North African Cage with Hamsa (Khamsa).

This ancient design is known by many names;’African Fringe,’ ‘Arabic Cage’ and   ‘Cage Fan’. It originated in North Africa, and is still created in both Egypt and Morocco as a ‘House blessing’. It is however seldom made for the tourist trade. According to local traditions, this straw cage was constructed to offer a home to the ‘Spirit of the Grain’, following each harvest. The belief is that if the grain spirit is ever removed from their homes, the next harvest will fail. Which may help to explain why it is so rarely sold.

Here combined with another traditional symbol of protection, The Hamsa, or Hand of Fatima. This symbol represents blessings, power and strength, and is seen as a potent deflector of The Evil Eye (a malicious stare believed to cause illness, death or general bad luck). The Hamsa symbol often combines the powerful defensive symbol of’ Nazar Boncuğu or ‘Evil Eye’ for this very reason.

These images were often painted, or hung upon the walls, or doorways of houses, especially those belonging to expectant mothers. The hand can be depicted with the fingers spread apart to ward off evil, or closed together to bring good luck. Fatima’s hand is a powerful talisman for good luck and one of the most popular amulets for protection. It is believed that a house protected by Fatima’s Hand will never catch fire.

I can make the basic & traditional design as seen in the very first image; with or without seed heads at the top (as just a simple straw plaited loop without seed heads), as the hanger. Or, it can be added too with coloured beads (or objects of your choice, that you can supply me with if you wish), that sit just above the wheat heads at the base of this ancient design, as can be seen in the other two images. These designs can be made larger or smaller as is required, if so, the price stated will vary either way. I am always happy to make a piece more individual, so please do ask if you have any other ideas or specification and we can discuss this before hand.