A subshrine of Yaegaki Jinja in Shimane Prefecture
Green Shinto has written several items on the fertility aspects of Japan’s religious heritage, including the famous Hounen Matsuri where large phallic symbols are born around town and shrines such as Yaegaki Jinja in Shimane Prefecture where phallic objects are the object of veneration. There are shrines too such as Oagata Jinja near Nagoya where the female sexual part is worshipped.
Sacred rock at Oagata Jinja near Nagoya
There is an obvious connection of human sexuality with the fertility of rice and other crops. Indeed, since humans are an integral part of nature in the Shinto viewpoint, rather than being superior, special or separate, human sexuality is very much part of the divine way of Great Nature. In the celebration of sexual parts lies the urge to foster the life-force.
In this respect it may be of interest to readers in the US to learn of an offer by a Green Shinto reader of an authentic fertility object such as would have appealed to early Japanese. With the spread of Shinto practises in north America, it is only a matter of time before folk Shinto practices catch on along with the more formalised shrine rituals. Indeed, in at least one instance it already has.
The person responsible for unearthing the object below writes: “I am brokering a granite and quartz naturally shaped rock that was excavated 10 feet in the earth amongst other rocks. It is 4ft by 12 inches in diameter. The rock has no known tool marks and was found in Michigan.”
If anyone is interested, would they please write directly to the person concerned at <boardcloat[atmark]gmail.com>
An unearthed fertility stone looking for a new home where it will be treated with due reverence
In Japan, Daruma (Zen patriarch) is intimately connected to phallic representation.
See http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daruma.shtml#phallic
Thanks for that, Mark. It’s a surprise to find that the friendly Daruma should be a phallic symbol, since he is so often pictured as a ball shape… In fact I have one of those red round one-eyed Daruma sitting next to this desk as I type, so I wouldn’t have suspected for a minute he could be phallic. But on your informative webpage is a wonderful pictorial representation showing how he evolved into a phallic symbol, so one lives and learns… Thanks.