Why the Evil Eye bead is more than just a good luck charm:
The Evil Eye is more than just a superstitious myth, and
evil eye beads are more than just good luck charms. They are a reminder that we
are all one people.
How's that?
Take an Orthodox from Greece, a Catholic from Mexico, a Jew from
Israel, or a Muslim from Turkey, Iran, or anywhere in the Middle East.
Different people, different religions, everybody always fighting all the time,
etc, etc.
But what do they all have in common? They all believe in the
Evil Eye and they all wear these good luck charms to guard against it.
The Evil Eye is a reminder that underneath it all, we are
all the same human beings, even if we think we're different.
In our eyes, that's what makes the evil eye REALLY cool!
Enough editorial, now for the straight story...
Throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East, many people
believe envious gazes or high praise from others can bring you bad luck.
The people who praise you probably mean you no harm, but
still, evil spirits can piggyback in on their words or looks, and put a bad
luck curse on you.
The Nazar Boncuk charm (or Evil Eye Bead) is an
"eye", often set on a blue background. It stares back at the world to
ward off the evil spirits and keep you safe from harm. It is one of the most
common items of decoration in any Turkish home, in any car, or on any person.
You can see the charm hanging above doorways, dangling from the wrists of young
women, or even planted right into the cement outside modern office buildings.
And always, always, you will see them pinned to the shirts of new-born babies.
What do the colours mean? In Turkey and surrounding
countries, the most popular evil eye charm colour is blue. Turkey is in a dry
part of the world, where water is precious -- with water things prosper and grow,
and without it, things shrivel and die. The colour blue reminds people of
fresh, cool water.
In the Jewish faith, the colour red is often associated with
luck and good fortune, so red is also a popular colour.
When the Evil Eye Bead appears in other colours besides blue
or red, it is usually for fashion reasons -- colour coordination with one's
wardrobe. Beads in the alternative colours have every bit as much protective
power as the traditional blue ones.
Evil eye beads go back thousands of years. The earliest
written references to the evil eye occur on Sumerian clay tablets dating to the
third millennium BC. Agate beads of exceptional quality, worn to protect the
wearer from the influence of the evil eye were also discovered in royal
Sumerian graves at Ur.
In Turkey and Greece, throughout the republics of Central
Asia, and all the way to the Turkic regions of western China -- the effects of
the "evil eye" are believed real and genuinely feared.
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