I have one of these hanging from a string in my writing space. It is called an “evil eye,” and it is used to ward of the curse brought on by an actual “evil eye,” which is little more than a “malevolent glare” given to someone when that person is unaware of the dirty look.

In looking into the history behind why people display and/or wear an amulet which embodies the very thing they are trying to avoid, I found out that these are popular souvenirs for people to bring home from Turkey, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, Albania, and Greece. While I’ve not been to any of those places — with the exception of Corfu, Greece with my mom in the fall of 2000 — I found my evil eye at the not-so-exotic Home Goods.

I bought it because I liked the shade of indigo in the outer ring of the glass.

I don’t consider myself superstitious. At all. I don’t buy into arguments supporting the idea of “fate” or that there is any sub-text to what is initially labeled a “coincidence.”

You see, I think that if you take the time the be fully engaged, you manage to open your mind to the inter-connectedness among all things. This observation thereby obviates any argument for the serendipitous nature of happenings.

That said, no matter how many times I manipulate my “evil eye” to face into my writing space so that I can enjoy the blue-white-pale blue-black bullseye pattern, the amulet spins 180 degrees to face out the window. I have turned the hook from which it hangs 180 degrees; I have untwisted the string; I’ve even added a different hanging loop.

It simply does not matter what I do. My evil eye faces out.

(When I started writing this, I spun it toward me. Guess where it is facing now.)

So what should a non-superstitious person who took several remedial measures to “right” this “wrong” conclude about the seemingly possessed, purchased-at-Home-Goods trinket?

I haven’t a clue, but I will say that a tiny piece of my less-than-scientific brain kind of likes knowing I’ve got my evil eye watching out for me.

Happy 2016 to you all. May you find something strange and beyond your comprehension to keep you appreciative of the unknowable parts of living.