'NAZAR' = 'EVIL EYE'

This symbol is very often seen in Turkey. Its meaning is a kind of protection from 'jealous' or 'evil' eyes. It is believed that it is important to protect oneself from this because this kind of gaze takes away the energy and weakens us and makes it impossible to do well, to do good things good things to happen to us, to grow or things around us to grow.

(I know...don't mention it...it's boring, but what can I do, I love flowers 💥)

Ouch! Imagine

I once had a T-shirt that was so, so, so my favorite, a white one, and on the front light blue stripes and it had a giant Minion head on it, who had a huge eyes...Dave (one of the funniest) 

..and I wore it for about all summer long, so one summer night when it was fucking hot, we were walking down one of the main streets of Kadikoy with my husband and two guys passed by. One of them was looking at me. ... or at my T-shirt and says: "Evil eye" ...well I didn't know exactly what he meant me or my T-shirt, but I understood that somehow he meant to me.

 Anyway, I also have a nacklace with a "Nazar" on it, which my husband gave me to protect me from sickness, because I often get throat infections. This little nazar is placed on another important symbol, the Fatma's hand (I mean on my little pendant) which is also a symbol used for "protection". 

Interesting by the way, that women or mythological female figures were often depicted as "evil"...

...(but this is not specific to Turkish culture) or more precisely as evil who seduces men and then killing them or turning them to stone or maddening them etc....such as one from a turkish legend, the Sahrmaran or the sirens or the Medusa in the Greek mythology. 

In Istanbul there is a wonderful Medusa head in one of my favourite places, which is on the European side in the so-called Sultanahmet district,

 ..in the Cistern-Basilica (Yerebatan Sarnici). But unfortunately it's so expensive for foreigners to get in now that me and many others can't or don't want to afford it. But a few years ago, fortunately, I was able to go on three or four occasions, and I went whenever I could, because the place has such a special atmosphere. It is a place that is under the ground and it's supposed to be (at least that's what I've heard or read.. I can't remember) a water reservoir. 

Well, maybe, but why would they put such a beautiful such beautiful things? A Medusa head, for example, right under a huge column to make sure it could never move.

 It's like it's not an accident, it's like as if she was deliberately imprisoned there. I have a favourite film, by the way that also mentions Medusa is called 'Clash of the Titans'. 

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’Nazar’ = ’Evil eye’ Nagyon gyakran látható ez a szimbólum Törökországban. Ennek a jelentése egyfajta védelem a ’féltékeny’ vagy ’ártó’ tekintetektől. Úgy hiszik, hogy azért fontos ettől megóvni magunkat, mert egy ilyen fajta tekintet elveszi az energiát és elgyengÍt és el- lehetetlenÍti azt hogy jól legyünk, jó dolgok történjenek velünk, fejlődjünk vagy a dolgok körülöttünk növekedjenek.

Jaj! Képzeljétek volt egyszer egy annyira, de annyira kedvenc pólóm egy fehér, aminek az elején világoskék csÍkok voltak és egy óriási Minion fej volt rajta, akinek Így a szeme is óriási volt…talán Stuart (az egyik legviccesebb) és azt hordtam kb. egész nyáron, naszóval egyik nyári este, amikor kurva meleg volt, sétálunk a férjemmel Kadiköy egyik fő utcáján és szembejön velünk két fickó. Az egyik rám néz…vagy a polómra és azt mondja : „Evil eye” …hát nem pontosan tudtam hogy most ezt rám értette-e vagy a polómra, de azt értettem, hogy valahogy nekem szólt. Egyébként még van egy kis medál is a nyakamban amin egy „Nazar” van, amit a férjemtől kaptam, hogy megvédjen a betegségektől, mert gyakran kapok itt torokgyulladást. Ez a kis nazar egy másik fontos szimbólumon kapott helyet, a Fatma kezén (mármint az én kis medálomon oda van aplikálva) ami szintén egy olyan szimbólum, amit a „védelemre” használnak.

Érdekes egyébként, hogy a nőket vagy a mitologikus nő alakokat gyakran ábrázolták „gonosznak” )de ez nem török kultúra specifikus dolog) pontosabban gonosznak aki elcsábÍtja a férfiakat, majd megöli vagy kővé változtatja vagy megőrÍti őket stb.…Mint pl. egy török legendában a Sahrmaran vagy  a görög mitológiában a szirének vagy a Medúza.

Isztambulban van egy csodálatos Medúza fej az egyik kedvenc helyemen, ami az európai oldalon található az ún. Sultanahmet negyedben, a Cistern-Basilicá-ban(Yerebatan Sarnıcı). De sajnos már olyan drága a belépőjegy a külföldieknek, hogy én és sokan mások sem tudják vagy akarják megfizetni. De néhány éve szerencsére három négy alkalommal el tudtam menni és amikor tehettem el is mentem, mert ennek a helynek különleges az atmoszférája. Ez egy olyan hely, ami a föld felszÍne alatt található és állÍtólag (legalábbis én Így hallottam vagy olvastam..már nem emlékszem) korábban vÍztároló volt, de a török jelentés fordÍtás az hogy “Elsülyedt palota” Hát lehet de hogy minek raktak volna egy vÍztárolóba ilyen gyönyörű dolgokat? Pl. egy medúza fejét, pontosan egy hatalmas oszlop alá, hogy biztosan soha el ne tudjon onnan mozdulni. Olyan mintha ez nem egy véletlen lenne, hanem szándékosan bebörtönözték volna őt oda. Van egyébként egy kedvenc filmem amiben szintén szó van Meduzáról, a Titánok haragja cÍmű (Clash of the titans).

 

 

 

 BEAUTY

...not a short story 😊 So if you are beautiful, you have an advantage in life. Beautiful people are positively distinguished everywhere. 

They get different advantages just because they are beautiful. I'm not saying that's unfair, but it is.

If somewhere you have to choose between a beautiful and an ugly or average person with the same skills, there's no question that they will choose the one who is prettier. Now let me tell you a little story from yesterday, for example, about the advantages and one's ‘dislike’ of beauty. 

We went to an official place here in Istanbul where there are a lot of people queuing. The security people are very strict about keeping order and making sure that everyone gets in line to see the clerk. We were also queuing when a girl appeared. Long waist-length, freshly ironed brown hair, fashionable dress, slender figure, fancy sunglasses on her head, nicely painted face, big brown eyebrows... She goes up to one of the security men and starts explaining that she just wants to go in for 2 minutes and let her in turn. The first security man wouldn't let her and explained that everyone here was waiting for the same thing she was. But she just wouldn't give up, so she started to make a fuss with the other security man, who let her in and she was almost first in line with one of the male clerks. He looked at her pretty face and took care of her case in about 2 minutes. The rest of us, who had not asked for any benefits and were not particularly pretty, waited. 

We waited our turn, as we always have in life. We didn't fuss, we didn't shout, we were used to not getting any benefits but we didn't want any because we respected the time of others who were also standing there, stressed out like us, worried about getting their cases done and not being sent away to get more paperwork. We have to go to work the same day, they have to do the shopping and clean up and have children waiting for them at home with sick elderly parents. Our lives are the same and time is just as important to us as it is to those who are “beautiful”. But we live our lives and we don't try to stand out because we are not as easily forgiven as those who are ‘nice’.

I once saw a book (too bad I didn't buy it) by Umberto Eco: On Ugliness. 

I am very curious to know what is in it. But everyone knows the story of the ugly duckling I think...almost everyone... well, many people😊 So that story is interesting because everyone can be everything. For example, I've seen women who were so ordinary when they were young, but as they got older they became more beautiful. I don't know how it is, but they've been beautified by time. So the ugly duckling got in with the wrong crowd and didn't fit in, so she was ugly and when she grew up she turned out to be a beautiful swan. That's why she didn't fit in as a child and that's why she wasn't like them and that's why everyone saw her as ugly.

So beauty is said to be subjetive, but there is a universally accepted “beautiful” that without discussing it everyone thinks is beautiful. For example, I've noticed that we tend to think of symmetrical things and, speaking of people, symmetrical faces as beautiful. This symmetry thing has been with us for a long time 😊 since the ‘invention’ of the golden rule of symmetry, which was used by the ancient Egyptians.

In addition, the egg-shaped or elongated face form, the straight nose and nicely curved mouth, the round eyes and nicely curved eyebrows and the slender, rabbit-like, tall stature. These are the European norms in general, because this ideal differs from culture to culture.

SAVE YOURSELF

I can't rescue anyone. 

Someone once said to me, when I was very desperate - because someone very close to me was seriously ill and I was trying my best (as best I could) to ‘rescue’ them... - that ‘it is not in your power’. It shook me deeply at the time, but I understood and realized the truth of it. Because who am I?

I don't have any power over anything or anybody (especially over things like life and death) except my own life, and even then only a tiny one, but I want to keep it to myself and believe that I can control that little bit 💥

I can't save anyone no matter how much I want to and how much I love that person. I can't help someone if that person doesn't want to help themselves...but I'm just struggling with my own little life, the most I can do is to make an 'asking' inside me.

Than I ask for everything to be the best it can be. Most of the time I ask for what Silo, my Master, has given us as a gift, with a little instruction on how to do this 'asking'. Here you go:

"Anytime during the day or night, take a deep breath and imagine bringing that breath into your heart. Then make a strong request for yourself and your loved ones. 

Ask strongly to move beyond that which causes you to be conflicted; ask for your life to be unified. Don't take a long time with this little prayer,

 this short request, because it is enough to interrupt what is happening in your life for a brief moment to create this connection with your inner being, to create clarity in your feelings and thoughts."

But worrying won't change anything. 

This reminds me of one of my favorite movies the 'Some thing's gotta give'

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Nem tudok senkit megmenteni. Egyszer valaki azt mondta nekem, amikor nagyon kétségbeesett voltam, - mert valaki hozzám nagyon közelálló súlyos beteg volt és én megpróbáltam mindent (ami tőlem tellett) hogy „megmentsem”…-  hogy „nem áll hatalmadban”. Ez akkor nagyon mélyen megrázott, de megértettem és rájöttem ennek az igazságára. Mert hát ki vagyok én? Nekem nincsen semmilyen hatalmam semmi és senki felett (pláne olyan dolgok felett, mint élet-halál) csak a saját életem felett afelett is csak egész icipici, de azért azt szeretném megtartani magamnak és hinni azt, hogy azt a kicsit én irányÍthatom.

Nem tudok senkit megmenteni bármennyire szeretném is és bármennyire szeretem is azt az embert. Nem tudok senkinek segíteni, ha az a valaki nem akar segÍteni sajátmagán…de hát én is csak kűzdök a saját kis életemmel, amit tehetek az maximum, hogy kérek. Kérek, hogy minden a legjobban alakuljon. Legtöbbször azt kérem, amit Silo, a Mesterem adott nekünk ajándékba, amihez adott egy kis instrukciót is hogy hogyan jó ezt a kérést véghez vinni. Ime:

“Bármikor napközben vagy az éjszaka folyamán vegyél egy mély levegőt és képzeld el, hogy ezt a levegőt a szívedbe juttatod. Azután kérj erősen a magad és a szeretteid számára. Kérd erősen, hogy túllépj azon, ami ellentmondást okoz; kérd, hogy az életed egységes legyen. Ne tartson hosszú ideig ez a kis ima, ez a rövid kérés, mert elég, ha egy röpke pillanatra megszakítod azt, ami az életedben történik, hogy megteremtsd ezt a kapcsolatot a bensőddel, hogy tisztaságot teremts az érzéseidben és gondolataidban.”

De ha csak aggódom attól nem fog semmi változni. Erről eszembe jutott az egyik kedvenc filmem a ’Minden végzet nehéz’