I guess it depends what you believe, but I was having a difficult time not associating an evil presence with the shaking of the boat the night I wrote about the sea gull and the continued feeling of being watched the next night as well, opening my eyes to a sudden brief beam of light filling the boat searching and the shadow of an old mariner on the dock watching. Granted the "shadow" was probably a distant palm poised in the dark night. To fall back asleep, I had to keep telling myself it was nothing. Just a palm.
Hearing my tales the following evening, Lynne (Russell's wife) opened her heart and gave me an Evil Eye to hang in the entry to the boat. I went home that night and immediately afixed the Evil Eye to the companionway with white duck tape ! I will more permanently adhere the eye the next time I have some caulk out ;)I suppose it could all be in my head, but I'm sleeping better now.
The Turkish protective talisman meant to turn away harm, now hanging in Athena's (Alexis Dares') companionway, traveled across the Atlantic Ocean with Lynne and Russell from Turkey. How cool is that ;)
The Turkish name for this amulet that protects one from the evil eye is nazar boncuk. It has no religious significance. Some still believe in the power of the evil eye, some do not. To me it is another reminder of customs and traditions deep rooted in other cultures. Leaving me with the feeling that deep rooted Country-wide tradition is something we are missing in this melting pot of cultures in the U.S. Belief in things beyond our visual minds.
2 comments:
Seems to me I gave you an "evil eye" as a gift when I came back from Greece. It is smaller than the one you have on the boat. Did I ever give it to you? Could you have it with your jewelry? The one I would have given you has a loop for adding it to jewelry. I found this topic interesting because their is a lot of crossover of cultures with the turks in Greece. Interesting because Greece is highly connected to the sea. Athena is also, of course, a very important connection.
In reviewing this blog I noticed that I used the wrong "their". Something I complain about with my students. Oh, well. I will have to "chalk it up to" fatigue!
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