According to the Turkish culture, evil eye strike may be caused not only by a negative feeling like envy but also due to excessive love and care for the loved one. Children are believed to be highly susceptible to the effects of evil eye, and families usually protect their children with a blue bead inscribed with the word ?Mashaallah? which is said to ward off evil eye. Additionally, new born babies are not introduced until after they are forty days old to people who believed to have ?evil eyes?. Sultans and princess in many Turkish fables are supposed to suffer from evil eye struck because of their natural born beauty and are kept away from public for years. Asian societies protect their children from evil eye strke by painting their faces in black.
These beliefs gave way to birth of many amulets and charms as well as blue-colored evil eye beads. ?Evil eye? was the name for eye pictures, eye-shaped beans or any other charms supposed to provide protection against evil eye strike. It was in the sixth century BC that ancient Greeks manufactured black-figure wine drinking vessels 8literally known as ?eye believed?) with exaggerated eye figures on them, which were believed to prevent evil spirits enter the drinker?s body by mouth while drinking wine.
In short, evil eye might defined as an object supposed to have magical power to ward off danger or to bring good luck.
The evil eye amulet is a blue bead/eye bead or most often a stone or a piece of metal either an inscription or figures engraved on it. Such amulet usually were suspended from the neck and worn as a guard against sickness or witchcraft. Ancient Egyptians wore amulets in the form of necklaces. The amulets of the jews were slips of parchment on which passages of the Law were written. They were worn as badges of piety but were also regarded as protection from evil spirits and from other harm.
The use of amulets was inherited by the Christian church. Amulets became so common among Christian that in the fourth century the clergy were forbidden to make or sell them on pain of deprivation of holy orders. In 721 the wearing of amulets was solemnly condemned by the church.
However, amulets never lost popularity until today. Our ancestors used amulet and charms for centuries to break the spells cast on them. Currently we are in the technological age but we failed to give up our habits. Nazar bonjuk is just one of them. Modern people still wear nazar bonjuk or use it as the most common article in houses or cars. Westill squeeze into the protective tract of nazar bonjuk which is highly familiar to most of us with its visid and blue colour. |
