Summer Purification Ceremony (nagoshi)

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Summer Purification Ceremony (nagoshi)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Late Summer
***** Category: Observance

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Explanation

The last day of the year (December 31, oomisoka) and the last day of the first half of the year (June 30, misoka) are specially celebrated with rituals of purification in the Shrines and Temples of Japan. The rituals of these two days are also called "Great Purification" ooharae 大祓.
In some areas, the summer ceremonies occur on the last day of July.

Many ceremonies are related to the court of the Tenno in Kyoto, since these rituals reach back to the Heian period.
In some shrines a special tea ceremony for the deities is performed, kencha sai 献茶祭.
Masters of all the tea ceremony schools take turns at holding tea ceremonies as an oblation in the shrine of Kita no Tenmangu, Kyoto.
Click HERE for some photos.


The official ceremony at the shrine Kita no Tenmangu 北の天満宮 starts at six in the evening. People can then walk through the purifying "Ring of Reeds", chi no wa. They walk first through the left ring, then through the right ring and then through the left ring again. There is a special prayer for each turn, and on the last circle they repeat the name of "Somin Shorai " (Somin Shoorai) 蘇民将来（そみんしょうらい）.
Somin was a poor man, but he offered food and lodgings to another rather poor-loking man who had come from the North to the South, who was in fact the deity Susano-O. This god gave him a ring of reeds to ward off illness, so Somin and his family lived well through the plagues, pests and diseases of their age.



Further down the road of the shrine there is a sweet shop which sells a special cake only for this day, Minazuki 水無月. The red beans on the white rice cake (symbolizing snow) are good for warding off evil for the coming six months.


In Kyushu, people take a dip in sea water to purify themselves, some even dip their horses and cows.
One prays in thank you for the first half year and asks for protection during the coming half of this year. In summer, diseases spread especially fast, so people thought help and consolation in purification rituals.

This Summer Event comes with many kigo, let us look at them. Detailed explanations are given after the list of kigo.

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Purification Ritual (Ceremony) , harae　祓
Summer Purification, natsu harai, natsu harae 夏祓　なつはらえ
Great Purification Ritual, ooharai, ooharae　大祓　おおはらえ
Summer Passing Purification Ritual, nagoshi no harae　夏越の祓　
。。。。。（名越の祓）なごしのはらへ

June Purification Ritual, minazuki harai 六月祓
..... aranigo no harae 荒和の祓　（あらにごのはらえ）、荒和大祓神事
..... June Purification Ritual at the Imperial Court 宮中の六月祓（きゅうちゅうのみなづきはらい）


Ablutions, misogi　禊　みそぎ



sacred ring, chi no wa 茅の輪 , 芽輪 ちのわ
passing through the sacred ring, wagoshi matsuri　輪越祭


.. passing throuhg a woven bamboo ring, suganuki 菅貫
for example at the Shrine Iwaya Jinja in Akashi during the Oshataka Boat Festival おしゃたか舟神事


purification of a river, kawaharae　川祓
small shrine by the river, kawayashiro 川社　かわやしろ
river for ablutions, misogigawa　禊川 みそぎがわ




floating human paper figures in the river,
katashiro nagasu　形代流す
floating hemp leaves in the river, asa no ha nagasu 麻の葉流す
You blow three times on the paper figure to get rid of the evil inside, and then float the paper on a river or hand it to the shrine, where it will be carried throught the purifying ring later.



purification in the month without water (July)
mizunashizuki harae, minazuki harae 水無月祓




purification against fire, hi shizume no matsuri
chinkasai 鎮火祭



Click HERE for photos about this ceremonies and rituals


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Shinto purification ceremonies and rituals

Prayers are offered for the removal of all sin, pollution, and misfortune. The body and mind are purified and restored to a condition worthy of approaching the gods. The traditional pronunciation is harae, but today the word is usually pronounced harai. The origin of harae is described in the Kojiki myth of the god Izanagi no mikoto, who is said to have washed in order to remove pollution after visiting the land of the dead (yomi 黄泉 the yellow springs). Harae is performed at the beginning of all religious ceremonies and whenever a specific need arises.

In ancient times, two types of harae, called yoshi-harae and ashi-harae (literally, purification of good and purification of evil), seem to have been performed, but the meaning of the two terms is not clear. The Ôharae is a major ceremony performed twice a year nationwide and also on other contingent occasions when deemed necessary.

In Shinto, not only are the sins, pollutions, and misfortunes of the individual removed, but also evil and misfortune can be removed from a whole nation, life renewed, and the blessings of the gods brought down. The norito prayers used at the Ôharae is called Ôbarae no kotoba. It was the duty of the Nakatomi clan to recite it, and so it is also called by the name Nakatomi no harae. Ôharae today is performed on the last days of June and December of each year.

Harae is one of the most important ceremonies in Shinto, and various forms have developed, such as nagoshi no harae (purification performed on the last day of the sixth month by the lunar calendar, and marking the middle of the year), and mi no hi no harae (purification performed on days of the snake in the third month of the lunar calendar).

There is also a common practice of reciting alone or in unison, with slight changes, the Ôbarae no kotoba, which is regarded as a sacred liturgy. Shubatsu is a harae ceremony performed by priests before a ceremony or religious rite; the ceremony of temizu (purification of hands and mouth) is performed, the norito for harae is recited, and a wand called a haraigushi is waved.

Harae-do
A building provided in shrines to purify the body and minds of priests and participants before the performance of a religious ceremony. In some shrines there is no separate building, and a certain place is set aside for the purpose.

Misogi　禊
The practice of using water to remove pollution and sin from body and mind. Its origin is found in the myth of the god Izanagi no mikoto, who purified himself by bathing in the sea after a journey to the land of Yomi. There is a widely practiced form of austerity in which misogi is combined with Buddhist cold water ablutions (mizugori).
In Shinto, this is called kessai, and make take the form of a warm bath, splashing cold water over oneself, or washing by the seaside or by a river.

A visitor to a Shinto shrine also performs an act called temizu, the washing of the hands and mouth. In another ceremony called shubatsu, salt is sprinkled. In Japan, people sprinkle salt over themselves after attending a funeral, sprinkle water at the gate of their homes morning and evening, and place small piles of salt at the entrance to restaurants; all these practices stem from misogi. The Japanese customs of washing and bathing are also related to misogi.

Chi no wa 茅野輪

http://pds.exblog.jp/pds/1/200507/01/84/c0069684_3412642.jpg
An instrument for casting out sources of misfortune. People pass through this large sacred ring, made of loosely twisted miscanthus reeds, to obtain its exorcising effects. This ancient ceremony is practiced throughout Japan on the occasion of the Ôharae festival on June 30.


Quoted from "Basic Terms of Shinto"

. . . . .

Great Exorcism of the Last Day of the Sixth Month
Norito Text


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purification against fire, hi shizume no matsuri
鎮火祭



Fire Extinguishing Festival, Chinkasai

... SEE
Fire Festivals (hi matsuri)



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Worldwide use


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Things found on the way

August 6, Kyoto: Nagoshi no Shinji
At Shimogamo Shrine (18:30-).
Men in fundoshi jump in the water to grab talismans.

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HAIKU

溶けてゆけると形代のおもいけり
tokete yukeru to katashiro no omoikeri

memories
of the paper figures floating
and melting away
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

大坪重治 Ootsubo Shigeharu

現代俳句データベース

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草の戸や畳かへたる夏祓
kusa no to ya tatami kaetaru natsu harae

reed door -
tatami mats changed for the
summer purification
(tr. Gabi Greve)

Tan Taigi 炭　太祇　たん・たいぎ(1738-1791)
http://www.geocities.jp/haikunomori/chuko/taigi2.html

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加茂川に日の衰へし御祓かな　
Kamo-gawa-ni hi-nootoroeshi misogi-kana

In den Fluß Kamo
läßt die Sonne nach;
die rituelle Waschung...
(訳:佐藤　貴白草: SATOH Kihakusoh)

MURAYAMA Kokyoo 村山古郷(1909-1986)

nagoshi-no-harae: die shintoistische Reinigung am Ende Juni
Haiku Romantische Strasse, Kihakusoo Satoh

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針に糸通す水無月祓哉
hari ni ito toosu mizunashizuki harae

filling the thread
through the needle hole -
purification in the month without water
(Tr. Gabi Greve)

しゅーまん２号のお達者倶楽部の定型詩句集
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/schuman2gou/folder/1105198.html

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Related words

***** Year End Purification,
toshikoshi no harae　年越の祓
kigo for mid-winter



***** Tea Ceremony Saijiki 茶道の歳時記　


***** Sweets from Japan, Wagashi


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