Purification for summer (2)

Please refer back to my previous posting "Purification for summer" before reading this article.

Kata-Shiro, the paper doll
Retrieved on 2012/7/2 from
http://www.sagae-hachimangu.org/diary/bn2005_12.html 

At the Nagoshi no Oo harae, we will use a paper-doll called “Kata-shiro” for the latter half of the purification process after the Chi no wa get-through. Usually, the Kata-shiro is made of a white paper and we write our full name and birthday on its body (from chest to wrest of the paper doll), and we will blow at the doll and rub our shoulder with the doll to transfer our uncleanness and sins onto the paper doll.

Shintoism is animism. In the manner of the religion, spirits exist in every object (tangible/intangible, visible/invisible) and sometimes we intentionally transfer the sprits to a special symbol (trees, rocks/stones, plants, mirrors etc...) for the religious purpose; those spirit-transferred objects are enshrined at the main alter in a shrine. For example, the main alter in the main shrine at Ise Grand Shrine (“Jerusalem” for Japanese; please refer to my previous posting "Rice and Religion"), there is a mirror enshrined, which is one of the symbols of the imperial family of Japan). Religiously, the mirror was given from the Supreme Goddess Amaterasu to her Grand Son Ninigi as her farewell gift when Ninigi came down from the heaven to the land of Japan to govern the country. She instructed the Grand Son to worship the mirror saying that the Goddess’ sprit is in the mirror.

Usually, if the object which is to be possessed by the sprits is similar in its shape to the one they have possessed, sprits can easily be transferred. For the purification, we purify our uncleanness (take the sins out of our body), so the Kata-shiro for the purification is mainly in the form of human body in order to transfer those bad spirits from our body to the Kata-shiro.

The uncleanness-transferred paper dolls will be flown in to the river by priests and maidens. While it flows in the river, the paper doll will dissolve in the water and that is considered as completion of purification. In some shrines, they burn the dolls to “burn” the negative chain of uncleanness.

For your reference, the similar festival is held on December 31 every year for purification of our sins from the latter half of a year called “Toshigoshi no Oo harae” which literally means purification for the New Year. I may touch on this thing separately when the time comes.