Tuesday 10 January 2012

protection and charms

well i thinks i be in need of some charm protection after what happened to me, and i think steph's taken care of that one too, but i was thinking in that work in progress way of another little charm bag for the evil eye:





the material is super vintage - couple of hundred year old, traditional costume, woven, from what feels like horse hair but is most likely sheep or goat. The evil eye charm i made myself from my favorite piece of rusty metal which is shortly coming to an end and the piece above it. the 2 blue beads i've placed there are cos there has got to be something blue, they put it on babies at birth here to ward off the evil eye, and i was kinda prompted into this line of exploration by a great link that beatrice (merci beaucoup madame for everything) sent me on charms. the second gallery especially about blue beads. 

now often i have heard people say, o i have a headache, someone has put the evil eye on me, i need to go to so and so to get the oil and water treatment, this involves a glass, some water, some olive oil and a cloth. the people who do this treatment are always women and are usually shy of being identified as doing it, well it was only in 1860 that the last witch was burnt in holland. now i guess i'm going to do a little more specific research on the subject, cos a usual i'm sorely lacking in material to tell you this story though i've got more than enough for my inspiration. i was thinking of putting inside this - to be - neck hanging pouch a little vial of water and a little vial of oil, wrapped in a cloth so that one can always be ready for the inevitable
to be continued...
[possibly i have a very low boredom threshold for the sound of my own voice albeit in print]

3 comments:

  1. Ok, now that's it... I'm gonna ask to be banned from your store... ;)))
    Love it and love the idea of lttle bottles in it... And love your metal charms...
    Is it the same type of fabric that the bag you gave me? Oh about that bag... there is a small piece of blue thread woven into the fabric, did you put it there or was it already there?
    You should get your hand on Sheila Paine's amulets book...

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  2. yes it is, the same type of fabric, parts of it are beautifully woven, and i dont think its dyed black, the thread, tho im not sure, think its the colour of the animals hair, though i could be wrong. the blue in yours was in it, theres some blue in this also at the bottom.
    yea i should get an amulet book, am getting kind of obsessive.... ;)

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  3. It's probably for the evil eye too that thread.. it's just a small piece but it's in the fabric, knotted in the the fabric... I think Sheila Paine talks about it in her book... and get that book! ;)
    Not about amulets but interseting too, the seamstresses of the past who worked for designers used to sew one of their hairs inside the seams... maybe they still do...

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