Superstition: Wearing Evil Eye

I first heard about evil eye when a friend of mine was laid off in 2008.  After a rather brutal dismantle of an entire department, she had been laid off with 100+ of her co-workers during what most of us would consider the worst economic downturn in our lifetime.  My Evil Eye friend wanted protection in her new gig to ward off any more corporate 'baloney.' We went shopping for beads straight away, and found these lovely little lampwork beads that I promptly turned into a pair of earrings for her.   



THE MEANING OF THE STONE:

Energy: projective  
Magical Property: worn for courage and successful competitions (always wear in meetings when you know there will be an announcement about new corporate structure)
Divinatory Meaning: will find courage and prosperity

My Evil Eye friend heard the superstition from her husband's large Italian family who still speak only Italian in the home today even tho they live in the good 'ole USA (aka Brooklyn). I didn't hear anything more about evil eye until I met my Turkish friend who also has a strong belief in the power of the evil eye.  Apparently this superstition is widely believed throughout the Mediterranean.  Who knew? 


She prefers only a tiny little blue bead on a choker, and leaves the larger version (upper right) to protect the house.  She informed me that when moving into a new home you set an evil eye into kitchen tile, flooring or an archway of a door to deflect evil from making it into the house.  The color blue in a door is believed to have the same effect.  Blue (the color of the Aegean) is thought to absorb the negative energy and can be seen throughout the Mediterranean. 

Last year when my Turkish friend took her annual 5 weeks off to visit Turkey, she came back with my own version of an evil eye choker. And I guess I look as tho I could use some protection from evil looks at the office; yet another friend came back with a stash of various size Turkish evil eye beads from her trip. 


I was now swimming in evil eye and needed to figure out a few patterns for these beads.  I started with a fun wrap bracelet that my daughter and her friends are now wearing (right).  The large thick blue stones are still designed by hand using primitive means -- a 3000 year-old craft. It is layered molten glass, iron, copper, water and salt.  The combination is the secret to shield oneself from the forces of evil. Good to know. 


My favorite part of this superstition is that it has no religious boundaries. It works in many cultures: Judaism, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian.  The old saying 'an eye for an eye' seems to work pretty much anywhere. It is believed in Turkey that an 'eye for an eye' literally deflects negative energy and redirects back onto the person who is trying to send out 'bad vibes.'  Ok, now that is pretty cool!  


I found a great little store in the Garment District of New York City near my office that sells Murano glass who had a 'super size' version of the blue evil eye.  I had to have it!  I picked up a large evil eye pendent that I thought would be perfect with blue sea glass and a Greek-style toggle (upper right).  


I don't think I had this posted on my Etsy site for more than a week before someone snatched it up. Curious about who would want a large evil eye; I checked out their profile.  This person doesn't sell anything on Etsy; they appear to only buy things.  And the only thing they seem to be interested in buying is evil eye (all 50+ items tag as 'favorite').  Hmm ... I wish them much luck as they appear to be hording quite a stash.