Sa meighina de s’oju

Sa meighina de s’oju is a  Sardinian folk medicine, which has spanned the centuries unscathed, from generation to generation, has survived the hostilities of the Church and official medicine and is still in use today despite progress, skepticism and globalization.
A severe headache, a general malaise or a whole series of misadventures, more or less serious, can be caused by a colpadura de oju, by the evil eye. What to do?
Our grandmothers and grandparents and even our parents had and have few doubts: sa meighina de s’oju can cure and eliminate this sneaky disease. You go immediately to casa de sa tia, the lady who knows how to do medicine in the village, or you call her on the phone – progress, right ?! – and in a short time everything is resolved: the headache disappears, everything that seemed, mysteriously and suddenly, blocked, resumes life and movement.
And we, what do we do? We women and men who live the contemporaneity? How many of us resort to this ancient cure? How many of us know stories of salvific meighinas de s’oju?

If you are suspicious and have a skeptical look, or you are simply curious, you can do an experiment: ask your acquaintances and your neighbors and you will find out how much this practice is still alive and felt. And above all practiced.
The glance generates psychophysical malaise, a state of pain that no medicine would seem to cure. The first symptom is usually a severe headache, followed by a state of widespread malaise, which affects not only the physical, but also the spirit and, in general, all the chores that are taking place.
Fascination, which subjugates through eyes or words, is always the result of jealousy, wickedness and envy but chie est ojitortu is not always aware of its own nefarious power. always".

There are weaker and more sensitive people, especially children: stories are told of people who have been reduced to death and miraculously saved by folk medicine.
All of us, inhabitants or visitors of the villages, know women who practice sa meighina de s’oju. We know them because, at least once in our life, we have resorted to their help: whether they sent us as children to their homes to ask people or livestock for some medicine, or maybe the request for help is ours.

The women who practice this folk medicine are deeply religious, they welcome us into their home: the walls and furniture covered with images and statuettes of saints and Madonnine.

There is no name that defines those who silently perform an act of charity and care without having any kind of monetary compensation in return, they can accept a gift, nothing more. Their mission is: they play a recognized and respected role within the Community.

Sa meighina de s’oju is almost always a female story, which is handed down from mother to daughter, from aunt to niece, or between neighbors: it is always an adult or elderly woman who transmits her knowledge to a woman younger. Medicine is not made only of ancient formulas and signs, a certain predisposition is needed, a gift of nature, to accompany and guide the gestures.

The rite is practiced with different methods and objects, depending on the country or the type of evil: wheat, oil, stones. There are, however, some common denominators, such as the constant repetition of the name of the victim of fascination, the litany of prayers and prayers, water, another fundamental element is the sign of the cross repeated over and over again.

There are several ways to avoid sa colpadura de oju: wear the underwear upside down, or carry su pinnadellu, the black stone jewel; in ancient times they used the short, small artifacts made for protective purposes.
Sa meighina de s’oju opens up a world full of charm, which recognizes great power in the human mind, a power of manipulation, which is expressed through looks and words. And it is the ancient gestures and, once again, the words that manage to neutralize and cancel that power: word drives out word, gesture drives out evil gaze.

It is a practice of rationalizing the unknown, which precedes painkillers and antibiotics and does not require leaflets, you just need to believe it. It is an act of care and love for one’s neighbor, which reminds us how much words and trust in the other are salvific, how much it could sometimes be useful to rely on others and believe in them.