Quick Specs
- Type: Hamsa (Hand of Fatima) evil eye wall hanging with color beads
- Size: 11 3/4 by 2 1/2 inches
- Hamsa: Silver-toned filigree hand with a blue eye bead in the palm and four miniature hamsa charms
- Top: Round silver-toned medallion with a blue eye bead
- Beads: Seven faceted octagonal beads in violet, blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange and red
- End: Round blue eye with a white ring and a light blue center
A Silver Hamsa Above Seven Colors and a Blue Eye
The upper half is silver-toned metal. A round medallion at the top, ringed with spokes of openwork, holds a blue eye bead at its center and hangs from a dark chain link. Below it hangs the hamsa: a filigree hand with scrolls curling across the palm, small flowers in the fingers and a blue eye bead set in the middle of the palm. Four miniature hamsa charms dangle from the hand, one at each side and two at the base of the fingers. From the base of the hand, a vertical line of seven faceted octagonal beads runs down in violet, blue, light blue, green, yellow, orange and red, joined by thin wire links, and a round blue eye ends the strand. The beads are close in size and cut with flat faces, so each one catches the light at its own angle. The silver upper half stays muted, so the beads carry the color, and the line of beads is the longest part of the hanging. At 11 3/4 by 2 1/2 inches it’s tall and slim, with an eye at the top, in the palm and at the bottom.
The hand is a hamsa, from khamsa, the Arabic word for five, and this hanging’s outline shows five points: three fingers and two side points. Reference works describe the hamsa as popular across North Africa and the Middle East and as a protective amulet against the evil eye, an envious stare believed to bring harm. Hamsas often carry an eye in the palm, and the blue eye bead here sits in the palm, with the medallion above and the disc below repeating the eye. In Turkey the eye amulet is the nazar boncuğu, and in Greece it’s the mati. The seven beads follow the order of the modern chakra color scheme, violet at the crown down to red at the root. That scheme comes from a separate tradition, and the hanging gathers the two on one line: a hand and eyes above, a ladder of colors below. Accounts of the nazar describe amulets hung in houses, shops and cars, and hamsas are commonly shown at doors and on walls, so a hanging suits both customs.
Where to Hang It
Hang it where daylight can reach the faceted beads: beside a window, on a bright wall or along a hallway with a lamp nearby. At 11 3/4 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide it fits a narrow wall between two doors, the side of a bookcase or the inside of an entryway. Set the hook high enough that the beads and the eye at the bottom clear shelves and furniture, and keep a hand’s width on each side. A small nail or hook is all it needs, which makes it an easy gift for a new home. Hang it above the reach of small children, since the charms and beads are small. For more pieces made to hang, see my wall hangings collection.
How to Hang and Care for the Hamsa and Chakra Hanging
Three steps cover checking the wire links, hanging the piece and keeping it clean.
- Check the Wire Links
Hold the hanging by the chain at the top and let the strand drop. Run your fingers down the line of seven beads, give each wire link a light tug and look at the loops where the beads join the hamsa and the eye. Close an open loop with small pliers or ask a jeweler to do it before the hanging goes on the wall. Check that each miniature hamsa charm hangs freely.
- Hang It
Set a small nail or hook at about eye level or a little above, and hang the top link from it. Let the strand settle for a minute and check that the hamsa faces forward with its fingers pointing up. Keep the beads clear of shelves, picture frames and window sills, since faceted beads can chip if they knock a hard edge.
- Dust and Wipe
Dust the hamsa and the medallion with a soft dry brush every few weeks, working around the charms and the eye beads. Wipe the faceted beads with a soft dry cloth to lift fingerprints. Skip polish and soaking so the small parts stay in place. Take the hanging down before any painting or wall cleaning, and store it flat in a box so the strand stays straight.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this hanging as a decorative or protective charm that borrows from the hamsa, the nazar and the modern chakra color scheme. The hamsa belongs to living Muslim and Jewish traditions, and the chakra concept comes from living Hindu and Buddhist ones. This piece is a reference to them, an entry point and never a substitute for community, teachers or practice. If any of these belongs to your family’s faith, you already know how it’s honored. If it’s new to you, start by learning its names and history from the communities that keep it. For other eye pieces, see my evil eye collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
In English it's often called the Hand of Fatima, a name used in some Muslim and Balkan cultures. Sephardi-Mizrahi Jews call it the Hand of Miriam, Levantine Christians call it the Hand of Mary, and in Arabic it's the khamsa, from the word for five. It belongs to living faith traditions, so this hanging is a decorative reference, and members of those communities are the best guides to how a hamsa is used.
The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or circle, and the idea of energy centers in the body comes from Indian traditions, in Hindu and Buddhist tantric texts. Indian chakra systems are far older than the seven-chakra scheme, which reached the West in the 1880s through Theosophists. These are living traditions, so the beads on this hanging are a decorative reference, and teachers and communities who practice them are the best guides.
The rainbow sequence, red at the base through orange, yellow, green and blue to violet at the crown, took shape in twentieth-century Western writing. A Theosophical Society article traces single colors in spectrum order to listings from the 1930s, and notes that the colors and the lists of qualities first appeared together in print in 1977. Indian texts give the chakras colors of their own, in sequences that differ from the rainbow.
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