Nazar, Blue beads & Superstitions

Growing up, I was always being pinned with these blue beads or given necklaces with the evil eye pendant. It happened so much that I remember asking my mom why I was being given more of these talismans and not my cousins. 

This all goes back over 5000 years to the Roman Empire and the evil eye or Nazar. Superstition has it that the Nazar could curse you with one look when you were unaware, steal your soul, or cause you harm and misfortune. Those born with blue, and especially green eyes, were most at risk because they were most rare. Blue eye shaped beads or talismans were pinned to babies and children with light eyes to distract the Nazar. One was never to draw attention to the Nazar because there was a fear that the baby would be harmed on a spiritual level.

As a young child when visiting Turkey, I always had 2-3 pinned on my shoulder and wore an necklace as well. When I was young, my eyes were not just green.  I was totally rocking the 2 different colored eye thing with one eye being more blue and one eye being more green. These days, they have mellowed out a bit but i still have strangers who will come up to me on the street to talk about the color of my eyes and that I need to protect myself!

Superstitions are alive and well in the 21st century.

• Elders still talk about hanging pine bough over your front door for protection. 
• You must always use your right hand or right foot to begin an activity to avoid misfortune.
• If you repeat something 40 times, then it will come true.
• You must always pour a pot of water behind a person car who is leaving on a trip to make it flow as easy as water to their destination and return them easily home again.
• Eating Ice cream in winter will make you sick.
• Walking barefoot will give you a cold in your tummy.
• If a basket of lemons appear on your doorstep, don’t eat them because they are cursed.
• Nails cannot be cut at nights.
• One cannot whistle at night, for the person who does it is said that he/she is calling the Devil.
• If girls eat something  between two meals, their luck to find a husband becomes impossible.
• When excrement of a bird falls on the head, it means that the person is lucky and will earn money.

Lastly, I will leave you with the little ritual to circumvent bad luck…sort of like knocking on wood. If something is said or happens that might tempt fate in a potentially bad way, knock 2 times on the table, tug your right earlobe and give a kiss to the air.

I would love to hear some of the superstitions you grew up with! They are always so fun and amusing!!