What is the purpose of the owl figurine the author takes on his travels in the nonfiction book, Underland?

The owl figurine, cut from a slice of whalebone, is a talisman, MacFarlane writes, and "connotes magic" (19). The bone was harvested from a minke whale that washed up on shore on Hebridean Island. The object has "Ice Age simplicity" (19) and so represents a connection between past and present as well as human and nature or the wild. It is supposed to protect MacFarlane on his journey and help him see in the dark.