Fundamentally, an omamori (Japanese amulet) acts as a spiritual substitute for its owner, absorbing any misfortune or harm intended for them. Because of this role, there are specific guidelines for how long you should keep one:​​

• Amulets with a Specific Goal: For purposes like recovering from an illness or ensuring a safe childbirth, the amulet should be ritually burned once that specific goal has been achieved.

• General Protection Amulets: Types such as traffic safety or warding off evil generally have a "lifespan" of about one year. After this period, it is best to return them to a shrine or temple for purification ritual, often using a sacred flame.

While some people hold onto their amulets for years, this is generally discouraged. Since an omamori works by absorbing the owner's bad luck, it eventually reaches its capacity. Once it is "full," it can no longer protect you effectively and may even begin to bring misfortune back to the owner.

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The proper way to "retire" an Omamori is through a ritual called Otakiage (sacred purification by fire). The amulets are returned to a shrine or temple, where priests perform a ceremony to express gratitude to the deity before respectfully burning the items. This "releases" the spirit and returns the sacred object to its origin.