If you have ever been in Turkey, you might have noticed the Evil Eye, here called 'Nazar'. The name sounds a bit wiccan and mystic, and if you are not very familiar with Turkish culture you might think that only superstitious people believe in it.
But until now I have yet to meet someone who does not take 'Nazar' seriously around here, so much so that even we act accordingly as I have witnessed some interesting things even if though I am far from superstitious or religious for that matter.
Evil eye is something that ‘happens’ almost outside the will of the beholder, for instance when somebody praises you, or something that you have on, without meaning it, or with envy in their heart or jealousy, causing you to loose the item or the quality you are being praised for. You also can bring the evil eye upon yourself, by bragging or simply being overconfident, for instance, saying ‘I’m never ill’, you might start sneezing a few hours later.
If you ever visit Turkey you might not see them right away but if you look for them you'll see an Evil Eye in every shop and vehicle you enter, and you won't see a house without at least one. We too have a big Evil Eye hanging from the rear view mirror of our car :)
New born babies are especially susceptible for the evil eye, so that they are kept in traditional house holdings with a fine cloth loosely draped over their faces for their first forty days. After that they seem to develop some sort of immunity. Evil eye is brought upon a baby not only by malicious looks, but by any look from an unclean woman, that being a woman having her period or not having washed herself properly.
So, no visits to new born when having your ‘curse’, and when you want to praise your friends baby, you say: ‘Thank God, what an ugly, ugly baby’, that to demonstrate that your intentions are good and you wish no harm.
The concept and its significance vary widely among different cultures, primarily in West Asia. The idea appears several times in translations of the Old Testament. It was a widely extended belief among many Mediterranean and Asian tribes and cultures. Charms and decorations with eye-like symbols known as nazars, which are used to repel the evil eye are a common sight across Turkey, Greece, Albania, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Southern Italy (Naples), the Levant, and Afghanistan and have become a popular choice of souvenir with tourists. Known as nazar (Turkish: nazar boncuğu or nazarlık), this talisman is most frequently seen in Turkey.
We have made some evil eye pieces in the past, actually funny enough our
very first sale on Etsy was an evil eye necklace :)
Well a person can always use some extra luck and protection, you can find the evil eye jewelry pieces in our
StarDelights shop and the Home decor and keychains in our
StarHomeStudio shop.
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