Mommy voodoo magic

I did something the other day that I rarely do. I was feeling so out of sorts, I actually called my mother and asked her to levarmi la media.

Media, as far as I can tell, is a bastardization of invidia, which means jealousy in Italian. Invidia, naturally, is a spin on malocchio or 'evil eye', as only those who are obscenely jealous of your beauty, charms and intelligence will give you the evil eye.

So the rough translation of this phrase would be: "To lift the evil eye"

Like I said, it's not something that I do very often, because I don't believe that there are legions of people out there living in feverish jealousy of my oh-so-glamourous life. If I ask my mother to levarmi la media, it's because (essentially) I need motherly comfort.

It's a little ritual we have and just knowing that she's sending me some love vibes makes me happy.

The ritual itself doesn't have to be done in person, and involves some muttering, an Our Father, a bowl of water and olive oil. The nature of the muttering can only be revealed at midnight on Christmas Eve (yes, more superstition), and a few years ago, I actually remembered to ask my mother on the 24th.

She wrote out the prayer she mutters and I still keep that paper in my wallet.
I haven't tried it though. Any takers? Anyone feeling pookie?