Nazar 123

[Eustacio Gadit]

Atypical nazar is made of handmade glass featuring concentric circles or teardrop shapes in dark blue, white, light blue and black, occasionally with a yellow/gold edge.[9] "The bead is made of a mixture of molten glass, iron, copper, water, and salt, ingredients that are thought to shield people from evil."[2]

"According to Turkish belief, blue acts as a shield against evil and even absorbs negativity."[2] In the Middle East and the Mediterranean,[10][11][12][13] "blue eyes are relatively rare, so the ancients believed that people with light eyes, particularly blue eyes, could curse you [one] with just one look. This belief is so ancient, even the Assyrians had turquoise and blue-eye amulets."[14]

The Turkish boncuk (sometimes called a gz boncuğu or eye bead) is a glass bead characterized by a blue glass field with a blue or black dot superimposed on a white or yellow center. A design of great antiquity, the blue bead has gained importance as an item of popular culture in modern Turkey. The bead probably[original research?] originated in the Mediterranean and is associated[citation needed] with the development of glass-making. Written documentation and extant beads date from as early as the 16th century BC. Glass beads were made and widely used throughout the ancient world: from Mesopotamia to Egypt, from Carthage to ancient Greece, from Phoenicia to Persia, and throughout the Roman imperial period.[citation needed]

"The mythology behind it says that if one of the beads breaks down, it means a very strong nazar has hit you, and the bead stored it all up and broke down in order to protect the carrying person."[15]

The nazar bead, more commonly known as the evil-eye, can surely be worn as an amulet. What was humorous to me was to see people in the West sport a version of the evil eye that is commonly hung on doors to ward off evil from a household.

The more I pondered, and the more often I saw a door ornament wrapped up around the necks of people who may not have a whole lot to say about the origins of the evil-eye bead, the less I was amused by this misappropriation.

Found in many cultures across the Mediterranean, Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Asia, the nazar (Arabic for surveillance) bead is used to deflect the malevolent gaze of others. It is meant to be aligned with the awareness of supernatural forces that may exert harm against a person or object through maleficence and greed. Believed to have originated in Mesopotamia, It is meant to be worn with the intention for protection.The nazar bead is therefore perceived to hold great power, and its use is meant to be deliberate rather than decorative.

Witnessing the extraction of cultural objects from cultures that may not be embraced or celebrated as a whole is simply unsettling. Growing up in Turkey, my peers and relatives told me not to sport an evil-eye bead to avoid coming across as superstitious or archaic. I cannot help but feel frustrated seeing the commodification of Middle-Eastern spiritual objects and practices.

It is wonderful to see more and more people willing to learn about and engage in non-Western spirituality, medicine and knowledge. That is not what I have an issue with. My issue is with making it into another trend, another fad, or picking and choosing elements of Eastern spirituality for aesthetic purposes and commodifying it in a Western fashion.

There is more to the concept of nazar than an eye-shaped blue-white glass bead. The bead cannot and should not be isolated from its original context, and the trend of white folks wearing the nazar bead intended to be hung on doors exemplifies the lack of care for knowing how to engage with the concept of nazar appropriately. I invite those who choose to wear a nazar bead to educate themselves on the practice of nazar protection and honour the nazar bead in doing so.

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