Buying yourself an evil eye
Buying yourself an evil eye charm worries some people, who have heard that protection works only when it is given. Old traditions argued both ways, and the question turns into one about what you can give yourself.
What it may mean
Eye charms are given to newborns, brides and new homes so often that plenty of people assume a charm you buy for yourself is weaker. Old traditions did not all agree. In Bohemia, a consecrated amulet that had been worn was not to be passed on, because whoever received it gained power over the former wearer; there, giving was the risky part. Plenty of wearers care more about intention than about where a charm came from. Buying your own can be read as a small act of self-protection, the same instinct that makes you lock the door or step away from a friend who drains you. Some of what you wait for others to give you (attention, reassurance, permission to rest) you could give yourself today. Your own family or tradition may still have something to say about it.
Depending on how you saw it
Buying one on a trip to Turkey or Greece
Markets in Istanbul and the Greek islands are full of eye-shaped glass beads, and plenty of travelers carry one home for themselves. A souvenir you chose carries the memory of where you were. Which place from your past do you want to keep close?
An eye on a ring or a pendant
An eye on a ring or a pendant sits where you see it all day. Choosing jewelry with a purpose turns an accessory into a small daily intention. Which everyday object of yours carries a private significance that nobody else knows?
Being given one after buying your own
Sometimes a friend hands you a charm just after you bought one, and now you have two. Protection from yourself and from someone else can live together. Whose care for you would you like to accept more readily?
Losing a charm you bought
A lost charm can feel like a bad sign, though cords break and clasps open on their own. Replacing it is simple. What would you do if you believed that protection is something you keep inside you, not only around your neck?
Why it happens in nature
Most evil eye charms are glass beads or discs with rings of dark blue, white and light blue, made by glassmakers in Turkey, Greece and around the eastern Mediterranean. They are sold widely and often given as gifts at births, weddings and housewarmings, which may be where the idea that a bought charm is weaker comes from. Glass charms crack easily from knocks or sudden heat.
What folk beliefs say
Bohemia
In Bohemia, if consecrated amulets worn on the body were given to someone else, that person was thought to gain power over the former wearer.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1330. View the page
Syria
To protect trees and plants from the evil eye, Syrian farmers fastened a blue glass ring and an egg to them.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 3 (1903), vol. 3, p. 1276. View the page
Greece
In Greece, a stain was deliberately made on the white linen of a new dress, so the wearer would not grow proud enough to attract the evil eye.
Source: Cora Linn Daniels; C. M. Stevans (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World, vol. 1 (1903), vol. 1, p. 429. View the page
To reflect on
What have you been waiting for someone else to give you that you could give yourself?