Every culture is mesmerized by the unexplainable, but rarely does one find a talisman that could turn an ancient belief into a versatile global image as the Turkish "nazar boncugu," the famed evil eye beads.

Although their appearances may vary, evil eye beads usually come in tricolor glass: a black dot in the middle, enclosed in a white inner circle and with both surrounded by a dark blue edging. The talisman goes by different names around the Levant and the Mediterranean, all meaning the glare of the envious, the jealous: "ayn al hasud" in Arabic, "ayn hara" in Hebrew, "to mati" in Greek and "nazar" in Turkish.

Evil eye is almost omnipresent yet difficult to define. It could be the long stare of the envious but it could also be a glare with too much love.

From Lebanon to Bosnia, and Azerbaijan to Malta, there is some form of reference to the damaging effect of the evil eye and the precious bead worn to protect against it. It is common among Muslims, Christians and Jews, who believe that evil eye exists and advise ways to ward it off. That's why one will often find people, especially older women, spitting to the side to protect against the evil eye. It is particularly feared that people with light-colored eyes are the most effective (though unintentional) cursers.