Product Description
Jewellery – Bracelet – Sphere – Evil Eye & Faceted Beads with Hamsa
Made with alloy metal
Bead size: 6mm
About the Hamsa:
The Hamsa or Khamsa is an Arabic word that translates as “five” or “the five fingers of the hand”. Also known as the Hand of Fatima.
It is a palm shaped amulet depicting the open right hand often containing an eye symbol. It is a sign of protection because it is potent in deflecting the Evil Eye. It also represents blessings, power and strength,. The Hand of Fatima represents femininity and is referred as the woman’s holy hand. The hand can be depicted with the fingers spread apart to ward off evil, or closed to bring good luck.
Early use of the Hamsa has been traced to ancient Mesopotamia.
This “favorite Muslim talisman” became a part of Jewish tradition in North African and Middle Eastern Muslim countries. The Hamsa’s path into Jewish culture can be traced through its use in Islam. Many Jews believe that the five fingers of the hamsa hand remind its wearer to use their five senses to praise God. The symbol of the hand appears in Kabbalistic manuscripts and amulets, doubling as the Hebrew letter “Shin”, the first letter of “Shaddai”, one of the names referring to God.
The Hamsa holds recognition as a bearer of good fortune among Christians in the region as well. Levantine Christians call it the hand of Mary or the Virgin Mary’s Hand. Well after the end of Islamic rule in Spain, its use was significant enough to prompt an episcopal committee convened by Emperor Charles V to decree a ban on the Hand of Fatima and all open right hand amulets in 1526.
One of the most common components of gold and silver jewellery in the region, historically and traditionally, it was most commonly carved in jet or formed from silver, a metal believed to represent purity and hold magical properties. It is also painted in red (sometimes using the blood of a sacrificed animal) on the walls of houses for protection, or painted or hung on the doorways of rooms, such as those of an expectant Mother or new Baby.
