1996 Archer Taylor memorial lecture: "Let it go to the garlic!": Evil eye and the fertility of women among the Sephardim, The

Western Folklore, Fall 1996 by Rosemary Levy Zumwalt

Rue could be used in conjunction with other protective measures. As Clara Danon of Zenitsa, Bosnia, told us, "Ruda is placed thus [pointing to the ear], garlic under the pillow so that it couldn't be seen."15 Caden Musafir Israel, told us, "They placed ruda, and something made of bunjukas, blue beads, they placed on the person in order that no nazar [evil eye] would strike the baby."Julie Alajef of Ruschuk, Bulgaria, recalled, "Garlic they put under the pillow for ayin arah. Sometimes they would tie blue chains" by stringing garlic together with bunjukas. Paolina Elazar of Sofia, Bulgaria, explained, "There was something for ayin arab. Garlic they put in the pocket, in the house, on the doors. Babies when they were born, under the pillows. And they used to put blue beads." Kalina Alvas also of Bulgaria said, "On a new baby they put a bracelet with a hamsa [hand], blue beads, a few ujikos [eyes]. They also placed a religious book [under the pillow], to keep the child safe." And she added as if in affirmation, "My mother did it." As another person said, "With a piece of garlic in the pocket and blue beads pinned to the shirt, a child would be protected from the evil eye from birth until they became koja ijikos [big boys and girls]." The individual added, "And if the beads weren't pinned, they would make like a cord. For nazar [evil eye], they did this. It's the same for boys and girls." A woman from Salonika told us that the blue beads were pinned to the left side of the baby's shirt, and kept on "always, because the baby was in the stroller, the baby was godra [plump/beautiful], good, so that nobody should come and put the ayin arah on them." At times, the protective objects could be tied together in a little sack. One woman recalled, "Some time ago, they carried a bulsika [little sack] with some salt, garlic, and a blue bead." Another remembers that "some cloves and garlic, they would put it in a little piece of cloth and sew it and on top of the shirt against the evil eye." In Rhodes a bunjuka (blue bead) was placed in between double almonds and used for fertility, particularly to bring milk to the breast of the mother.

The intent of the protective customs was all the same, to shield the vulnerable ones from the disastrous effects of greed or envy. At times, the shield was quite visible, as in the curtain which surrounded the bed of the newly-delivered mother and her child. A woman from Izmir, Turkey, described this protection of the parida and the new born, "What a bed it was, with its curtains and namusias [netting]. Everything was good.... The child was there all night, not left alone, with the beautiful namusias, hidden so that the child could not be seen."16 Sol Azuz, from Istanbul, recounted to us:

I gave birth to a son. He was like a king. After giving birth, they didn't allow us to get up from bed. We used to hide from the neighbors, in order [for them] not to see us standing up. Because if they saw you standing up, they would start talking, "A Dio! [Oh, God], you just gave birth. Are you already on your feet?" And what they said tokava a la parida [touched/struck the newly delivered with the evil eye].