Monday, August 25, 2008

Omamori - you know, for your car

This is the Omamori that I just put in our new Grand Cherokee. My mother-in-law bought it for us. Now we'll be safe!

We in the USA would call this a good luck charm, but many Japanese believe they offer actual protection - especially if you get one at a temple (or shrine, if that's your preference). I guess it's sort of like putting a cross in your car if you're a Christian, only not quite as religious - some people do just have them out of superstition, more like a rabbit's foot. But they make these for various specific purposes like childbirth or driving, and they personalize them for individual families. Temple monks actually pray on them - I don't really like the word "bless" because to me, that sounds vague. A monk actually prayed for my specific car not to have an accident.

This one is from Narita-san Temple, and that's what it says on the front. On the back is my name (as the technical owner of the car) and the purpose - in this case, safety while driving.

Here's another one - wouldn't know from the pic, but it's actually a lot smaller than the one above:

That's the one I'm supposed to walk around with. I keep it in my bag. I'm not really sure if it's generic or if it's personalized - the paper inside it is folded up thick, so there might be more written on it that I can't see, like maybe my name again. (I don't think I'm supposed to open it up.) My wife has a red one that she insists is for her, while the purple one is for me. As far as I know, all of these have little Buddhas in them if you get them at a Buddhist temple. (Omamori from Shinto shrines probably have something else.) This one also came from Narita.

Temples make a lot of money on these things, but apparently they're a good export business too. Check out the price of one at this site. Granted, it comes in an unnecessarily nice wooden box, but that's still quite a markup. They're also showing the back, not the front, I guess because they think it looks nicer (and mine above looks exactly the same, so that one's probably pretty tiny). Anyone want to go into business together?

2 comments:

  1. We receive ours in the mail every month. I keep it in my wallet. It has my name on it. Not sure if the temple writes it on there or my wife does. I don't know why I haven't asked her yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. and yes, I have one similar to yours in my mini-van. :)

    ReplyDelete

About This Blog

This is increasingly not a blog about Alphabet City, New York. I used to live in the East Village and work on Avenue B, but I no longer do. Why don't I change the name if I'm writing about Japan and video games and guitars? Because New Yorkers are well-rounded people with varied interests, and mine have gone increasingly off the rails over the years. And I don't feel like changing the name. I do still write about New York City sometimes.

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