Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Perplexing

El mal de ojo:
The evil eye...
This concept has been explained to me by several different people over the years in different ways...and I have never been able to understand it.
I went to see my babysitter's baby the other day and she had her ears pierced and her little protective bracelet on to protect her, of course, from "el mal de ojo"
When Camelia told me that was what the bracelet was for she said it to me like "of course--you know you have to protect the baby from the evil eye" I just said, "oh yeah"
I have given up asking for explanations--i think it is an idea that is so foreign to me that I will never understand it.
I just googled it.
I read the w!ki definitions from cultures around the world.
Many of the things written there have been explained to me by
Jewish people
muslim people
Mexican people
PRican People
i still dont' get it.
This is interesting how to some people this idea is so ingrained...like "oh yeah--don't stare at the baby --you might give it an evil eye (or THE evil eye?)"
I think: Oh no, I would never look at the baby mean--
But you see this evil eye is sort of like a soul herpes or something..you don't mean to do it, and you cannot avoid it...if you have the evil eye--i would affect the baby--no matter what your intentions were.
So Camelia's baby had her little red macrame bracelet around her teensy wrist to protect her, how cute. :)

...But I still don't get it.

1 comment:

Bethany said...

woowoo...spooky! I think I would do a red bracelet just in case! I've never heard of this.

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...