Counterfeit omamori
As if buying and reselling shrine goods wasn't bad enough, the internet has been flooded with counterfeit omamori. Now to be true, there really isn't anything saying only certain people can make charms. Anyone can make a charm. But here's the thing, they aren't omamori. They are just ordinary memorabilia.
An omamori or Mamorifuda is a type of gofu amulet or talisman typically distributed in a small bag made of brocade or ornate cloth and meant to be carried on the person. http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=291
It's what's inside that is important. Not the fancy bag.
Omamori can be obtained at most temples and shrines. And yes, there's been a profusion of Omamori being sold online. What many of the online omamori are missing is the actual charm that goes inside. And no, a layperson can not make that charm, it has to be made by a priest at either a Buddhist temple or Shinto Shrine. Filling a fancy brocade bag with crystal is not a substitute no matter how pretty the bag looks.
It's OK to buy an omamori as a souvenir as most locations are fine with this. That said, it's not intended to be a souvenir it is intended to act as protection, bring good fortune, and even provide guidance. When an Omamori is perchassed as a souvenir it still has those intentions behind it.
But people who sell souvenirs do so for one reason and only one reason, and that is to make money. And that's what the people online are doing. People are making counterfeit omamori for the sole purpose of making money. They don't actually care about centuries of tradition or cultural sensitivity because if they did they wouldn't be making and selling them. They are, and I hate to say it, committing cultural apropriation. Yes, westerners can practice Shinto. Unordained individuals regardless of ethnic origin or nationality, to include "good intentions" should not make and sell what is a religious item. If it doesn't come from a shrine or temple it really shouldn't be sold as an omamori, and the people who do it are no better than people who would sell pieces of the "true cross" and snake oil.
