Omamori お守り a world of lucky charm for every need

  Omamori 守 り, are small amulets, often made of cloth, that every Japanese (and tourist) knows. They protect from any
 "evil influence", and are used by everyone, children, students, and the elderly. Let's see what they are and where they are. They are called in many ways, like lucky charms, or Japanese amulets for good luck, they are so well known that, asking to any Japanese, he/she can tell you what it is, but with a lot of proof he/she will show you the one he/she always brings with you.

There are many types, but certainly the most popular and used ones are made of cloth. We also find same in wood, of small workmanship that performs the same function, you only have to choose the one you like best but, above all, the one connected to the "protection" you want to receive.

The most common are those that protect us from road accidents (which hang inside the car), or those that help us in studies (especially used when we have important exams), or those that preserve good health. Without forgetting those that give to future mothers to wish them a safe birth and the healthy growth of the child.

How they are made ? they are very simple. Leaving aside those in wood in which it is written above the "blessings" wrapped with a small piece of paper to cover them, those more known are in cloth. They have "embroidered" symbols, names or images connected to the temple in which they were taken or the kind of blessings one wants for oneself. Inside there is a sheet of paper, folded several times containing the blessing. The omamori don't open, you have to keep it closed and have the proper respect.

As well as the other amulets that are taken in the temples, every year, usually at the end of the year or the beginning of the new year, the old omamori are brought to the temples where a collective ceremony takes place in which the amulets are burned thus purifying all the "evil" that they absorbed being with you.

For those who buy them, such as tourists, but then they can't go to the temple the next year to deliver them, don't worry, you can keep them as a memento of your trip. His protective "power" will be exhausted, but it still remains a beautiful memory of your time spent in Japan.