Evil Eye Sun Catcher, 18 Inch

Blue glass nazar beads. The traditional cobalt eyes strung in series, each catching light as the day moves.

18 inch hanging strand. Sized for standard windows, door frames, and porch eaves without pooling on the sill.

Amulet and decor at once. The nazar's protective tradition in the sun catcher's format, working the window it decorates.

• Length: approximately 18 inches
• Material: blue glass nazar beads, strung for hanging
• Placement: sunny windows, doorways, porch eaves
• SKU: FSCWH16

The evil eye belief, that envy's gaze can land on visible good fortune and sour it, is one of the oldest ideas still in daily practice, and the blue glass nazar is its most traveled remedy: an unblinking glass eye of Anatolian and Mediterranean tradition made to meet the envious glance first and absorb it. The custom hangs alive today in homes and shops across half the world, and a cracked eye is read as a veteran, thanked and replaced.

The window has always been the tradition's natural post, being where the household's fortune is visible from the street, and the sun catcher format serves both of the strand's employers at once. To the tradition, a series of eyes covers the glass the way one cannot; to the room, the cobalt beads light up like a run of tiny stained-glass windows as the sun crosses. It is the rare guardian that improves the view it guards, which may explain the format's popularity from Aegean balconies to Austin kitchens.

1. Hang it in the sunniest window facing the street or approach.
2. Doorways and porch eaves serve equally well where windows are staffed.
3. Let the light do half the work; the strand is at its best mid-afternoon.
4. If a bead ever cracks, tradition says it caught something; thank the strand and repair or replace.

Give it room to turn slowly on its cord. The eyes cover more angles that way, and the light show doubles.

• Evil Eye Sun Catcher, 20 Inches: the prism-hung sibling with the silver-tone centerpiece.
• Evil Eye Wall Hanging, 3 Inches: the front door's statement eye beside the window's strand.
• Evil Eye Wall Hanging, 40mm: the compact eye for the posts the strand can't reach.
• Evil Eye Keychain, Blue Glass: the traveling eye for the household's daily departures.
• Crescent Moon Sun Catcher, 11 Inch: the window collection's lunar companion.

What is a nazar?

The blue glass eye of Mediterranean and Anatolian folk tradition, made to catch and absorb the envious gaze the evil eye belief describes; a living practice presented here with respect.

How does this differ from the 20 inch sun catcher?

This 18 inch strand is all glass nazar beads; the 20 inch hangs a silver-toned eye centerpiece with light-scattering prisms. Same tradition, two window voices.

Where should it hang?

The sunniest window facing the street or approach, or a doorway or porch eave; the tradition posts eyes where fortune meets the public gaze, and the glass prefers the light anyway.

What if a bead cracks?

Folk custom reads the crack as interception, the eye spent absorbing what was aimed at the household; thank it and repair or replace the strand.

Is it weatherproof for a porch?

Glass beads handle covered porch duty well; sheltered from direct rain and hard wind, the strand serves outdoors for seasons.