Call

Call
them customs, second nature or ways to celebrate the
passage of time: rituals are humanity’s waypoints on our journey
through life. Since prehistory, humans have used rituals to find
meaning, cope with danger, quell anxiety and strengthen social
bonds. From the quotidian Asian breakfast that’s been elevated to
an almost spiritual act, to one writer’s annual bird-like migration
to Antarctica, our latest issue of SUITCASE Magazine honours the
joy found in rituals old and new around the world.

In Romania, where modern witches still rely on ancient talismans
to conjure up magic against darkness, Grace Lee meets Mihaela
Minca, the self-styled “most powerful witch in Europe” – and
receives not just an initiation into how ancient occult practices
are colliding with modern-day tech, but lessons in building an
empire, too.

On Estonia’s Kihnu island, meanwhile, we discover that
wedding preparations begin not on engagement but in childhood, when
girls learn how to sew the symbolism-rich clothing that will form
their dowry. As writer Emma Latham Phillips and photographer Aron
Klein find, such practices are not just traditions but a way to
ensure a culture’s survival.

South of the equator, Jamie Lafferty is on his ninth pilgrimage
to Antarctica. Penning a love letter to the white continent, he
lets us in on its profound beauty and vastness – as well as his
feeling of near irrelevance within it.

Back in Asia, photographer Mark Parren Taylor explores the
reasons why some 400,000 pilgrims make the journey to Mount Fuji
each year. Some are followers of Fuji-ko, who believe that deities
reside in the surrounding land, forests and water, but even those
who aren’t will find a visit to Fuji is rich in all kinds of ritual
and ceremony, be that in teahouses or temples.

If sunshine and spice are more what you’re craving at this time
of year, don’t miss Ling Low’s tribute to Kuala Lumpur’s morning meal – an essential
gastronomic ritual that’s sure to make a breakfast person out of
anyone.

Discover these stories and more in the latest issue of SUITCASE Magazine. The act of reading
them? A ritual in itself.