Bluing is a popular product, especially in Surinamese culture. It can be used to protect yourself against the evil eye (nazar). Anything desirable can therefore be cast under the spell of the evil eye. You heat a bath in which you dissolve half or a whole cube. It is mainly used to wash babies or by Surinamese people for a major ritual ablution on New Year's Eve, so that they can start the new year with a clean slate. Evil eye, ogri ai. Those affected by the evil eye can experience bad luck, illness, loss, or other calamities. The belief in the evil eye is over 5,000 years old and was feared centuries ago by Greeks and Romans, but today also by Hindus, Buddhists, Surinamese and Arab Christians, and Muslims. Essentially, it means harming something or someone with your gaze. It refers to a curse that someone sends upon you, consciously or unconsciously. An important characteristic of the evil eye is that this 'curse' is disguised in a compliment that someone makes, which actually contains a form of envy.
