What We Wish For – LivingMini®

It always strikes me that, despite our differences, people all over the world ascribe to a core set of beliefs and practices.

One of the most common practices is the imbuing a totem with a personal desire and asking a higher being to grant our wish.

During my recent travels through the Middle East & Europe, I came across several local interpretations of this age-old tradition of *Making a Wish.*

Wishing Trees

Wishing trees are by and far the most popular. For instance in:

• Lebanon – Women wishing to conceive a child tie a sanitary napkin or tampon to a tree and ask for divine help with their fertility.

• Moscow – Lovers place a lock inscribed with their initials on a tree (or a bridge) and throw away the key, thereby permanently binding their love.

• Venice – At the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery, in the garden there is tree donated by Yoko Ono for visitors to write their wish on a piece of paper and tie it one of the branches. The fluttering wind is supposed to help your dreams come true.

Wishing Walls & Wells

• Jerusalem – The Western Wall is a place to pray, but it’s also a place to make a wish, with thousands of tiny slips of paper stuffed into the cracks of the wall. These prayers and wishes are thought of having a better chance than others of being answered. And now in the age of modernity, you can even send your prayers and wishes to the Western Wall via email at: www.aish.com

• Lebanon – Inside a cave at a Greek Orthodox monastery is a collection of pot and pans sitting on a ledge. These items are placed by couples seeking an idyllic and fruitful home life that the cookware represents.

• Rome – The most famous wishing well (or foundation) in the world is the Trevi Foundation located in central Rome. Literally tens of thousands of people each year toss a coin over their shoulder and make a wish. Me? Couldn’t stand the crowds and will make my wish elsewhere.

Do Wishes Come True?

Obviously we don’t know is our wishes are being granted by someone, or it’s the power of positive thought that is helping us to secure our dreams, or its sheer circumstance. But by participating in this tradition you are getting a wee bit closer to achieving your dreams since:

1. First, in order to write your wish on a piece of paper, you need to be able to know what to ask for. Clearly articulating what you want goes a long way towards achieving it.

2. Second, by writing down your wish you’re seeking help or guidance some form. So even in a small way, you’ve mobilized yourself toward action.

So making a wish probably does – on some level – help move your closer to realizing your dream. And yes, that shooting star probably doesn’t hurt either!

Tags: Western Wall, wishes, Wishing trees

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 and is filed under Heart.