Tuesday, March 25, 2014

How to make an OMAMORI


DOMO~~~

This is an otaku craft post I hope you guys would like. First off, I mentioned in my recent post that I’d post about a how to cosplay tip. Unfortunately, I ran out of materials. Ahaha. So for now, let’s make an omamori. 

What is an omamori?
According to Wikipedia; Omamori (御守 or お守り omamori) are Japanese amulets (charms, talismans) commonly sold at religious sites and dedicated to particular Shinto deities as well as Buddhist figures, and may serve to provide various forms of luck or protection. The word mamori (守り) means protection, with omamori being the sonkeigo (honorific) form of the word, "to protect". Originally made from paper or wood, modern amulets are small items usually kept inside a brocade bag and may contain a prayer, religious inscription of invocation.

It’s simple to make your own!
You’ll need:
  •        Any type of fabric you want. (I chose a checkered pattern. Hehe~)
  •        A string for the omamori’s knot.
  •        Thread
  •        Needle
  •        Scissors
  •        A piece of clean paper (could be wood) with your own incantation (see below for more details)

Step 1
Take out your fabric and fold it once. Mark a rectangle of your preferred size and draw two slanted lines on the upper part of the rectangle as seen in the picture. Always put your marks on the wrong side (the side without the prints) of the fabric and then draw an allowance for cutting. The size of my rectangle is 2 inches by 3 inches and the slant is 1 inch. The allowance is the thicker line and that is where you cut the fabric.

Step 2
Sew the bottom, the right and left and the upper slants but leave the top line. And then turn it over.

Step 3
Insert your paper or piece of wood with the prayer inside the pouch. I put this ofuda (a protection paper talisman) inside. Here’s an ofuda... just rotated 90 degrees.
In Shintoism, this paper id given during the New Year and serves as protection against evil, accidents, bad spirits and other bad  elements. The paper says something along the lines of... "A talisman of ancestor of the Goddess,Amaterasu" You can just print this paper and insert it in the omamori or google some Japanese quotes like…  “恋が芽ばえ 好きになり 愛となる 夫婦となりて しあわせに” (read as “Koi ga mebae, suki ni nari, ai to naru fuufuu to narite shiawase ni”) meaning: “The love seed is growing, start from liking, then turn into love, become couples, and happiness ever after.”

Step 4
Use any pointy object to poke a hole through the fabric. I used a pen I didn't realize was working so it has a little hint of blue... sorry. The hole should be big enough for the string to pass through.  


Step 5
Lastly, tie the omamori tassel knot, then insert the string and secure the back with a simple knot.. 
Watch this to see how: 
and......

I didn’t put any designs because my fabric looked okay enough. (that and I’m a lazy piece of ....). There are tons of designs! Like a lotus, or even your name in hiragana or katakana.

That’s all for now! Jaa~~~

13 comments:

  1. This is so really helpful! I am going to make a goodluck charm for a friend I really like! :) Hope he likes it!

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  2. Thank you so much for great tutorial!I am making diary for a friend in Japanese style so read a lot about Japan and really like those charms so I am now ready to try make some for my friend as well :D thank you

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  3. Would it still be effective even though My religion is not Shintoism?? Cause I am a Christian but i need a charm. T.T

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    1. I know this is really late, but I am currently taking a Religous Studies course, and I think that although you grew up Christian and are; you are free to believe and research and even check out different religions if you like. I think it really has to do with what you believe! So really it wouldn't hurt to try, I am catholic, yet I believe these charms are really effective :)

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    2. even though this comment is old I thought I'd reply, I'm catholic but I love these kind of charms from my time in Japan ~ in my attempt to make my own though I will be putting in my own prayers(to the saints or the Virgin Mary, etc)rather than the ofuda that this tutorial provided to use them more as devotional/intercessional items rather than as typical good luck charms.

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  4. you can buy on www.omamori.com (Y)

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  5. Is there a place I can get different ofudas to put in them?

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  6. This is an interesting post. Accually I am very unlucky person in incredible level. So I'm thinking as a last solution Asian talismans. In my country there is nothing about it. So, this post helps me a lot. Thanks!

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  7. can i flip the ofuda, i accidentally print it too large

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  8. where do i find a prayer paper for luck

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  9. I'm sorry but, the idea of crafting a sacred religious Shinto talismans/charm when you don't actually worship/participate in the religion seems like an incredibly naive and culturally disrespectful thing to do? While Shintoism is an open religion and any non-native Japanese person is allowed to visit a shrine to pray and/or purchase a omamori talisman from the shrine, it is very important to understand that only an actual trained Shinto priest is allowed to craft these sacred items. I know you made this tutorial just as a "fun and unique crafting activity", but these self-made omomori charms are 100% superficial and will have absolutely ZERO protection/luck effect on it's wearer... that is not only the rules of the religion itself, but also the fundamental do's-and-dont's of using cultural faith magic practices which every eclectic spiritually-inclined person should recognise.

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    1. I disagree. Engaging with cultures isn't a bad thing; I get there are weeaboos out there that take it too far, but how is this any worse than omamori which are mass produced in Chinese factories? I have omamori specifically bought from Shinto shrines, as well as one made from a friend and I don't find her efforts any more superficial. I'd like to believe any gods would protect those which feel genuine towards them. That's all, no shade, just my input; wishing good health to everyone right now.

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