Oh the evil eye!
My MIL spent the day with an old friend from Nairobi. When we went to pick her up, we naturally had to stay for tea and falooda — vanilla ice cream heavily loaded with rose water, tapioca, vermicelli, and nuts. Before leaving, I was pulled aside by the old friend, and in hushed Arabic told to put a black mark behind Eryn’s ear. Better yet, tie a black thread around her wrist. She is too precious and there are jealous people in the world.
When I told my MIL what was said, she replied, “Oh just recite Ayatul Kursi and blow on her before you go out.”
I find that now I have a baby, I keep coming across interesting practises, talismans and preventative rituals to protect the very young.
The one most often used for any type of praise, is to say, masha’Allah, or ‘God’s will be done.’ “Wow, that outfit looks killer on you, masha’Allah” “They are really happy together, masha’Allah.” She is too cute, masha’Allah.”
The idea behind this is that positive attributes have been granted by God, and you certainly wouldn’t want them to be taken away in some divine twist of fate. But it’s said with such intensity sometimes, that forgetting to say it can cause people major stress. My mom doesn’t say it (why should she), and I can always see my Muslim family saying it beneath their breath, or looking at her intensely and pronouncing masha’Allah like a talisman with every praise she lavishes upon her granddaughter.
In the same way, Ayatul Kursi, a famous Qur’anic verses which extolls the divine attributes of God, is often recited for protection against evil, sickness, and before bed — presumably to take refuge in God’s protection in case you don’t wake up.
To ward off evil spirits, we were given a silk cloth with Ayatul Kursi written on it, along with a mini Qur’an to place in her bassinet. It reminded me of a Chinese practice of placing a mirror on the windowsill of a baby’s room to scare off any evil spirits who may be lurking around. Though, I can’t remember where I heard of this, so I can’t vouch for its authenticity.
And when we first arrived in Kuwait and entered my in-laws’ house with Eryn, a family member took a baked egg shell and circled her several times with it while making supplication. I was treated next, and then I assume the egg shell was was disposed of. Apparently a baked egg shell can take away any evil or ill-intent that was picked up from the outside. A friend told me that the shells are then ground up and buried, or simply flushed down the toilette.
But my favourite talisman is the blue eye — protecting people from Greece to Turkey to Ethiopia. It’s so pretty and makes a great souvenir. A family from Kuwait gave us a baby safety pin with a mini replica soother and blue eye. I gave everyone in my work unit a blue eye, which I picked up when we went to Greece, and a friend gave me one from Egypt. They’re everywhere!
I’m really not a big believer in these practises, especially when you get into talismans and eggs (although, I do cover my bases by saying masha’Allah and I have been known to recite Qur’an and blow on Eryn from time to time. You know. Just in case.) It is wonderful seeing people genuinely concerned for the welfare of my child and passing on obscure and colourful cultural rituals to the next generation.
As for other protective rituals, I’ve heard of El Colacho, Spanish baby jumping, where men dressed as the devil leap over babies lying on mattresses, to remove evil and sin. And the “baby tossing” ritual in Western India practised by both Hindus and Muslims, where babies are dropped from a 50-foot tower and caught on a sheet for good luck.
Any others out there?
November 23, 2010 at 8:32 am
Well you know how I love a good evil eye ritual!!!
Orthodox people will often pin a miniture icon inside a child’s clothes in addition to the usual putting an icon in the room. Older people also tend to cross infants. Of course, these things are not seen as ‘superstitions’ but rather small ‘o’ orthodox rituals with a good solid theological basis. And..my godmother’s mother is renouned for her ability to take away the evil eye (and even has the power to do it over the phone!), so that’s a good contact to have!
In my experience, there are far fewer ones in Korea – there’s a TON in terms of taking care of the mother (don’t shower for a month after birth, no hard foods – your teeth will crack, wear heavy sweaters and socks and scarves and sit on the hot ondol floor for several weeks after birth…even in August…or your joints will ache when you get older…) but these are all couched in ‘scientific’ language and are not seen as cultural/tradition based at all. But they’re not really related to the ‘protection’ of the baby.
November 23, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Oooh mini icons!! How much do I love that? And of course, the power to take away the evil eye remotely is just brilliant.
I can kind of see how the ones for mothers are rooted in science. Pre and post natal hormones can make your gums bleed and heat is great to relax sore areas. But sweaters in August? No thanks. And all I wanted to do was escape to the shower
Arab/Indian culture also have protective measures for mom: don’t leave the house for 40 days or even, stay in bed for 40 days. Which is great for nursing and recovery I suppose. I was also made this rediculously sweet peanut brittlesque dish that I had to eat in the morning and at night. It was made with a lot of gee, pistachio, almonds, cardamom, fennel, and a whole other mix of spices. It’s supposed to increase your milk and give you strength. But it was too much for me.
November 23, 2010 at 6:51 pm
It’s seaweed soup in Korea. Up to 6 weeks of buckets of seaweed soup (supposed to be good for iron levels). I’m really not a fan of even a bowl, so there will be none of that for me. The traditional number for not leaving the house is 100 days (there’s a party for the baby on the 100th day), and it does seem that many women still follow a modified version of this (only going out to the dr. etc.) In Orthodoxy it is also 40, at which time there is a ceremony at the church called ‘churching’ to welcome the baby and mother into the church (sometimes this is seen as problematic because there are prayers talking about impurity and sin with regards to childbirth).
November 25, 2010 at 7:57 pm
I had to fight with myself not to be too superstitious. I always knock on wood and after a trip to Russia adopted the tradition of spitting over my shoulder 3 times.
It is probably fro the best that I didn’t know of any practices related to kids.
November 28, 2010 at 1:31 am
Nice! Before the baby I don’t think I did too much in terms of superstition. Maybe the occasional knocking of my head (for wood), or setting aside the 13th of every month as a day NOT to carry mirrors
March 28, 2011 at 3:36 pm
one of my intelligent friendes say that the blue eyes is making a shirk(join any partner with allah) that is a very big sin that will never ever be forgiven the there are verses in the koran one of the vers is qul falaq that is a good way to keep you away from jealous
March 28, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Welcome lars. I’ve heard the same — that the “3 Quls” are great for protection and should be recited before bed. Thanks for commenting.
March 28, 2011 at 3:39 pm
allah is the only god 1