Evil Eye Bracelet

The object that I have chosen to share is my evil eye bracelet given to me by my mother. This bracelet means a lot to me because my mother gave it to me during a very difficult time in my life. I struggled a lot with my mental health and felt like things were never going to get better. I struggled silently but mothers always know when their children are going to something. When she gave me the bracelet, she had blessed it with holy water that she had from a church in her village back in Puerto Rico. I'm not a religious person so I didn't have much faith in this bracelet, but the moment my mom put it on me I felt loved and safe. Since that first day, I have never taken off the bracelet.

In the Latinx community evil, eye jewelry is very popular. Some people put it on newborn children others have it behind the door of their home, even in their car. The purpose of having an evil eye with you or in your home or in your space is to protect you from negative energy. In my family, every child who is born gets a red string tied around their foot with an evil eye charm which is blessed with holy water or cleanse buy sage. No one really talks about the history behind the evil eye but it's something that my family truly believes helps ward off negative energy and protects you from dangerous situations. Is it magic? who knows…

My mother was born in Puerto Rico, she was one of 18 siblings and her mother had abandoned most of them including her. My mother was raised by her grandmother in a small shack next to an old church. Growing up my mother didn't have much, so she had to work from a very young age. She would often help the nuns from the church by sweeping the chapel and keeping the animals out of the garden. In exchange, they gave her a warm meal which she shared with her grandmother. One day her grandmother gave her an evil eye bracelet and told my mom that this will protect her from all evil, a few weeks later her grandmother died. The nuns from the church took my mom in and cared for her until she was 16 years old at that point, she was faced with a choice of either converting to a nun or leave. My mom left the church and with the little money that she had saved booked a ticket to New York City to stay with a distant cousin. The nuns gifted her a bottle in the shape of the Virgin Mary failed with holy water, a rosary, and a small pocket Bible and told my mom never to lose faith and that God will always protect her. 

Once my mother arrived in New York she was in culture shock, she felt out of place and was very anxious. After a few weeks, my mother became homesick, and she was contemplating returning to Puerto Rico. in attempts to cheer my mother up, her cousin took her to Spanish Harlem also known as El Barrio. this neighborhood while considered to be a little Puerto Rico because most of the people who immigrated from the island lived in this neighborhood. The buildings were full of colors from beautiful murals, the air smelled like all her favorite foods from back home and there was music everywhere. This lifted my mom's spirits and as she was walking around the neighborhood, she stumbled upon a shop that had an evil eye wind chime. At that moment, my mother grabbed her wrist and felt the evil eye charm her grandmother had given her and all her worries faded away. She felt safe and protected.