The 75th Circle Time: The Show and Tell Weekly Thread
Show and Tell is wasted on elementary schoolers. Join several dozen bloggers weekly to show off an item, tell a story, and get the attention of the class. In other words, this is Show and Tell 2.0.
Everyone is welcome to join, even if you have never posted before and just found out about Show and Tell for the first time today. So yank out a photo of the worst bridesmaid’s dress you ever wore and tell us the story; show off the homemade soup you cooked last night; or tell us all about the scarf you made for your first knitting project. Details on how to participate are located at the bottom of this post.
Let’s begin.
Dreaming of Quiet Places posted the start of her hamsa collection last week which reminded me to take a picture of the one that hangs over our bed (which actually hangs over our ketubah, which hangs over our bed).
I’m probably going to fail miserably at the retelling of this because it was told to me on a car ride from Tel Aviv to Isfiya where I had to pee very badly. But the Druze place an eye in the center of the hamsa to not only ward off evil (get it? The eye sees it before it can harm you and zap!), and the hamsa is blue because blue in the Druze religion is the colour that symbolizes potential. Hamsas have special meaning in the Druze religion because there are five colours important to their beliefs and they correspond to the fingers of the hand.
I think.
Don’t quote me on any of this. All I know is that we have superstitiously sewn blue Druze glass eyes into the hems of clothing to protect the wearer (I pinned it in my bridal gown) and hung one over our bed. And I love sleeping under it every night.
What are you showing today?
Click here or scroll down to the bottom of this post if this is your first time joining along (Important: link to the permalink for the post, not the main url for your blog and use your blog’s name, not your name. Links not going to a Show and Tell post will be deleted). The list is open from now until late Friday night and a new one is posted every week.
- If you would like to join circle time and show something to the class, simply post each Wednesday night (or any time between Wednesday morning and Friday night), hopefully including a picture if possible, and telling us about your item. It can be anything–a photo from a trip, a picture of the dress you bought this week, a random image from an old yearbook showing a person you miss. It doesn’t need to contain a picture if you can’t get a picture–you can simply tell a story about a single item. The list opens every Wednesday night and closes on Friday night.
- You must mention Show and Tell and include a link back to this post in your post so people can find the rest of the class. This spreads new readership around through the list. This is now required.
- Label your post “Show and Tell” each week and then come back here and add the permalink for the post via the Mr. Linky feature (not your blog’s main url–use the permalink for your specific Show and Tell post).
- Oh, and then the point is that you click through all of your classmates and see what they are showing this week. And everyone loves a good “ooooh” and “aaaah” and to be queen (or king) of the playground for five minutes so leave them a comment if you can.
- Did you post a link and now it’s missing?: I reserve the right to delete any links that are not leading to a Show and Tell post or are the blogging equivalent of a spitball.
- If you want it…
I’ve now placed a Show and Tell archive on the sidebar that will be updated each week in case you miss it. And click here for the icon code if you wish to have it for your blog. It links to the archives.
15 comments
This is symbolic on so many levels. The two hands, one large and one small. The energy-intense palm of the hand. The open eye that can both ward off evil and cast it. And the blues of the 5th & 6th chakras.
Lovely. I hope it’s working its magic on your home right about now.
My aunt brought me home an “evil eye” charm from Greece, which is also blue, with an eye in the middle, but I think it’s round, not shaped like a hand. But just goes to show . . . . something about the commonality of belief systems. I hope you’re all feeling better.
Very cool, I really like the way you have incorporated it into your life – keeping one in your home, sewing one in your dress. I remember my parents taking a trip to Greece and they came back talking alot about the evil eye. It is so interesting to hear that this is something built into the culture in Israel as well. Now I want one! Very cool.
Far prettier than having a horseshoe hanging up (though I know that’s for a slightly different superstition). That’s a beautiful blue, too.
Ours hangs over our bed, too, and our Rebbe gave me a beautiful small one for my keychain over the Holidays. Okay, to be fair, he gave one to each of the women on the choir, but it’s still special to me.
Mostly this is a reminder to myself to take a picture of the thing I have for this week’s show & tell.
I need one of those. Pronto. Off to search…
I like it. I like the thought or legend or whatever behind it. I have a dream catcher (supposed to catch the bad dreams in it’s web and let the good ones filter though) and wanted so much to hang it over my bed. However my cat Luna has other plans for it. It’s her life goal to eat all the feathers. No matter how high I’ve put it she has managed to get it down.
It is beautiful. It’s kind of funny but they seem to be popping up everywhere for me lately. First there was Dreaming’s post. Then they featured prominently in a book I’m reading. And, now your post shows up. I wonder what that means?
That is lovely, thank you. I know the eye is used a lot in Turkey, too, to ward off evil spirits.
It’s a powerful idea, isn’t it? That it is watching over you, as you sleep.
MY sons are half Greek and we have eyes all over the house, and pomegranetes too!
The boys began swimming lessons and we’ve had adventure after adventure this week. Kindermusik, swimming lessons — From hanging out on firetrucks and ambulances, to flying around on a golfcart on the golf course we live on… the biggest impact that was made on them?
Adult men, a firefighter and a golf course supervisor, treating them with respect. Not like 19 month old babies. Not “talking down to them”.
I love it. Every time an adult does that… I know it sticks in their heads to be respectful back. No temper tantrums with these two…
It could be all the Greek eyes surrounding them in the house!
I love the symbolism, and the hamsa itself is gorgeous. I have a question though…I looked it up on another site (to understand a little more of what it is) and it said it is three fingers “pointing upwards” and the thumb and pinky pointing outwards. (Respectfully and curiously asking) why are the ones I’ve seen in your photo and Dreaming’s photo hung with the fingers pointing down? Is there a different meaning or symbolism when they are pointed downward, or is it just the way they’re hung? I hope you don’t find my questions offensive, I’m honestly just curious. 🙂 Thanks Mel!
Here in Cairo these come in so many different shapes, mostly all being a turquoise blue. You can see them dangling from car mirrors, hanging on doors and done in gold pendants hanging around necks. A very nice show and tell. Happy ICLW, love these few days of meeting new people and finding new blogs.
I love the idea that blue signals potential.
I love that hamsa! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one!
very pretty, my kids have the “evil eye” bracelets they wear all the time. someone told my daughter it freaked her out lol