Shinto

"He says: 'By the great command of the Mikado, I humbly declare in the mighty presence of the Great Deity whose praises are fulfilled (in the shrine built) upon the nethermost rock-roots on the bank of the River Isuzu in Watarahi. I, of such a rank, of such a name, humbly repeat his commands, as his envoy to convey hither and make offering of the customary great offerings of Praying-for-Harvest in the second month (or as the case may be).'"

A similar service (No. 17) was performed at the same time in honour of the Goddess of Food. The phraseology is somewhat less honorific.

On the two latter occasions, the Chief Priest of Ise read the following norito (No. 19).

"He says: 'Hearken, all ye kannushi and mono-imi to this celestial, this great norito, which I humbly pronounce in the mighty presence of the Heaven-Shining Great Deity, whose praises are fulfilled in Uji of Watarahi, where on the bank of the River Isuzu the pillars of the Great Shrine are stoutly erected, and the projecting cross-beams are exalted to the Plain of High-Heaven. (Here the Negi and Uchi-bito, priests of lower rank, answer "Ô," that is, "Yes," or "Amen.") Bless the life of our Sovereign as a long life, let his reign be prosperous, firm and enduring as a pile of multitudinous rocks, and show thy favour to the princes born of him. As to the functionaries of every rank, down to the peasants of the four quarters of the Under-Heaven, make the five grains which they long and peacefully cultivate to flourish abundantly. Favour them with thy protection, and grant them thy blessing.

"'On this seventeenth day of the sixth month (or as the case may be) as the morning sun rises in glory, I fulfil thy praises, setting before thee in ample measure, like seas and mountains, the tribute yarn and the great food-offerings of holy rice and sake, provided according to custom by the consecrated peasants of the three districts, and the various localities of the various provinces, while the Great Nakatomi himself is hidden in offering-branches.

"'Hearken, all ye kannushi and mono-imi.'

"He says: 'This service is likewise addressed to the Aramatsuri shrine and to the Tsukiyomi (Moon-God) shrine.' (The kannushi again answer 'Ô.')"

Ki-u no Matsuri (praying for rain). No norito of this ceremony is given in the Yengishiki. It was performed in honour of the Gods of eighty-five shrines, and was accompanied by the usual offerings of cloth-stuffs. To a few out of the number a black horse was offered in addition. The choice of a black animal for this purpose belongs to the magical pre-religious stage of thought. Black is the colour of the rain-clouds, and therefore, on the principle that what suggests a thing will actually produce it, the exhibition of a black horse is thought likely to make the clouds collect and rain to fall. A white horse was offered when fine weather was desired.

Mr. Weston, in his 'Mountaineering in the Japanese Alps,' describes the sacrifice of a black dog "symbolical of the wished-for storm-clouds" in order to cause rain.

Kama miso no matsuri (divine-clothing-service). – This ceremony consisted in presenting offerings of clothing to the Sun-Goddess at Ise. It was celebrated twice a year, in the fourth and ninth months. The norito (No. 18) is very short and uninteresting.

Service for the Removal of the Ise Shrine. – The norito (No. 24) is a very short formula. It announces to the Sun-Goddess the rebuilding of her shrine, which took place every twentieth year. A similar form was used in the case of the Food-Goddess.

Oho-tono hogahi (luck-wishing or blessing of the Great Palace). – This ceremony was performed on the morning after the Kamu image and the Nihi-name. It was in honour of three deities, namely, the two Yabune no Kami, or House deities, and Oho-miya no me, a personified Lady Chamberlain.

I quote from Sir Ernest Satow's 'Ancient Japanese Rituals' in the T. A. S. J., vol. ix. pt. ii., a ninth-century description of this ceremony: -

"The Jingikwan took four boxes containing precious stones, cut paper-mulberry bark, rice and sake in bottles, and placed them on two eight-legged tables, which were then borne by four attendants, preceded by Nakatomi and Imbe functionaries, all wearing wreaths and scarfs of paper-mulberry bark, walking in double line, the rear being brought up by virgin priestesses. On the procession arriving in front of the Palace gate, the tables were deposited under the arcade which ran along the outside of the wall. A servant called out for admittance, and the porter having announced the procession by saying that an officer of the Imperial Household had asked for admission in order to pronounce the Luck-wishing of the Great Palace, the order, 'Let him pronounce it,' was transmitted back from the Mikado. The porter thereupon called out 'Let him declare his name and surname,' in reply to which the officer advanced to a spot previously marked out by a wooden ticket with his name on it, and said: 'It is so and so, of the Jingikwan, who wish to perform the Luck-wishing of the Great Palace.' To this the Mikado's answer was 'Call them.' The officer of the household replied 'Ô,' and retiring called the functionaries of the Jingikwan, who in their turn replied 'Ô.' The Nakatomi and Imbe then put on their wreaths of paper-mulberry, to which the latter added straps of the same material, and advanced ahead of the tables up to the 'Hall of Benevolence and Long Life.' The virgin priestesses had meanwhile entered by another gate, and were waiting in the Palace enclosure. They now followed the tables, and came up to the verandah on the east side of the building, where they took charge of the boxes of offerings. The procession then entered the building. One virgin priestess went to the Hall of Audience and scattered rice about it, while another proceeded to the gate on its south side and performed the same ceremony there. The Imbe took out the precious stones and hung them at the four corners of the Hall, and the priestesses withdrew, after sprinkling sake and scattering rice and cut paper-mulberry fibre at the four corners of the interior. The Nakatomi stood on the south side of the building while the Imbe turned to the south-east, and in a low voice read the ritual. The whole company next went to the Mikado's bath-room, and hung precious stones at its four angles, and the same at his privy, while the priestesses scattered rice and sprinkled sake as before."

The norito (No. 8) of this ceremony, as appears from the archaic forms of language which it contains, is probably very ancient. It is quoted in the Kogojiui; and the Nihongi describes as "an ancient saying" a sentence which forms part of it.

The reader will note the confusion-of a kind inherent in all mythologies-between the house considered as a deity and the protecting deity of the house.

"When by command of the dear, divine ancestor and ancestress who divinely dwell in the Plain of High Heaven, the Sovran Grandchild 241 was made to take his seat on the high august throne of Heaven, and the Heavenly Emblems, namely, the mirror and the sword, were delivered to him, these words of blessing were pronounced: 'Let our sovran great offspring, the Sovran Grandchild, receiving over the celestial Sun-succession on this high throne of Heaven, rule tranquilly for myriads of thousands of autumns, for long autumns, over the Great-Eight-islands, the Rich Reed-plain, Land of fair rice-ears, as a peaceful country.' With these words they delivered it unto him. Then, celestial counsel having been held, they put to silence the rock-roots and tree-roots, even to the smallest blades of grass, that previously had power of speech.

"And for the Sovran Grandchild who in Heavenly Sun-succession rules the Under-Heaven, to which he had descended, trees are now cut down with the sacred axes of the Imbe in the great valleys and the small valleys of the secluded mountains, and sacrifice having been made of their tops and bottoms to the God of the mountains, the middle parts are brought forth and set up as sacred pillars with sacred mattocks to form a fair Palace wherein the Sovran Grandchild finds shelter from the sky and shelter from the sun. To thee, therefore, Ya-bune no Mikoto [the Palace treated as a God] I address these heavenly, wondrous, auspicious words of calm and blessing.

"He says: 'I humbly declare the names of the Gods who calmly and peacefully watch so that this Great Palace where he holds rule, as far downwards as the lowermost rock-roots, suffer no harm from reptiles among its bottom-ropes, 242 as far upwards as the blue clouds are diffused in the Plain of High Heaven, may suffer no harm from flying birds in the celestial smoke-hole,243 that the joinings of the firmly planted pillars, and of the crossbeams, rafters, doors, and windows may not move or make a noise, that there may be no slackening of the tied rope-knots and no dishevelment of the roof-thatch, no creaking of the floor-joints or alarms by night. I humbly praise your honoured names, to wit, Yabune Kukunochi no Mikoto and Yabune Toyo-uke hime no Mikoto [House-tree God and House-food Goddess].244 And inasmuch as you humbly preserve the Sovran Grandchild's reign to be firm and enduring, and humbly bless it as a lasting, prosperous, and perfect reign, the Imbe no Sukune [name], adding shining cloth and lustrous fine cloth to the countless strings of fair jewels prepared by the sacred jewel-makers with observance of purity and avoidance of pollution, and hanging stout straps on weak shoulders [will offer them to you], with words of blessing and calm. And let the Gods Kamu-nahobi and Oho-nahobi peacefully and tranquilly exercise their office, correcting, whether in things heard or in things seen, any omission which he may make in so doing.'

"More especially does he humbly declare: 'Naming her as Oho-miya-no-me I humbly fulfil her praises because, within the same Palace as the Sovran Grandchild, she blocks the way and takes cognizance and makes choice of the persons who go in and out, with words amends and mollifies the hurry and roughness of the Gods, keeps from error the hands and feet of the scarf-wearing attendants and the strap-wearing attendants245 who serve the morning meal and the evening meal of the Sovran Grandchild, preventing the Imperial Princes, Princes, Ministers of State, and all the functionaries from indulging their several inclinations and causing them, pure of evil intents and base hearts, to attend in the Palace with a Palace-attendance, and to serve in the Palace with a Palace-service, and amending to eye and ear all faults and errors, so that their duties may be performed peacefully and tranquilly.'"

Naishi-dokoro or Kashiko-dokoro. – Every new moon offerings were presented in the naishi-dokoro (naishi-place) or kashiko-dokoro (place of reverence)246 by the naishi or female attendants of the Palace to the sacred mirror which represented the Sun-Goddess. They consisted of rice, cakes, paper, cloth, egg-plant, fish, shellfish, &c. Twice a year Kagura was performed. The ceremonies used on these occasions were regulated in Uda's reign (889-898) and closely resembled those of the Great Shrine of Ise. The Yengishiki has not preserved the norito belonging to it.

A Japanese writer thus describes the modern form of this ceremony: -

"Within the palace there is a large hall, the kashiko-dokoro, or place of reverence, constructed of milk-white, knotless timbers, exquisitely joined and smooth as mirrors, but absolutely devoid of decoration. At one end stands a large shrine, also of snow-pure wood, with delicately chased mountings of silver gilt. It encloses models of the divine insignia, and a number of long, narrow tablets of pine, on which are inscribed the posthumous titles of all the Emperors since the days of Jimmu. Within the folding doors of the shrine hangs a curtain woven of bamboo threads. At the appointed hour, generally the grey of morning, sakaki boughs are laid beside the shrine and provision of incense is made; after which the officials of the Bureau of Rites and those of the Imperial Household file in and seat themselves on either side of the hall. The doors of the shrine are then opened and offerings of various kinds-vegetables, fish, cloth, and so forth-are carried in and ranged before it, solemn music in Japanese style being performed the while. Thereafter the princes of the blood and all officials of the two highest ranks as well as the peers of the 'musk-chamber' and the 'golden-pheasant chamber' enter, and when they are seated the Emperor himself appears and, proceeding slowly to the shrine, bows his head, takes a branch of sakaki with pendant gohei, and having waved it in token of the purification of sins, ignites a stick of incense247 and places it upright in the censer, thereafter repeating a ritual (norito). So long as his Majesty is present in the hall, all the officials remain standing. His Majesty then retires, and, on his departure, worship of the same kind, but without any prayer, is performed by a representative of the Prince Imperial," and subsequently by the other members of the Court.

Mitama Shidzumuru no matsuri (ceremony for settling or calming the august spirit).

There was an ancient ceremony called mitama furishiki that is, shaking the august jewels, which is referred to in the Kiujiki. We are there told that when the Sun-Goddess sent down Ninigi to rule the world, she gave him "ten auspicious treasures, namely, one mirror of the offing, one mirror of the shore, one eight-hands-breadth sword, one jewel (tama) of birth, one jewel of return from death, one perfect jewel, one road-returning jewel (that is, a jewel which has the property of making evil things return by the road they came), one serpent-scarf (a scarf which has power when waved to keep away serpents), one bee-scarf, and one scarf of various things," saying: "In case of illness shake these treasures and repeat to them the words, 'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.' If thou doest so the dead will certainly return to life."

The Nihongi states that in a. d. 685 the ceremony of calling on the spirit (mitama) was performed for the Mikado's sake. An ancient gloss identifies this ceremony with that of the mitama furishiki just described. The object of the two ceremonies was, no doubt, the same, but it is to be noted that mitama, which in the one case means jewel or talisman, in the other means spirit-a rare case in the older Shinto records of this word being applied to the human soul. The phrases "calling on the spirit" and "settling the spirit" are of Chinese origin, mitama being in this connexion simply a translation of the Chinese hun (pronounced kon in Japanese). The same ceremony is known in China, and some features of its Japanese form were probably borrowed from that country. Its object, according to a modern writer, was to summon back to and settle in the body the volatile kon. It was performed every year in the eleventh month in the Chapel of the Jingikwan, and also at one time in connexion with the coronation ceremony.

The norito (No. 15 of the Yengishiki) begins with a recital of the Mikado's divine claims to sovereignty. Then the offerings are enumerated. It concludes with a prayer to the eight Gods of the Jingikwan to grant the Mikado a long and prosperous reign, and that he may dwell peacefully in his Palace during the ensuing year. It says nothing of the Mikado's spirit, an expression found only in the heading, which may be supposed to be a later addition.

A performance by the Miko resembling that of Uzume before the Rock-cave of Heaven, and comprising the repetition of the magic words one, two, three, &c., formed part, no doubt the oldest part, of the ceremony. It is now usually called by the Chinese name Chinkonsai.

There is a story of a thief having stolen the clothing presented on this occasion, and also the string which tied the Mikado's mitama, whatever that may mean.

Oho-harahi (Great Purification).248 – This ceremony includes a preliminary lustration, expiatory offerings, and the recital of a norito or formula-not a prayer, as it is sometimes called-in which the Mikado, by virtue of the authority transmitted to him from the Sun-Goddess, declares to his ministers and people the absolution of their sins and impurities. This formula is often referred to as if it constituted the whole ceremony. It is known as the Nakatomi no Oho-harahi, because in ancient times it was usually read by the Nakatomi as representatives of the Mikado.

The myths which represent Izanagi as flinging down his garments during his flight from Yomi, and washing away in the sea the pollution contracted by his visit there, and describe the expiatory offerings exacted from Susa no wo, presume an acquaintance with the ceremony of which the Oho-harahi norito forms a chief part. The Nihongi informs us, under the legendary date a. d. 200, that after the sudden death of the Mikado Chiuai, his widow and successor Jingō commanded her ministers "to purge offences and to rectify transgressions," while in the parallel passage of the Kojiki249 details are given of these offences, which, as far as they go, are identical with those enumerated in the Oho-harahi itself. Great Purifications are mentioned as having been performed in 676, 678, and 686. The Japanese scholar Mabuchi ascribes the present Oho-harahi norito to this last-named period. In substance it must be very much older.

The chief ceremony was performed in the capital twice yearly, on the last days of the sixth and twelfth months. These dates are not chosen arbitrarily. There is a natural impulse at the close of the year to wipe out old scores and to make a fresh start with good resolutions. The tsuina,250 or demon-expelling ceremonies, of the last day of the year, described below, are prompted by a similar motive. Tennyson gives expression to this feeling in his 'In Memoriam': -

"The year is dying in the night,Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.* * * *Ring out the false, ring in the true,* * * *Ring out the want, the care, the sin,* * * *Ring out old shapes of foul disease."

The summer celebration of the Oho-harahi is analogous to the custom of lustration, or bathing on St. John's Eve, formerly practised in Germany, Italy, and other countries.

The Chinese had an Oho-harahi, defined by Mr. Giles in his 'Chinese Dictionary' as "a religious ceremony of purification performed in spring and autumn, with a view to secure divine protection for agricultural interests." The Ainus of Yezo have a similar ceremony.251

The Oho-harahi was not confined to the last days of the sixth and twelfth months. It was performed as a preliminary to several of the great Shinto ceremonies, notably the Ohonihe, and on other emergencies, such as an outbreak of pestilence,252 the finding of a dead body in the Palace (865), the officiating of a Nakatomi who had performed Buddhist rites (816), &c.

We learn from the regulations of the period Jōgwan (859-876) that at that time the ceremony was performed at the southern gate of the Kioto Palace, in front of which there was a canal. The purification offerings were set out before this gate. The officials took their seats in due order, the women being separated off by a curtain. The officials of the Jingikwan then distributed kiri-nusa253 among the audience, upon which the Nakatomi took his place and recited the ritual, the officials responding Ô after every paragraph. When the purification was finished, the Oho-nusa ceremony was performed. It had also a purifying influence, and consisted, according to Dr. Florenz, in brandishing the Oho-nusa over the assembly, first to left, then to right, and then again to left.

The norito (No. 10 of the Yengishiki) is as follows: -

"He254 says: 'Give ear, all ye Imperial Princes, Princes, Ministers of State, and functionaries who are here assembled, and hearken every one to the Great Purification by which at this year's interlune of the sixth (or twelfth) month he deigns to purge and absolve all manner of faults and transgressions which may have been committed by those who serve in the Imperial Court, whether they wear the scarf or the shoulder-strap, whether they bear on their back the quiver or gird on them the sword, the eighty attendants of the attendants, including, moreover, all those who do duty in the various offices of State.'"

"He says: 'Hearken, all of you. The Sovran dear ancestors, 255 who divinely dwell in the Plain of High Heaven, having summoned to an assembly the eight hundred myriads of deities, held divine counsel with them, and then gave command, saying: "Let our August Grandchild256 hold serene rule over the fertile reed-plain, the region of fair rice-ears,257 as a land of peace."

"'But in the realm thus assigned to him there were savage deities. These were called to a divine account and expelled with a divine expulsion. Moreover, the rocks, trees, and smallest leaves of grass which had power of speech were put to silence. Then they despatched him downward from his celestial everlasting throne, cleaving as he went with an awful way-cleaving the many-piled clouds of Heaven, and delivered to him the Land. At the middle point of the lands of the four quarters thus entrusted to him, Yamato, the High-Sun-Land, was established as a peaceful land, and there was built here for the Sovran Grandchild a fair Palace wherewithal to shelter him from sun and sky,258 with massy pillars based deep on the nethermost rocks and upraising to the Plain of High Heaven the cross-timbers of its roof.

"'Now of the various faults and transgressions to be committed by the celestial race destined more and more to people this land of his peaceful rule, some are of Heaven, to wit, the breaking down of divisions between rice-fields, filling up of irrigation channels, removing water-pipes, sowing seed over again, 259 planting skewers,260 flaying alive, flaying backwards. These are distinguished as Heavenly offences.261

"'Earthly offences which will be committed are the cutting of living bodies, the cutting of dead bodies, leprosy, kokumi, 262 incest of a man with his mother or daughter, with his mother-in-law or step-daughter, bestiality, calamities from creeping things, from the high Gods263 and from high birds, killing animals, bewitchments.264

"'Whensoever they may be committed, let the Great Nakatomi, in accordance with the custom of the Heavenly Palace, cut Heavenly saplings at the top and cut them at the bottom, and make thereof a complete array of one thousand stands for offerings. 265

"'Having trimmed rushes of heaven at the top and trimmed them at the bottom, let him split them into manifold slivers. 266

"'Then let him recite the mighty ritual words of the celestial ritual. 267

"'When he does so, the Gods of Heaven, thrusting open the adamantine door of Heaven and cleaving the many-piled clouds of Heaven with an awful way-cleaving will lend ear. The Gods of Earth, climbing to the tops of the high mountains and to the tops of the low mountains, sweeping apart the mists of the high mountains and the mists of the low mountains, will lend ear.

"'When they have thus lent ear, all offences whatsoever will be annulled, from the Court of the Sovran Grandchild to the provinces of the four quarters of the Under-Heaven.

"'As the many-piled clouds of Heaven are scattered by the breath of the Wind-Gods; as the morning breezes and the evening breezes dissipate the dense morning vapours and the dense evening vapours; as a huge ship, moored in a great harbour, casting off its stern moorings, casting off its bow moorings, drives forth into the great sea-plain; as yonder thick brushwood is smitten and cleared away by the sharp sickle forged in the fire, so shall all offences be utterly annulled. Therefore he (the Mikado) is graciously pleased to purify and cleanse them away. The Goddess called Se-ori-tsu-hime who dwells in the rapids of the swift streams whose cataracts tumble headlong from the tops of the high mountains and from the tops of the low mountains will bear them out into the great sea-plain. Thereupon the Goddess called Haya-aki-tsu-hime, who dwells in the myriad meetings of the tides of the myriad brine-paths of the myriad ways of the currents of the boisterous sea will swallow them up. And the God Ibuki-do nushi, who dwells in the Breath-blowing-place,268 will puff them away to the Root-country, the Bottom Country.269 Then the Goddess Haya-sasura-hime,270 who dwells in the Root-country, the Bottom-country, will banish and abolish them. When they have been so destroyed, every one, from the servants of the Imperial Court to the four quarters of the Under-Heaven, will remain void of all offences whatsoever.