An amulet of Greek earth

the long version

"The boys and men who left their Greek valley and mountain villages for America in the early 1900s set out with amulets their mothers had made for them. Some were miniature sacks attached to necklaces; more often they were merely a square of fabric enclosing symbols of the values of their lives: a piece of holy book or a sliver of the True Cross representing their belief in Greek Orthodoxy; a thyme leaf denoting their wild terrain; a blue bead to ward off the Evil Eye; and a pinch of Greek earth.". "In her book An Amulet of Greek Earth, author Helen Papanikolas explains and describes the vibrant culture these immigrants brought with them to the new world. The Romiosini culture, as it was called, provided the foundation for their new lives and was often the cause of strife as they passed on their beliefs and traditions to successive generations of Greek Americans."--BOOK JACKET.