Events, so far as they are conceived of, are also considered in a concrete sense.

The reason why omens were so often drawn from birds [114] is perhaps that birds fly from a distance and hence are able to see coming events on their way; and the hare and donkey were important animals of augury, perhaps because, on account of their long ears, they were credited with abnormally acute hearing, which would enable them to hear the sound of coming events before ordinary people.

The proverb 'Coming events cast their shadows before,' appears to be a survival of this mode of belief, as it is obvious that that which has no substance cannot cast a shadow.
The whole category of superstitions about the evil eye arises from the belief that the glance of the eye is a concrete thing which strikes the person or object towards which it is directed like a dart.

The theory that the injury is caused through the malice or envy of the person casting the evil eye seems to be derivative and explanatory.

If a stranger's glance falls on the food of a Ramanuji Brahman while it is being cooked, the food becomes polluted and must be buried in the ground.