Well, just to say that I'm of Sicilian heritage should already send shivers up your spine! The evil eye would run rampant in my grandmother's house . . . any time one of the grandkids was sick. I remember once having a bad tummy ache and "Mama", as we called her, would get out her old white saucer and fill it with some water, then put two drops of olive oil in the water. There we'd sit around the table watching for the omen to appear . . .which happened if the two drops merged to form one EVIL EYE. If the drops stayed apart, Mama would say "Take two asprin" . . . BUT if that evil eye appeared, every prayer and incantation known to man spewed from her lips as she sat me on her lap and rubbed warm olive oil in circles on my belly. The words that poured out of her were strange and trancelike . . . This was serious stuff! If I tried to get up from her lap before this "ancient rite" was finished, she'd just hold me fast with a "Shhh", until she was done. But you know what? We all believed our Grandma had the power to protect us . . . from . . . . .the Evil Eye.
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Well, just to say that I'm of Sicilian heritage should already send shivers up your spine! The evil eye would run rampant in my grandmother's house . . . any time one of the grandkids was sick. I remember once having a bad tummy ache and "Mama", as we called her, would get out her old white saucer and fill it with some water, then put two drops of olive oil in the water. There we'd sit around the table watching for the omen to appear . . .which happened if the two drops merged to form one EVIL EYE. If the drops stayed apart, Mama would say "Take two asprin" . . . BUT if that evil eye appeared, every prayer and incantation known to man spewed from her lips as she sat me on her lap and rubbed warm olive oil in circles on my belly. The words that poured out of her were strange and trancelike . . . This was serious stuff! If I tried to get up from her lap before this "ancient rite" was finished, she'd just hold me fast with a "Shhh", until she was done.
But you know what? We all believed
our Grandma had the power to protect us . . . from . . . . .the Evil Eye.
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