Also called Go n-éirí an bóthar leat, The Irish blessing, Traveler's blessing
A spoken charm said over someone setting out, wishing them an easy road, wind at the back and safe return. The familiar English verse is 20th-century, built on the old Irish farewell 'go n-éirí an bóthar leat', 'may you succeed on the road'.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: No physical risk. Give the blessing before the engine starts, not while the driver is pulling out.
Barry Popik traced the familiar English text to American print in 1946, popularized by Harry H. Schlacht's St. Patrick's Day newspaper column. No older Irish-language original of the whole verse has been found, though the opening phrase is a real Irish farewell. It became a fixture of Irish-American weddings, funerals and kitchen samplers.
Jews recite a set prayer at the start of any journey, now including long car trips and flights. The Talmud credits the custom to advice from the prophet Elijah, and Abaye taught it should be said in the plural so the traveler prays with the whole community. It asks protection from enemies, ambush and harm on the way, and is said once the traveler has left the city.
Uses: Prayer text
Alexander Carmichael spent decades writing down prayers and charms spoken in Hebridean homes. Among them are journey prayers asking blessing on the path, the ground underfoot and the night's rest. Islanders said them on leaving the house, crossing water or setting out to the moor with cattle.
Spoken blessings for travelers are among the oldest charms in any language. In Ireland, 'go n-éirí an bóthar leat' is an ordinary farewell, close in feeling to 'bon voyage'. In the Scottish Gaelic Hebrides, Alexander Carmichael recorded journey blessings from the 1860s on and published them in Carmina Gadelica, the first volumes in 1900. These prayers put the traveler under the care of God, the saints and the angels, and ask blessing on every step of the road.
The English verse that hangs in Irish pubs worldwide is younger than it looks. Barry Popik's research traces it to American newspapers in 1946, and nobody has yet found a complete Irish original. That does not make it false; folk blessings are made and remade. It was built from a real Irish phrase and a real habit of blessing the departing, and it now does exactly what the old charms did.
A Hoodoo and Latin American botánica working to clear blocks from your path, used before a trip, a job search or any new start. A candle and oil or herb wash dressed with abre camino and citrus 'opens the road' ahead.
A Catholic custom of sprinkling cars with holy water and praying for safe travel, usually held by parishes on or near St. Christopher's feast of July 25. Drivers often keep a St. Christopher medal on the dash, visor or key ring.
An Icelandic magical stave said to keep its bearer from losing the way in storms and bad weather. It is recorded in the Huld manuscript of 1860 and has become hugely popular as a tattoo and car emblem, often wrongly called a Viking compass.
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