"Time Travelling Assistance": Hamsa

Read here and view creative hamsa: http://www.squidoo.com/hamsa-nc

Extract:

According to wikipedia:

The word khamsa means "five" in Arabic and is used in amulets, charms and jewelry to protect against the "evil eye." (perhaps "five fingers in the eye to blind the jealous or malevolent person.")
It's common in Arab and Jewish cultures in the middle east
The symbol predates monotheistic religions and was widely used in antiquity.
An alternative Muslim name for the Khamsa: the Hand of Fatima (Fatima Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad)
Jews sometimes call it the name Hand of Miriam (Miriam, the sister of the prophets Moses and Aaron).
Some associate the five fingers with
- The five books of the Torah for Jews
- The Five Pillars of Islam for Sunnis
- The five People of the Cloak for Shi'ites.
This symbolism may have evolved at a later stage, in view of the fact that archaeological evidence suggests the hamsa predates both religions.
It is thought by some to have originated with the Phoenicians.
Some activists for Middle East peace wear the Khamsa as a symbol of the shared traditions between the Islamic and Jewish faiths.
The fingers can point up or down.

The hamsa hand appears both in a two-thumbed, bilaterally symmetrical form, as shown, and in a more natural form in which there is only one thumb.
There is good archaeological evidence to suggest that the downward-pointing protective hamesh / hamsa hand predates both Judaism and Islam and refers to an ancient Middle Eastern goddess whose hand wards off the evil eye.
the design in some examples merges into another design called the eye-in-hand motif. In those instances, a realistic or stylized eye appears in the center of the palm of the hand.

Related Articles:

Amulets and Symbols of Protection

Omens, Curses and Hexes that signify Dark Forces, Evil Spirits, Bad Luck and Neg...