Jewelry or Spit (Take Your Pick)

This past week, I seem to have violated every possible superstition known to mankind. Ok, yes that's an exaggeration, but I did spill salt all over the table during lunch, crack my make-up mirror when packing it for spring break, open my new umbrella inside, and see a black cat cross my path while I was visiting home. All I need to do is walk under a ladder on Friday the 13th and I'll be sure to condemn my future with poor fortune. Thankfully, my luck so far has been unaffected by these troubling events (knock on wood), but as a slightly superstitious person, I am currently living every second in fear of what doom lies ahead of me. 

In light of these recent unfortunate events, I decided to do this week's blog on Greek superstitions- or more specifically, the weird things we do to cope with them.

Basically, there are two different approaches to saving yourself from the horror that is bad luck after you've been exposed. Its almost as if stepping on that crack in the sidewalk is a fatal disease that can only be cured with these two things: mati eyes (aka the evil eye) and spit. Yes, you read that correctly; spit is one of the bad luck cures. If I were in Greece right now, my family would either be throwing Greek mati eyes on me or simply spitting on me three times each.

But before we dive into the meaning of these superstitions, what exactly is a mati? Otherwise known as the Greek "evil eye," the mati is a typically bulls-eye-shaped blue and white eyeball worn as jewelry to ward of evil or jealous thoughts. By wearing this Greek eye, any gazes a person receives from people with envious feelings or malicious intentions will be blocked from entering the spirit. If a jealous look were to hit an unprotected individual, Greek superstition is that this person could have bad luck ranging anywhere from health problems to financial struggles to family issues. The mati is also generalized to symbol safety from any bad luck possibly lurking in your future.

You can imagine I've acquired quite a few mati jewelry over the years.

a typical Greek mati bracelet

(courtesy of nicole)

But if jewelry isn't your thing, fear not. There's another less sanitary way to rid yourself of impending bad fortune: spitting. Fortunately, my family has yet to carry this tradition over seas, but don't be surprised if you ever see a Greek person spit on his baby after you compliment how cute it is. 

Spitting is believed to deflect the devil and any misfortune he may bring. This assumption goes hand-in-hand with the evil eye; if you receive the evil eye and have no mati to protect you, spitting will rid the evil intentions from your body. I've never tried this (nor do I intend to), but if desperate times ever call for desperate measures, at least this method can be used as a final resort.

Greeks believe good fortune comes to those who do things in groups of three. Whether that means doing your cross three times at church, knocking on your neighbors door three times, or adding three squeezes of lemon juice to your steak, acting in groups of three symbolizes the worship of the Holy Trinity. So naturally, when a superstitious event causes the need to ward off the devil by spitting, the Greeks do it three times. 

The next time you spill the salt shaker or forget your rabbit's foot, consider these two strange approaches to unsealing your doom. You never know, they might just work.