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Summary
- The Bible does not speak of “negative energy”; it speaks of sin, human anger and envy, and evil spirits, and tells believers to “resist the devil” by drawing near to God (James 4:7–8).
- Scripture forbids divination and charms (Deuteronomy 18:10–11), and the Catechism of the Catholic Church says “wearing charms is also reprehensible” (paragraph 2117).
- The Orthodox service book prays for protection “from jealousy and envy, and from the evil eye,” and the Orthodox Church forbids going to “readers” for magical rituals against it.
- Psalm 91 (Psalm 90 in Orthodox and Catholic Bibles) is said in the Orthodox Sixth Hour, and the Orthodox evening prayers include a prayer to the Cross that opens with Psalm 68:1–2.
- Short prayers cover fear, a sense of evil, other people’s anger, fear of a curse, one’s own anger, dark thoughts at night, guilt, hopelessness and a heavy home.
- Traditional prayers come from the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers (“Against Evil Thoughts,” “Against Envy”) and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer (“Lighten our darkness”).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Deuteronomy 18:10–11; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 4:8; 51:10; 68:1–2; 91:1–2, 4–6, 10–11; Proverbs 4:23; Luke 10:5; John 8:12; Romans 12:21; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Ephesians 4:26–27; 6:12; 2 Timothy 1:7; James 4:7–8; 1 John 4:4). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraphs 2116–2117. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7C.HTM
- Hapgood, Isabel Florence, trans. Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic (Greco-Russian) Church. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, 1906. Preface, p. vi (the Book of Needs and the Blessing of a New Dwelling); The Sixth Hour, Psalm 90, p. 49; Prayers on the First Day after a Woman hath given Birth to a Child, p. 267. https://www.ponomar.net/data/hapgood.pdf
- Papademetriou, George C. “The Orthodox Tradition of Exorcising Vaskania (Evil Eye).” St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church, 29 January 2020. https://saintandrewgoc.org/blog/2020/1/29/the-orthodox-tradition-of-exorcising-vaskania-evil-eye
- “Evening Prayers,” Prayer to the Venerable Cross. St. Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral, Seattle. https://saintspiridon.org/evening-prayers/
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Occasional Prayers, “Against Evil Thoughts,” p. 168; Prayers against the Seven Deadly Sins, “Against Envy,” p. 297. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- The Book of Common Prayer (Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.), Standard Book of 1928. Evening Prayer, “A Collect for Aid against Perils,” p. 31. PDF facsimile: https://www.artisticdailyprayers.org/uploads/3/0/1/6/30164961/bcp1928std.pdf
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/
- Samaritans. “Contact a Samaritan.” https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
- Russian national helpline for children, teenagers and parents, 8 800 2000 122. https://fond-detyam.ru/
