This is a collection of information I
have gathered from sources I could actually information from and not
just instructions on how to make them.
Names: God's Eye, Brighid's Eye, the
eye of Brighid, Ojo de Dios
The eye of Brighid is made with two
sticks that are the same length and tying them together to make a
cross. The Eye of Brighid can be woven with many colours of yarn and
then hung on the wall or door for a protective house blessing.i
The God's Eye, or sikuli, is a special type of nierika that is also
called a Huichol cross. It is from the Huichol tribe (in their
language: wixárikas/wixáricas), an indigenous group that lives in
central Western Mexico in the Sierra Madre Occidental, many in
Jalisco. Their best-known traditional religious offerings, nierika
(nearika), are small diamonds or circles that have threads of yarn
pressed into them.ii
Early anthropologists gave them the
name in English and Spanish, noting that nierika comes from the
Huichol verb nieriya, “to see”. Viewed as a talisman and placed
in religious shrines and other sacred places, the sikuli came to be
called the ojo de Dios.” Ojo de Dios (eye of God), according “to
Castilian Spanish, it is pronounced "oh-ho-day-Dee-ohs"
(the "j" is silent or sometimes has a light "h"
sound).iiiivThe
spiritual purpose of the God's Eye is to protect children in the
first years of their lives. When a Huichol child is born, parents
create the central part of a God’s Eye by tying together the two
sticks into a cross. As the child grows, the parent adds another
colour each year to the age of five. Considered a protective amulet,
the resulting God’s Eye is then treasured throughout the person’s
life and may be used in rituals and traditional medicine. The colours
parents used to make it have different meanings, just as the points
of the God's Eye represent the elements and the cardinal directions
(North, South, East, and West).v
The colours used have different meanings: red - life
itself; yellow - sun moon and stars; blue - sky and water; brown -
soil; green - plants; black – death.vi
The center of the eye stood for the power of seeing and
understanding things we normally cannot see.vii
The Huichol also made these God's Eyes to be placed on altars
so that their gods would protect and watch over those who prayed at
the altars. To help the god see better, Huichol people wove a pupil
of black yarn or a mirrored disk in to the god's eye. Where the
sticks crossed, they left an opening that allowed shamans (religious
leaders who were believed to have powers of healing) and gods to
travel easily between the spirit and earth worlds.viii
The God's Eye is a symbol of the power of seeing and understanding
unseen things. God's Eyes were also important to Aymara Indians in
what is now Bolivia, South America. Native American tribes in the
southwestern region of the United States also adopted this object and
its spiritual customs. The Navajo are known for their eight-sided
Ojos de Dios.
Today, Christians throughout the world
have popularized this craft as a symbol for God. When making a
traditional God's Eye, the person making it is expressing a prayer
that the “Eye of God” will watch over them or the person that is
is being made for. It is also a physical representation of praying
for health, fortune, and a long life. To some
Christians, it means a prayer for "May the eye of God be upon
you."ixx
The God’s eye is a house blessing common to both Ireland and
Mexico. The cross formation like other crosses, the horizontal piece
represents the relationship and interaction with the world around.
The other direction of the cross, the vertical piece that holds up
the horizontal piece, represents a person's relationship with God,
the Divine in our life. Many people see the horizontal beam of the
cross as a symbol representing our relationship with the world and
other people. They see the vertical beam of the cross as a symbol of
their relationship with God. To maintain a balance in both beams, is
the cross.xi
iPg
91, “The Wiccan Year: spells, rituals, holiday celebrations,”
Judy Ann Nock, Provenance Press, 2007
ii“What
Are Los Ojos De Dios or God’s Eyes?”March 24, 2015 by Marcela
Hede
http://hispanic-culture-online.com/los-ojos-de-dios-or-gods-eyes.html
iiihttp://www.historicalfolktoys.com/catcont/6004.html
iv“Ojo
de Dios,” http://www.layers-of-learning.com/ojo-de-dios/
v“What
Are Los Ojos De Dios or God’s Eyes?”March 24, 2015 by Marcela
Hede
http://hispanic-culture-online.com/los-ojos-de-dios-or-gods-eyes.html
viGod's
eyehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_eye
vii“Ojo
de Dios,” http://www.layers-of-learning.com/ojo-de-dios/
viii
godseye.pdf Oklahoma Historical Society www.okhistory.org
ixhttp://www.historicalfolktoys.com/catcont/6004.html
xGod's
eyehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_eye
xiGod's
Eyes: A Craft and Prayer Activity for Lent, by Jeanne Heiberg
Source: CATECHIST Magazine, March 2010 Copyright 2010, Peter Li,
Inc. http://www.catechist.com/blog/archives/269-20120302.html
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