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With a history
that can be traced back through thousands of years, the
exceptional quality and design innovation of Mediterranean
jewelry are finally being recognized in the U.S.
Who couldn't use a little luck in life? Many cultures have
centuries old methods for harnessing luck and warding off
evil. Today our lives are enriched with stories and icons of
luck.
beYond
Treasure’s ‘LuckyEyes4u’ fashion jewelry series
offers the fruits of several local artisans’ attempts to
impart good luck in what some call "evil eye" jewelry, and
some “guardian eye" jewelry. According to Narkis Alfi of
beYond Treasure it's simply “Lucky Eyes for you!”
jewelry. These pieces are all hand picked by Narkis
during her travels in Europe and the Mediterranean basin
while on missions as a political correspondent.
The "eye" that
is prominent in many of these pieces is believed to draw the
unwanted attention of evil eyes from the wearer's eyes to
the eye depicted on the jewelry. In this way, the negative
forces emanating forth from the eyes of evil beings are
absorbed by the depicted eye, and not directed where they
can cause harm. There are stories where the eye in the
jewelry has shattered from such energy.
In Turkey this
"evil eye" charm is called Nazar Boncuk
(pronounced naa-ZAAR bone-jook). The Nazar Boncuk was born
from the superstition that one person can cast a spell on
another. Turkish artisans created a blue glass "eye" to look
back at the spell-caster as if to say I know what you're
trying to do and it's not going to work. While it has no
religious connotation it is an enjoyable tradition and
you'll often see it pinned on Turkish babies’ diapers and
new brides.
The “Hamsa”
(literally “five” in Arabic and Hebrew “hamesh”) is a symbol
used in amulets, charms, jewelry, door entrances, cars, and
other places. An alternative Islamic name for this charm is
the Hand of Fatima or Eye of Fatima, in
reference to Fatima Zahra, the daughter of Muhammed. An
alternative Jewish name for it is the Hand of Miriam,
in reference to Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron as
well as the Hamesh Hand. It serves as an ancient talismanic
way of averting and getting protection from the evil eye, or
more generally of providing a “protecting hand” or “Hand of
God”.
The “Magen
David” (Shield of David), the six-pointed star made of
two triangles, appeared according to Jewish tradition on the
shield of King David. According to the same tradition the
same symbols appeared also on King Solomon's ring and
therefore it is also called the Seal of Solomon. This
symbol was considered to have magical powers and as a
defense from the evil spirits. Such symbol without any
connection to Judaism was found in India. The symbol
was also considered as magical by the Moslems (as
Solomon Seal) and appeared as the symbol of Nigeria.
It was also used by the Ethiopian monarchs who,
according to their tradition, were the descendants of
King Solomon and the Queen of Sheva, and was also
known there as Solomon Seal.
beYond
Treasure has been canvassing the streets of Jerusalem,
Istanbul, Athens, Rabat and Cairo, for the past several
years. Narkis, the driving force behind beYond Treasure,
has made arrangements with local artisans from these places
to collect and bring to U.S. the fruits of their modernized
interpretation and upgraded design of the traditional good
luck charms. These artisans have applied considerable
handcrafting expertise to create fine jewelry from these
icons that promise to protect the bearer from bad fortune
and evil spirits.
According to
Derya Tolgay, who works out of their atelier in Istanbul
with her sister Nilgun, "The eye in our collection is made
from glass crystal or handmade ceramics because those
elements are known to thwart bad luck. We considered
creating the eye of precious stones, but we didn't want to
tempt fate."
Even those who
are skeptical will be impressed with our line of
LuckyEyes4u’s superb workmanship, colorful designs, and
the rich color of its semi-precious and crystal stones.
For those who
simply want to wear the delightfully colorful and energetic
creations by ‘beYond Treasure’s designers, but do not
want to wear the eye depictions, Narkis is working on a
whole line of jewelry called "Fun Beads." These are
purported to have high levels of good luck qualities because
of the ceramics and crystals used in creating them and the
turquoise blue color employed in many pieces. Watch for
those just in time for the Spring of 2008. For more
information, readers should visit
www.LuckyEyes4u.com |
