Truck owners and other public transport vehicles may commonly be seen using a small black cloth on the bumpers to prevent the evil eye. Italy
The cornicello, "little horn", also called the cornetto ("little horn", plural cornetti), is a long, gently twisted horn-shaped amulet. Cornicelli are usually carved out of red coral or made from gold or silver. The type of horn they are intended to copy is not a curled-over sheep horn or goat horn but rather like the twisted horn of an African eland or a chili pepper. A tooth or tuft of fur of the Italian wolf was worn as a talisman against the evil eye.One idea that the ribald suggestions made by sexual symbols distract the witch from the mental effort needed to successfully bestow the curse. Another is that since the effect of the eye was to dry up liquids, the drying of the phallus (resulting in male impotence) would be averted by seeking refuge in the moist female genitals. Among the ancient Romans and their cultural descendants in the Mediterranean nations, those who were not fortified with phallic charms had to make use of sexual gestures to avoid the eye. Such gestures include scratching ones testicles (for men), as well as the mano cornuta gesture and the fig sign; a fist with the thumb pressed between the index and middle fingers, representing the phallus within the vagina. In addition to the phallic talismans, statues of hands in these gestures, or covered with magical symbols, were carried by the Romans as talismans.
In describing their ability to deflect the evil eye, Ralph Merrifield described the Roman phallic charm as a "kind of lightning conductor for good luck".Peisistratus hung the figure of a kind of grasshopper before the Acropolis of Athens for protection.Another way for protection from fascination used by the ancient Greeks and Romans was by spitting into the folds of the clothes.Ancient Greeks also had an old custom of dressing boys as girls in order to avert the evil eye. Around the world
Belief in the evil eye is strongest in West Asia, Latin America, East and West Africa, Central America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to areas, including northern Europe, particularly in the Celtic regions, and the Americas, where it was brought by European colonists and West Asian immigrants.Belief in the evil eye is found in the Islamic doctrine, based upon the statement of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, "The influence of an evil eye is a fact..." [Sahih Muslim, Book 26, Number 5427]. Authentic practices of warding off the evil eye are also commonly practiced by Muslims: rather than directly expressing appreciation of, for example, a childs beauty, it is customary to say MashaAllah, that is, "God has willed it", or invoking Gods blessings upon the object or person that is being admired.A number of beliefs about the evil eye are also found in folk religion, typically revolving around the use of amulets or talismans as a means of protection.