The Evil Eye

[dnewhous]

I was watching the end of the 100 most metal moments on VH-1. It's a 10 hour long countdown that is played for laughts. Things like Jimmy Page purchasing Alister Crowley's castle, a band of midgets forming mini-KISS, and a volcano erupting 20 minutes after shooting part of a music video at the peak for Dokken are on the list.

 

Anyway, #3 in the countdown is the "devil horns salute" which looks identical to the "hook-em horns" sign for the Texas Longhorns. For an example of the confusion this can cause, look here

 

http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/ne...ewsitemID=31833

 

Anyway, the man credited for inventing the devil horns salute by VH-1 is Ronnie James Dio, who was the singer for Black Sabbath at the time he started it. (It is mentioned that Gene Simmons claims that he did it first on the cover of "Love Gun.")

 

Ronnie James Dio explains that he learned it from his grandmother who called it the (sounds like) mo-loik or muh-loik with the accent on the second syllable. Ronnie said that doing it in the hook-em horns style (he didn't say anything about Texas, but there's no other way to explain the image) is done to protect yourself from the evil eye and that if you point your index and pinky finger outwards you are giving the evil eye to someone (cut to Dio giving the evil eye to his audience at the end of a show). Ronnie says that he won't take credit for inventing it, but he will take credit for making it popular.

 

I am posting here because this sounds like some sort of pagan thing, and this is one of the few places in the world that has pagan readers. Is there any more that can be learned here about the moloik?

[dnewhous]

It was really cool when they showed this being used in the Rome television series. I watched it on DVD and activated the commentary boxes - which emphasized that it has more power when done with the left hand. And the proper spelling is malocchio.

 

Incidentally, Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio have gotten back together and are going to do a new full-length studio album. I never thought that I would see the day, truly sevil natas.

 

This was probably prompted when Iron Maiden was on the Ozzfest bill and singer Bruce Dickinson repeatedly bashed Black Sabbath for being an embarassing nostalgia band that only plays songs from the 70's.

[Nephele]

Ronnie James Dio explains that he learned it from his grandmother who called it the (sounds like) mo-loik or muh-loik with the accent on the second syllable... Is there any more that can be learned here about the moloik?

 

Granny was most likely saying "moloik" as an abbreviated form of the Italian malocchio, which means "evil eye." A lot of Italian words here in the U.S. have been changed or abbreviated -- particularly in Sicilian slang -- almost to the point where they are hardly recognizable in the original Italian, such as "goomah" from comare and "proshoot" from prosciutto.

 

UNRV member docoflove can most likely shed some more information on this, as she is not only of Italian ancestry but she is also a specialist in Romance languages.

 

-- Nephele

[docoflove1974]

Ronnie James Dio explains that he learned it from his grandmother who called it the (sounds like) mo-loik or muh-loik with the accent on the second syllable... Is there any more that can be learned here about the moloik?

 

Granny was most likely saying "moloik" as an abbreviated form of the Italian malocchio, which means "evil eye." A lot of Italian words here in the U.S. have been changed or abbreviated -- particularly in Sicilian slang -- almost to the point where they are hardly recognizable in the original Italian, such as "goomah" from comare and "proshoot" from prosciutto.

 

UNRV member docoflove can most likely shed some more information on this, as she is not only of Italian ancestry but she is also a specialist in Romance languages.

 

-- Nephele

 

Yep, Neph is right. Most likely, it's a version of mal occhio 'the evil eye'...and it does sound more Southern Italian. In the US, most of the Italian-Americans on the East Coast (and in Chicago) tend to have roots in Southern Italy (Sicily, Lucania, Calabria), and the Italian-American-isms there are decidedly influenced by the dialects of that region. By contrast, on the West Coast (California and Washington in particular) most of the Italian-Americans have Central and Northern Italian backgrounds (in particular Genoa, Lombardy, Tuscany), which affects the Italian-American-isms and local flavor here. For example, my grandmother (whose parents were from Lombardy) never used the phrase mal occhio--the phrase was ocə d'assass

[Ludovicus]

My family's roots are from the region of Molise, next to Abruzzo. My mother, on a visit to my aunt and uncle's, once cautioned me against praising the beauty of my newborn cousin. She said it would bring the malocch'. When I got to see the baby I noticed an amulet pinned to his shirt. If I remember correctly, it was a forearm ending in a hand making a fist. Later, I found the same charm around our house.

 

There was always a caution against bragging or predicting a good future. That would be testing the malocch'.

 

As a teenager, my aunt's father wanted to teach me how to cure the malocch'. We would need oil and water. It had to be done on Christmas eve. The class never took place.

[Aurelia]

In Brazil, we use the expression mau olhado for evil eye. One of the must common "amulets" for protection against the evil eye (and also as a symbol for good luck) is the "figa" in Portuguese ("fica" in Italian), as already described by Lodovicus. Apparently it has been used as such since Etruscan times. Interestingly, in many cultures it is regarded as a very rude gesture. So apologies if this offends anyone.

 

Edited May 30, 2011 by Aurelia

[Ludovicus]

That's it. My parents had one that was jewel-encrusted--fake stones.

[Kosmo]

In Romanian is called "deochi" and it's an headache (or other illness) provoked by excessive appreciation of somebody (usually child or animal) like an involuntary spell. The defense is that the one who praises somebody spits (actually make a sound that represent spitting) and says a formula. Other defense is wearing red.

[Ludovicus]

Headaches in my Italian family were also associated with the evil eye.

[guy]

Anyway, #3 in the countdown is the "devil horns salute" which looks identical to the "hook-em horns" sign for the Texas Longhorns. For an example of the confusion this can cause, look here

 

Ronnie James Dio explains that he learned it from his grandmother who called it the (sounds like) mo-loik or muh-loik with the accent on the second syllable. I am posting here because this sounds like some sort of pagan thing, and this is one of the few places in the world that has pagan readers. Is there any more that can be learned here about the moloik?

 

Wow. The post in almost six years old.

 

As has been written before, malocchio, is the evil eye. The evil eye is

look or stare thought to have evil intentions or powers:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malocchio

 

My Italian relations and friends would wear an Italian horn to protect themselves:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornicello

 

Also for protection is the sign that is discussed here:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mano_cornuta

 

Caution, however, although popular among rock metal audiences, the sign also suggests one is a cuckold in many Latin cultures.

 

As an aside, however, I just wanted to thank the original poster for the link that now includes a rare interview with Neil Peart, drummer for the group Rush. He is a brilliant, but tortured musician. I'm going to see them in Las Vegas in a few weeks.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpCASVFyQoE

 

 

guy also known as gaius