As you know from a couple of years back I have "had a thing" about Greek Tamata's after seeing them hung around the pictures of saints in the various churches Lucy and I have visited.
The rectangular shaped tamatas are made from tin, silver or gold and feature a variety of stamped images with multiple interpretations. A heart symbolises a prayer for love or a heart problem, eyes may indicate an eye affliction, hands or legs problems with limbs, a pair of wedding crowns happy marriage, a torso for afflictions of the body etc. They are then hung on a ribbon on a pole or hooks near an icon or shrine of a saint, an act usually accompanied by a prayer, and/or the lighting of a candle.
Lu managed to find me one with an eye after some degree of searching on eBay one Christmas which I framed (above), but we've always looked for more on other holidays but to no avail until we went to Rethyminmon. On the off chance I looked in a jewellers window which contained various icons and just decided to go in and then saw them on the shelves for 2 euros each. I couldn't believe it .........
....... and then as we continued down the road we found what we called "a funeral shop" (below), another first. It has to be one of the most fascinating shops I have ever been in, filled with so many religious tranquelments for funerals, memorials and leaving on at the graveside.
The tamatas here cost just 1 euro so on a roll I bought another one ...........
........ as well as a couple of other things including this small locket (below)
At present the tamatas are safe in a drawer while I have my bedroom "done", but as I am going for a sort of Mediterranean feel, I don't think they should be framed as before, but simply hung from one of the candle scones on my mirror, on a ribbon as intended, with the locket on one of the shelves.
Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but very me ...........
Interesting! I saw small reolicas of body parts in church altars when I was in Central America. It seemed to be a common thing to offer them up when praying to a saint for relief.
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