Charmed

The retelling is lovely...the idea is a positive one...but forgive my playing the...er...Devil's advocate. Picking and choosing magical powers in opportunistic beliefs come from the same school of hocus-pocus which validates antediluvian religious impositions on those who do not buy it.

Wishing one's daughter luck...hoping for positive outcomes and protections from harm are all positive and understandable invocations...but if one is to be honest, the other side of that very coin, embodies often talismanic symbols which subject "believers" to great harm and destruction and non-believers to that chimeric "evil eye".

My mother was born with a caul. Her mother saved it and on the occasion of her own 75th birthday, she gave a piece of it to my sister and me. 15 years later my son was packing for a 6 month stay in Myanmar, which would require many hours in the air over the ocean to reach. Once there, he'd be spending time frequently on small boats and ferries. I broke a piece from my piece of my mother's caul, ran out and had it laminated, and as he left for the airport, I gave it to him to keep in his wallet. Who am I to doubt the mystery?

Interesting that a "khamsa" is exactly the same thing as a Jewish "hamsa." I always interpreted it as the Eye and Hand of God.

Related verbal customs serve both to protect good things and push away the bad: sometimes with words, sometimes by spitting...: those who say "knock on wood" are cousins of those who say
"k'neyhorah" (variously transliterated!), often without quite knowing why.

To me it is a sad point in the story that the mother told the daughter the amulet was to ward off the 'evil eye.' An eleven year old needs this baggage, needs this crack in her assuredness? To introduce a paranoid concept of 'evil eye' adds to the perpetuation of all the backward thinking that religions and cultures have wrought. Let the amulet just be an amulet and allow it to foster new meaning. There is much in various religions and cultures that is good to move forward, but please leave the backward in the past.

ahhhh now I know why we congratulate each other with a "High Five" in the USA.

I would love to know the jeweler's name in Rabat. This is such a heartwarming story. Thanks!

We honor the tradition of spiritual speculation, in a world where reason is often deficient.

Those who give thought to the matter accept that progress from one state of held beliefs to another over the course of history concedes the vitality of faith as a necessary catalyst. Transformation derives from reason coupled with faith.

How else may an enlightened society expect to elevate human welfare as an equal to the right of property on the path to human progress?

http://lifeamongtheordinary.blogspot.com/2014/05/trs-new-nationalism-and...

Interesting that in the Christian tradition in which I was raised, a hand with an eye represented a judgmental god observing and tabulating our sins. Sounds as though the khamsa, and a similar Buddhist image, represent the opposite, a power watching to protect or succor one.

In Judaism,the Hamsa is used also.

What a coincidence [or maybe not?]. I am currently a scholar-in-residence at the Kohenet Institute retreat in the Berkshires, teaching about Jewish magic in the Talmud and the surprising prominence of sorceresses as healers who prepared personalized amulets to protect their 4th-6th century clients from demons and the Evil Eye. My students are surprised to learn how many of these ancient "charms" are still with us.

As a fellow Moroccan, I know exactly what you are talking about Laila.
I once questioned the luck value of lakhmisa against the evil eye, my mother immediately told me that the evil eye is mentioned in the Koran, how can I argue with that?
Now my European wife of 20 years and my daughter wear lakhmisa more often than I would have thought they would. The golden one my wife wears is ridiculously big as if she is wearing it to protect her from more than an evil eye. But then again some evil eyes can be devastating if you are Moroccan.

When bad things happen Americans say "it is what it is" we Moroccans know what it is; the evil eye.

A similar talisman is seen everywhere in Turkey as well, for the same purpose. Usually made of a circle of blue glass with a black and white "eye" in the middle they're hung a nearly every door. Also worn as jewelry, generally sliver. I live in the US but have two, one at my computer and the other on the front door, and also have a bracelet with blue, black and white glass "eye" beads.

I seen the "hamisha ' in Sephardic synagogues. The word literally means "the five" as it represents the hand of God.

When I was an active hippy, hitchhiking from state to state, attending anti-war rallies/marches, camping in canyons or beside country roads, I picked up a smooth river rock. I've kept that rock near my person. All the while I didn't believe it was a talisman or good luck charm or anything of mystic value. It's a common gray smooth rock.

After time I began to think of that rock as my talisman. I realized it was I who gave it the power to be such. I haven't changed much since finding that rock. I still believe that capitalism can become a form of slavery for all but the very wealthy if the workers don't restrict its inherent avarice. I still think that there is too much distrust, envy, and hate. I still believe we humans have the power to change not only the planet but also ourselves. I believed there was hope for us & the earth. That's the only thing that has changed. I don't believe there is hope for humans. We will become extinct and the earth will continue until it finds a heir worthy of it. But when I hold that stone all the hope I had and I don't intend to lose that aspect of myself.

My talisman anchors me where I want to belong. I have endowed it with that power. Now I suspect all good talismans embody the aspects of the person who owns them. Once used, they need to be returned from whence they came, for they are a postcard of a unique life lived.

And this was a gift from Islam to the Jewish culture, where it became known as a Shaddai. Perhaps it could become the symbol of peace between Islamic nations and Israel.

I read all the way through this article thinking "Wow this lady really gets me!" Of course I was not the slightest bit surprised when it turns out that the wonderful Laila Lalami wrote this beautiful tribute to our Moroccan heritage....Laila, I know you won't make fun of me when I pour a bit of oil and sugar in all of the drains and toilets in my house to keep the djinn from slipping in and ensuring we live a sweet life in our new home...the children will indeed be rolling their eyes....

“Khamsa” means “five” in Arabic. There are many ways of evoking this number for good luck. The charm shown in the picture is a hand with five fingers. It is called “Eid Fatma”, (the hand of Fatma), the daughter of Prophet Mohammad. Swiss, Christian, PhD..., I have more than one of this charm in my flat, against the evil eye. It seems to work !

Don't forget eye-beads!

A sweet story and a lovely charm. How nice that her daughter wore it.

We have an altar of little elephants with upturned trunks, surrounded by many prayer cards sent to us, and now we will add this khamsa! I can't tell yet whether any of it brings good luck or not, but every little bit surely helps! Or doesn't hurt, at least.

A friend was visiting in the home of Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr, the famous atom scientist.
As they were talking, the friend kept glancing at a horseshoe hanging over the door. Finally, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he demanded:
“Niels, it can’t possibly be that you, a brilliant scientist, believe that foolish horseshoe superstition! ? !”
“Of course not,” replied the scientist. “But I understand it’s lucky whether you believe in it or not.”

Perfect, Laila. I remember the khamsa on your blog way back and thought how beautiful it was. Congrats on this.