Journeys and voyages: practices that mark them
Charms for the road, the sea and the pilgrimage.
Journeys and voyages call for charms because the road is uncertain. Pilgrims, sailors, traders and migrants have long carried protective things: the St Christopher medal, the Japanese omamori for traffic safety, the hamsa on a truck, the Tibetan prayer flag on a mountain pass, the Hindu pilgrim's thread, the Muslim hajji's ihram, and the sailor's tattoo. This page looks at the customs of the road and what they say about risk.
Leaving and returning
Customs mark departure and return. Families in India and Southeast Asia bless travellers with a mark or a sweet, and in Russia people sit quietly before a trip. Prayers and offerings are made at shrines on mountain passes, with stone cairns and flags in Tibet and Mongolia. Returning travellers are welcomed and sometimes cleansed. Travellers in every age have asked a blessing from a priest, a saint or an elder, and families have kept a lamp lit at home until the traveller's return.
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage joins the journey with the sacred. Hajj to Mecca, the Camino to Santiago, the Hindu yatra to Varanasi, Shikoku's 88 temples in Japan and the Kumbh Mela all involve rites of leaving home, and often a change of dress and status. Pilgrims carry tokens, such as scallop shells, holy water and amulets, and bring them back as blessings. Some pilgrimages take weeks on foot and others are done by bus and plane, and each has its own tokens, songs and customs.
Sea, air and work
Sailors long observed taboos: no whistling on board, certain days to avoid, and a coin placed under a mast. Fishers in Japan and Scandinavia hold shrines and rites. Truckers in South Asia decorate their lorries with eyes and verses, and many airlines skip row thirteen. Such customs ease the stress of dangerous work. Such habits mix faith, habit and risk management, and a number of them have good sense in them, since checking the boat before leaving is both a rite and a safety check.
Migrants and diaspora
People who move take their customs with them, and magic travels in luggage: charms, recipes, prayers, small shrines. Migrants may also be targeted by fraud and oaths, as in trafficking cases using juju rites. A charm can offer comfort while travel safety depends on vaccination, insurance, rules of the road and reliable information. Sailors' tattoos of a swallow or an anchor were said to mark miles sailed and to bring a safe return, and fishermen's wives keep similar customs onshore.
Journeys and voyages on EveryJaadu
The entries written up so far, best known first.
🇸🇪 SwedenTemple at Uppsala
A Norse religious centre described in medieval texts and debated by modern scholarsTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyFortunaFortūna
The Roman goddess of luck and fate, shown with a wheel and a horn of plentyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka and 1 moreKataragama templeකතරගම / கதிர்காமம் முருகன் கோயில்
A Sri Lankan shrine shared by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and VeddasTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇳🇿 New ZealandKarakia
Māori recitations used for spiritual guidance, protection, and formal greetingsTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇬 MadagascarSikidy
An algebraic geomancy practiced by Malagasy peoples using seeds to read fate and prescribe remediesOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreCairn
A human-made stack of stones used as a marker, memorial, or religious symbol across many cultures.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 3 moreRowancaorann
A Northern Hemisphere tree believed to ward off witches and protect travellers.Substance · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇲🇳 Mongolia and 1 moreOvooовоо
A stone or branch cairn used as a shrine and boundary marker in Mongolic folk practice.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇮🇪 IrelandBlarney StoneCloch na Blarnan
A limestone block in an Irish castle kissed for the gift of eloquenceCharm · Power and authority Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 5 morePachamama
The Andean mother goddess of space-time and the earthBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇵🇪 Peru and 1 moreApu
Sacred mountain spirits in Andean tradition that protect communities and control natural resourcesBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇮🇷 Iran and 2 moreBibliomancy
Divination by opening a book at random and reading the first passage foundOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Living
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreLaying on of handsסמיכה
A physical gesture used across religions to convey authority, healing, or spiritual presence.Rite · Healing · Power and authority Living
🇪🇬 Egypt and 3 moreEx-voto
A gift left in a shrine to mark a vow kept or a miracle receivedCharm · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreQimen Dunjia奇門遁甲
An ancient Chinese divination system mapping time and space for strategic decision-makingOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived
🇨🇳 ChinaOracle bone甲骨
Divination using heated ox bones and turtle shells in ancient ChinaRite · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreScapulimancy
Divination using animal shoulder blades, practiced across Asia and the Americas.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHydromancy
Divination using water to reveal the future or judge legitimacy.Oracle · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreCapnomancy
Divination by reading the shapes and movements of smoke from fires or incenseOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical
🇬🇹 Guatemala and 3 moreMaya religion
The living spiritual practices of the Maya peoples, shaped by centuries of contact with Catholicism.Tradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreNecromancy
A form of divination that seeks to speak with the dead for hidden knowledge.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Historical
🇯🇵 JapanYutaユタ
Okinawan folk shamans who guide families through spirits and fortune-tellingTradition · Protection · Healing Living
🇳🇿 New Zealand and 5 moreFace tattoo
Marks inked on the face for spiritual protection, identity, rank, and rite of passageTradition · Protection · Power and authority Living
🇺🇦 Ukraine and 5 moreMugwortчорнобиль (chornóbyl')
An aromatic herb used in folk medicine, cooking, and magical protection across Eurasia.Substance · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori御守/お守り
Japanese amulets from shrines and temples for luck and protectionCharm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanOmamori (sample)お守り
A small shrine charm in a brocade pouch.Charm · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇬🇷 GreeceBaba Yaga (sample)Баба-яга
A witch of Slavic tales who lives in a hut on legs.Figure · Change and initiation Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Maya mythology: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Fortuna: Charles Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sikidy: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Cairn: Andrew Bossi, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Rowan: Taken by me, Jonik , on August 25, 2004., CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ovoo: Bouette ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Blarney Stone: Srleffler, Public domain, source
- Pachamama: Penarc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Apu: Cecilia Sacsa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bibliomancy: Albert Robida, Public domain, source
- Laying on of hands: User:Lipsio, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ex-voto: JTSH26, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Oracle bone: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Scapulimancy: Albert Peter Low, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hydromancy: Roger McLassus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Capnomancy: Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Necromancy: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Face tattoo: Gottfried Lindauer, Public domain, source
- Mugwort: Prahlad balaji, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Omamori: Leongboy1, Public domain, source
- Kataragama temple: Ghostface Buddha, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Temple at Uppsala: Olaus Magnus, Public domain, source