A life-changing journey started two days ago for me, and it involves driving over a thousand miles with everything I own (which only half-fills my car) to start my life over. I'll be stopping at several places along the way, turning an emotionally painful one-way trip, into an adventure of self-discovery. Well, doing the best I can, there's no denying the tears and pain.

As part of my preparations for this journey, I've been gearing more of my magickal workings and rituals to ensure a safe journey. I don't want nor expect an uneventful one, since I'm trying to make an adventure of it all, but I do want it to be safe. Here's my process of figuring out what I needed, and how I've gone about filling those needs. As always, your mileage may vary (travel pun!), and some of the characteristics I assign to things may not be what you're used to. Take what works for you, and leave the rest behind. Write me an email or leave some comments letting me know what you think, and how you fare.

Intention and protection

The way I see it, there are three boundaries that need protection/addressing, and a couple of intentional workings that also need doing. The three boundaries are me, my car, and my way, meaning the roads I'll travel, the places I'll visit and at which I'll sleep. Each of these boundaries needs a form of protection. For me, I've chosen a talisman comprised of a chestnut, given to me in the past for safe travels, a moonstone, and the last bit of Comfrey I have. For my car (and all it holds), I've chosen a hand-inked amulet drawn on paper based upon something similar for tall ships I read about a while ago (I'm sorry the title escapes me at the moment). For the final boundary, it's all about intentional workings at the start of every day.

I've constructed the talisman by simply wrapping the Comfrey around the chestnut with twine. This was done with some rhythmic drumming playing in the background to keep my mind on the task at hand, and the purpose of the thing. Remember, for talismans you need three pieces of information: who it's for, what it's for, and for how long. They're activated by the blood of the intended person. I won't go into too much detail here, but I've not set an actual expiration date per se, but rather an event, in other words something must happen for the talisman to finish its work.

The amulet for the car is two-sided, one I've hand drawn based upon descriptions for safe journey of tall ships back when they were the primary mode of long distance travel. I chose a specially prepared ink, and some paper made for me by a dear friend. The other side is also hand drawn, and is based upon my "go to" method for creating them, the A.O. Spare way. Thankfully the paper is pretty heavy, hand-made stuff so there is no bleed through of the designs, but it's also so stiff that I don't want to risk folding it. Instead, I'm going to keep it flat and place it in the vertical storage area in the backs of the front seats.

For that final boundary, I've drafted up just a simple ritual which involves asking my patron deity to keep the roads open, the winds and weather fair, and kind people where ever I go. The first time I do this will be the last time I use the ritual space I created outside my home here. I'm going to miss this place, it has offered up so many lessons, many of which I've written and shared with you already.

(this post was written a couple of days ago, I'm sure I've screwed up my past/future tenses, sorry)

Do you perform travel-specific magick? Share your tips and ideas in the comments!