Hamsa hands.

In the past year I've seen several bracelets, rings and necklaces with hamsa hands in Topshop and Primark. I liked the look of them, but as I'm not one to wear something without finding out what it means, I did a quick internet search on them. As I understand it, the hamsa hand is an old symbol that originated from Mesopotamia and it is a symbol of protection. It often has an eye is depicted in the centre to protect people from the evil eye. 

This reminds me of the blue eye-shaped amulets you see a lot in Turkey. (According to Wikipedia they are called nazar and are also common in  Albania, Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Armenia, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Azerbaijan.)








Since then, I've been wanting a piece of jewellery with a hamsa hand, but I never came across one which I would actually wear. Last week however, as I was browsing trough the jewellery at New Look, I stumbled upon a set of three rings, one of which has a sparkly hamsa hand across it. I assume the dark blue centre stone represents the eye. 











I usually don't wear a ring, but the hasma ring has been present on my middle finger -where it fits best- most of the time.

Sincerely,
R.