle. Sprinkle the amulet with holy water, or with water to which you have added a pinch of salt, and make the sign of the cross over it. Pray the Our Father and a Hail Mary, then ask, in your own words, for protection — for example: "Holy Mother, guard this child (or this home) from envy and every harm." Some families ask the parish priest to bless it.
5. Place it safely. Hang it on the wall near the cradle but well out of the baby's reach, from the rear-view mirror of the family car, or wear it yourself as a bracelet or pendant while carrying the child. Never put it on a baby or leave it in a cot.
6. Care for it. Folk belief holds that if the seed cracks or the amulet is lost, it has done its work by taking the blow; give thanks, bury the old seed in a garden or plant pot, and make or obtain a new one.
7. Combine with care. In families that hold this belief, visitors who admire a baby may be asked to touch the child gently, which is thought to prevent the eye from harming.

Origins and history§

Mal de ojo came to the Americas with Spanish colonists, who brought the Mediterranean belief that the envious or admiring gaze can sicken children, livestock and crops. In Mexico it merged with Indigenous concepts of illness caused by imbalance and strong emotion, and became one of the classic folk illnesses treated by curanderas, alongside susto (fright) and empacho (indigestion). Anthropologists Robert Trotter and Juan Antonio Chavira describe its typical symptoms in babies — crying, fever, restlessness — and remedies such as the egg cleansing (see Limpia con Huevo), while noting that sick infants also need medical care.

The amulet uses the seed of a tropical vine of the genus Mucuna, whose large seeds drift on ocean currents and are known in English as "sea-beans" or "hamburger beans". Their resemblance to an eye made them natural charms: an eye to turn back the eye. When the ojo de venado amulet first became popular is not well documented; it is widely found in Mexican and Central American markets by the twentieth century, and its saints' images reflect the deep Marian devotion of Mexican Catholicism, especially to the Virgin of Guadalupe, whose apparition is dated by tradition to 1531. Similar eye amulets exist in many cultures: the blue glass nazar of Turkey and Greece, and the black jet azabache of Spain and Puerto Rico, often carved as a small fist. Alan Dundes's casebook gathers studies of the evil eye across the world. See amulets and talismans and folk Christianity.

Variations§

In Puerto Rico and Spain, babies are traditionally given an azabache charm; today it is usually pinned to a parent's clothing or kept in the nursery rather than on the infant. Some families tie a red ribbon to the pram or car seat frame, out of the child's reach, instead of using an amulet. In Guatemala and El Salvador the ojo de venado is also worn by adults as a general good-luck charm.

Safety and good sense§

Amulets, beads, cords and seeds are choking and strangulation hazards: never place necklaces, bracelets or cords on a baby or toddler, never leave them in a cot or pram, and keep them out of reach. Mucuna seeds should not be eaten or chewed. Keep the candle away from curtains and bedding and never leave it unattended. Fever, persistent crying, poor feeding or lethargy in a baby require prompt medical attention; the amulet expresses love and faith but is no substitute for a doctor.

Sources and further reading§

• Curanderismo: Mexican American Folk Healing — Robert T. Trotter II & Juan Antonio Chavira, 1981
• The Evil Eye: A Casebook — Alan Dundes (ed.), 1981
• Woman Who Glows in the Dark: A Curandera Reveals Traditional Aztec Secrets of Physical and Spiritual Health — Elena Ávila, 1999
• The Evil Eye: An Account of This Ancient and Widespread Superstition — Frederick Thomas Elworthy, 1895
• Curandero: A Life in Mexican Folk Healing — Eliseo Torres & Timothy L. Sawyer, 2005