OFF TOPIC.. about my bracelet

On Thu, 17 May 2007 11:28:29 -0400, Not Likely spun a fine yarn

Talisman or not, I agree that the SENTIMENT is the most important here, Gem, and please know that you're always in my thoughts/prayers, etc.

*hugs back* Noreen

Gemini, Not meaning to be a copy-cat, same sentiments here.

Hugs & God bless Gem, Dennis & Gail

On Thu, 17 May 2007 23:35:12 -0500, Spike Driver spun a fine yarn

Smiling broadly at Dennis's response, and saying: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that, NO, I didn't even THINK you were being a copycat, friend!

*hugs* Noreen

Thank you both! :o)

I just had an email from Linda this morning! She apologized for it because she was having a bad day and needed to get a lot of stuff off her chest and said I am the only one who would understand how she feels... she is so scared about dying, about what may or may not be 'out there' even though we firmly believe there is something, about wondering about the bad things she has done in life and wondering if she has been good enough, worrying what will happen to her son who will be totally alone when she is gone (even though he is 25, he is her only child... he is apparently in denial that this is actually happening, even though Matthew had a long blunt talk with him about it and told him he had better spend as much time with his mother as possible now before it is too late and "you will be kicking your own ass for not spending time with her when you had the chance") and where he will go, etc. I sat here in tears reading her email, then composed myself a bit to respond... but of course, was in tear then too. I sincerely wish she lived here in our town, or at least a lot closer so that I could actually

*be* there for her when she needs to cry and vent. She tries so hard to keep it all together and be tough... not allowing people to see that she is afraid of anything, and she never cries in front of anyone.

Thank you all for allowing me to vent here... God knows I have done enough of it.

*hugs* Gemini

I haven`t heard about Meduza`s eyes and am going to read about it . I have heard and seen Tiger`s eye . mirjam

Hi Mirjam! I tried looking it up too, but instead of "Medusa's Eyes" a picture of my bracelet comes up under "Evil Eye Bracelets", that apparently has a background in Turkey (and throughout Europe) and they are used to ward off bad luck given by evil eye... whether intentional or unintentional. The top picture on this page

looks almost identical to my bracelet my cousin gave me.*hugs* Gemini

According to Sheila Paine Meduza comes with snakes comes in Africa in amulets. coral is believed to be Meduza drops of blood in in the Andes. And in Roman times Meduza Slain by Perseus was an amulatic mask . mirjam

I took Greek Mythology in Highschool (I loved it... I loved Shakespeare too. Other students thought I was weird because they hated taking both subjects), so I remember Medusa having snake hair and the ability to turn people who looked at her into stone. So I was a bit surprised that the male nurse in the hospital the other day told me that my bracelet was called "Medusa's Eyes" and was thought to ward *off* evil, when Medusa herself was supposed to be evil.

Happily my online search for my bracelet found it to be something different... an "Evil Eye Bracelet" meant to ward off intentional or unintentional evil eye that someone has aimed at you. I have enough bad luck on my own and don't need any more aimed at me. ;o)

-- Not needing more bad luck is why I don't like those "chain letter" emails that state "Forward this to ___ people to have good luck. If you don't forward it at all you will have ___ years of bad luck!" Yeah... thank you for sending me something that I will not forward to anyone else, and that tells me that I will have bad luck for not doing it. *sigh* I love the funny emails, and if I *choose* to share with some friends I will do so (using BCC to hide addresses from a load of people they don't know.... or sending emails *separately* to individuals instead), but not because I am asked to forward them.

*hugs* Gemini

I too dislike those emails. Though once I did see a funny spoof on them saying that everything was going to go wrong and the computer would explode, or something like that . It still makes me smile when someone sends me one of those emails. Glad to hear your doing ok for now , your in my prayers, Gem. Coggie

Thank you, Coggie! :o)

*hugs* Gem

Gem and Coggie , if you speak about chain letters that i do HATE them as well ,,, Funny ? not at all ,, they are targeting the most Primal feelings we all have , they trample over this fragile feeling of comparative safety each of us feels in daily life. Life being complicated and hard enough without this added disrespect for everybody`s feelings . mirjam

I agree, Mirjam.

There was one that circulated before Matthew was born (in snail mail... we didn't have a computer until he was 15) that I actually didn't mind too much as it didn't say anything bad was going to happen if you broke the chain. It was a recipe chain letter that asked you to send a recipe to the four people at the bottom of the letter, cross out the top name and add your own before sending it on to four more people. I thought that was a unique way of getting new recipes, and like I said it didn't have that dreaded "something bad will happen to you if you break the chain" added to it. Because of that, I did send it to my then mother-in-law, who flew into a rage at me saying that she had health problems and that I should be ashamed of myself for sending her a chain letter that could cause her a relapse... I re-read the letter and noted that it did *not* have any threatening bits in it anywhere. She always was a bit over the top at jumping to conclusions and flying into a rage about unimportant things though.

However... I never did get any recipes at all back in the mail, so apparently everyone broke the chain and didn't bother sending recipes out to anyone on the list. Oh well. I never participated in any of those afterward... but then I never did see anymore that asked only to send recipes, without saying if you don't do it something bad will happen. Any chain letter type things I get now, go directly into the garbage... even if they do make you feel uneasy about doing so. I would rather feel uneasy myself for a day or so, than to forward those on to other people and make them uneasy. I only share "feel good" things now, but *never* the chain letter types that say that you have to send them to XX many people within XX many minutes or else.

*hugs* Gemini

Good morning GEMINI , Thank you for your nice answer. Several weeks ago i got an email chain letter from a very nice person i know. it came in the attachment which i didn`t even bother to open, and i answered her politely, that i do ask her not to send me any chain letters because of all the reasons i mentioned here. Since she sent it with a list of names, and i haven`t noticed that i answered to all , my answer reached all those people as well , Next morning one of the persons anwered my letter with the response that he thanks my polite answer about it, because he would have answered much RUDER, after he opened the attachment and the first thing he saw was a religious sign of a different faith than ours and he was offended by it ,,,, So you see your story and mine and many more show the problematics of sending such chain letters, who can chain bad feelings ,,, mirjam