Protective rites
The nazar boncuğu, the blue bead
The blue glass eye hung on babies, doors and cars, believed to take on the harm of an envious look.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
In Turkey, the blue glass bead with a white and dark blue eye is called nazar boncuğu, from the Arabic nazar, meaning look. It is a charm against the evil eye, the harm that people believe is cast by an admiring or envious gaze. It is pinned on babies' clothes, hung on door frames, put on cars and shops and given to newcomers and guests.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Blue glass beadObjectMade with a dark blue field and a white-and-blue eye.
- String, pin or hookToolUsed to fasten it.
- Spoken phraseWordNazar değmesin, may the eye not touch.
- Baby or doorframeSpaceWhere it is placed.
- GiftGestureGiven to a guest or a new home.
- ReplacementGestureA cracked bead is changed.
- Object
- Tool
- Word
- Space
- Gesture
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather Choose a bead and pin it to the baby's clothes or hang it by the door. Step 2: Speak Say nazar değmesin when someone is praised. Step 3: Bind Fasten it where a visitor's eyes will first rest. Step 4: Rest Leave it in place until it cracks or fades. Step 5: Close Replace it with a new bead and set the old one aside.
Beliefs around it
The bead is said to meet the eye with its own, and to absorb the harm. If it cracks, people say it has taken a blow meant for the owner and should be replaced. The phrase nazar değmesin, may the eye not touch, is spoken after a compliment. Similar charms are used in Greece, where the mati is common, and across the Balkans, the Levant and Iran.
Making and meaning
Many beads are made by hand in small glass workshops in the Aegean region of Turkey, and a huge number are now made for tourists. Muslim scholars have differing views, some accepting the evil eye as a reality named in the Quran and others objecting to charms as improper. Anthropologists note that the evil eye idea is found across cultures and regard it as a way of managing envy in close communities.
What it is for
- Ward the evil eye
- Protect a baby, a new home or a business
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Nazar (The charm.).
More on EveryJaadu
No entries here yet. New pages are added every day.
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hamsa: Kritzolina, CC BY-SA 4.0, source