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 ORIGIN OF THE "EVIL
EYE"
Throughout the ages, lyrics have been penned and paeans have been
sung for beautiful eyes. But, the Turks believe that these very beautiful eyes
become the harbingers of misfortune and doom when they turn towards you with
greed and envy.
This belief rests not only in Turkey, but also among the people of
the Mediterranean countries as well as in the Indian sub-continent. Legend has
that that this belief had its genesis amongst the ancient Egyptians and
Sumerians.
The Evil Eye belief says that when someone eyes your good fortune
with jealousy or gluttony, bad luck in some form is bound to befall you. It is
also widely held that any accolade or praise, however well meaning it may be, is
always tinged with a wee bit of greed and spite.
It is these greedy and spiteful looks, which are directed towards
you consciously or unconsciously, that have the power to cause you harm.
Therefore, they are to be wary of.
The Turkish people believe that there are basically three kinds of
evil looks: the first is the unconscious evil eye, which causes harm
unintentionally. The second kind of evil eye causes harm with intent and
deliberation, while the third kind of evil eye, which is believed to be the most
potent kind, is the invisible eye.
The belief in the ability of desirous eyes to cause harm is
omnipresent in the Turkish social strata and even extends its sway on people
with colored eyes. The Turks believe that people with eyes in an unusual color
are wicked, do not desire the good of others and hence seek their harm and
misery.
The Turks are especially circumspect of people with blue eyes. They
believe that blue-eyed people, however enchanting and attractive their eyes may
look, essentially harbor negative feelings about others and when this negative
energy gets transmitted to others, much harm and distress is caused.
The belief in the Evil Eye may have originated with the Oriental
people, but this belief in some form or the other is present in every culture of
the world. Thus you yourself, on countless occasions, became cautious when you
didn’t like the look in the other person’s eyes.
You do this all the time, without probably being aware of the
Turkish Evil Eye belief. We always talk of cold eyes, mean eyes and cruel eyes.
The look in someone’s eyes is a reflection of his thoughts and it is only man’s
natural self-preservation instinct, which tells him to be on guard when the
person in front doesn’t seem right.
Protective Powers of Pendants
From time immemorial, people, from gut feelings, we instantly become wary of
strangers with greedy or mean eyes. We know from experience, that effusive
praises should be taken with a pinch of salt, for behind all the gushes, smiles
and the adoring eyes, the person is probably itching to wring your necks or stab
you from behind.
The Turks have devised the Evil Eye Pendant to guard themselves
from such not-so-well-meaning people with their necessarily evil eyes.
The Turkish Evil Eye Pendant or the Nazar Boncugu, which literally
means the “evil eye bead”, is actually a stone bead, which is worn to protect
oneself from evil looks. The stone is an amalgamation of molten glass, iron,
copper, water and salt. This particular combination of minerals and metals is
believed to provide a shield from the forces of evil.
The Evil Eye pendant has the symbol of an eye worked upon it. The
symbol of the eye is regarded as a potent amulet for protection against evil
forces in almost every culture of the world like Jewish, Islamic, Hindu,
Buddhist and Christian. Thus, in Turkey, you have an eye for an eye.
It is believed that the Nazar Boncugu deflects the negative energy
that is being directed towards a person onto itself, thus dispersing its powers.
The Nazar Boncugu is blue in color and the age-old Anatolian belief
is that it is actually the blue color of the stone, which holds the real
shielding power and absorbs the negative energy.
This is not surprising since the people in many Mediterranean
nations ardently believe in the protective powers of the blue color. That is why;
front doors of houses in these Mediterranean countries are painted blue to ward
off evil spirits.
The evil eye pendant is attached to anything and everything
that, it is felt, will attract envy and greed. Thus, you will find a Turkish man
attaching the evil eye pendant in front of his house or office, hanging it from
the neck of his newborn child, or his farm animals and even on his newly
acquired machinery. You will find the pendant being inserted into the
foundations of modern offices and even come across it in Turkish web pages.
What is more, there is no religious bar in the use of the
evil eye pendant. Thus, Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, use this lucky charm.
The evil eye pendant is still hand crafted using primitive
means, by highly skilled glass workers who are carrying on a 3000 year old craft.
The pendant can be worn in a necklace or a bracelet.
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