Tag: fertility

Spring and the Life Force

March 11, 2024 / John D. / 2 Comments

Spring is an exciting time of year. After the winter hibernation, nature reawakens in colourful and often spectacular fashion. Plum and cherry blossom are accompanied by daffodil and crocus. Farmers set about planting again, and Shinto hosts a range of festivals dedicated to fertility and success of the year’s new crops.

Promotion of the life force is a central strand of Shinto, sadly overlooked in books and by modern practitioners. One reason is that the reforms of Meiji times did much to sanitise the religion, stripping it of its earthier and uncontrollable elements in order to enforce conformity. Diversity in local practice was replaced by set rituals and an emperor-centred worldview that still prevails.

Phallus worship at Yaegaki Shrine in Shimane

One of the more obvious examples of the drastic change is the plight of phallic worship. Accounts of the country by Victorian travellers tell of the widespread practice in earlier times, but that many of the phalluses were being removed in the face of Christian criticism that it was primitive and offensive. Japan was intent on joining the Big Powers, not being embarrassed by them.

Yet phallic erection is one of the most vital affirmations of the life force that exists. For those who prefer the old pre-Meiji ways to the new, there are vestiges of the spring time celebration of the ‘life force’ all around Japan. They are manifest in the many shrines that still harbour phallic representations, where they serve not only as stimulants for birth, but as protectors against sexual disease or infertility. They can be seen too in rituals such as 7-5-3, which celebrate the development of children’s growth. They are evident too in cherry blossom parties, where the celebration of nature is enhanced by alcohol and communal feasting.

In contrast to the strict adherence to correctness in shrine rituals, the Dionysian side of Japanese culture is manifest in the many wild and sake-fuelled festivals that still retain a local colour. Nothing could be more different from the carefully stipulated niceties of modern Shinto than the spontaneity and communal high spirits of the Japanese matsuri. Here in these unbuttoned festivals the affirmation of the life force can be seen in its most naked guise – sometimes, as in the Hadaka Matsuri below, quite literally.

Dosojin fertility statues were once common across Japan

Symbolic penetration at a Shinto festival of a rice straw phallus into a female vulva.

Parade of 32 year old childless women at the Hounen Festival near Nagoya

Japan by Train 17: Matsue

September 20, 2022 / John D. / 0 Comments

Matsue is associated with the writer Lafcadio Hearn (aka Koizumi Yakumo), whose house near the castle can still be visited. It stands close to the Lafcadio Hearn Museum. (To read more of Hearn and his house, see here.)

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The taisha style of shrine, here exemplified by Yaegaki Jinja, and a contrast with the simpler Ise style

The Ou pilgrimage comprises six rural shrines near Matsue. The most popular of them is Yaegaki Shrine, at the entrance to which a noticeboard proclaims, ‘Hearn was here’. It is popular as an enmusubi shrine (love connection), which owes itself to the shrine being dedicated to Susanoo no mikoto and his bride, Inaba-hime. Also enshrined is their son, which gives the shrine a fertility focus too, and dotted around the precincts are a number of phallic objects.

As noted previously, promotion of the life-force is a vital part of shamanic religions, which is why in Bhutan you can find phalluses painted on the outside of houses for protection (the vigour of the phallus wards off pestilence and evil demons). It is also why stone and wooden phallic symbols are venerated here at Yaegaki. Somehow they survive into the present, despite the widespread removal of fertility objects in modern times, all because sexual organs were seen as shameful by a religion that champions death on a cross.

At one of the subshrines stands a large erect phallus, and in a vaginal opening at the base of a nearby tree are placed a number of smaller wooden phalluses. There are too several ‘enmusubi trees’, whose split trunks symbolise the union of lovers. And in the street outside the shrine is a shop that sells phallus shaped sweets and does a lively trade in souvenirs.

Tree trunk at Yaegaki with opening in which are placed phallic objects

Yaegaki Shrine is part of a Hearn trail in Matsue connecting sixteen sites associated with the one-time resident. Most are not of much interest except for a Hearn fan, but there is one with wider appeal – a prestigious Zen temple called Gessho-ji. Hearn loved it; so did I.

The prime attraction is the atmospheric cemetery, home to imposing tombs, quirky statues and vigorous vegetation. Here lie the feudal lords of Edo times, drawn from the Matsudaira family. So enchanting is the spirit of place that the forty year old Hearn said he wanted to be buried here.

Other items of interest include a monument to thank tea whisks for their service; a rock with the giant hand print of a legendary sumo wrestler; a tea room used by the feudal lords; a gate by a celebrated sculptor with openwork of grapes; a ‘spirit house’ with memorial tablets; and in June every year a riot of hydrangea in bloom.

Pride of place is held by a giant statue of a seventeen foot long turtle (or tortoise), the head of which is over six feet from the ground. This is the Cosmic Turtle that carries the world on its back, an image that occurs across cultures in Hindu, Chinese and Native American mythology. Local lore holds that the turtle sips water at night from the temple pond and has even been seen roaming around town. If you like this kind of thing, then Hearn and Matsue are definitely for you. If not, well, you might be better off in Fukuoka.

New Folk Shinto

June 6, 2016 / John D. / 1 Comment

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Imagine my surprise when on my usual commute along the river Kamogawa in Kyoto, I happened to see the above scene. How very odd I thought. But then I remembered Green Shinto friend Roger Walch telling me something about his friends in an art collective in Osaka who organise an annual fertility festival in the Kamogawa. I guessed it must be them.

There were a couple of women accompanying the group along the river bank carrying banners, so I stopped to ask them about the event. They told me it was the Tentsuku Hounen Matsuri (Tentsuku being heavenly possession and Hounen meaning fertility and the name of the famous phallic festival held at Nagoya every year). Was it an artistic performance or a religious festival, I asked? It’s folk religion, they answered. A new addition to the tradition of Minzoku Shinto.

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This was the first time I’ve come across this in Japan. Green Shinto has carried reports of similar developments in the West, so for Japan this seemed something of a breakthrough. Japan is famously conservative, and in nearly every social movement over the past century it’s lagged something like thirty to fifty years behind the West. Think of smoking, gay rights, drugs, feminism, anti-discrimination…. you name it, and Japan will be the last to implement it.

In this respect I can’t help thinking that the Tentsuku Hounen Matsuri is Japan’s equivalent to the first neo-pagan events in the West, before words like Wicca had become part of the national consciousness. I recall taking part in an early Beltane festival at Glastonbury in the early 1970s that was very much on a par with the small group striding along the river in Kyoto.

I can’t speak for the intentions of the group, but the event was ‘pregnant’ with symbolism. Red is the colour of health and well-being, the phallus the organ of seed-giving. The impact of the red phallus is traditionally not only one of fertility, but of a way of scaring away evil spirits (in Bhutan they have them painted on their houses). This goes along with the white clothes to denote purity, and the troupe was led, I noticed, by a fellow with a big phallic nose indicative of Sarutahito, guide and leader.

The phallus was pointing at the triangular power spot where the rivers meet

The phallus was aiming for this triangular power spot

The route of the group was from Sanjo upriver to Imadegawa and the ‘power spot’ in the junction of the two rivers, Kamogawa and Takanogawa. Here the group enacted a very simple penetration by pushing the red phallus through a white sheet with a hole in it. (I’ve seen this done much more graphically in traditional style in a rice field.) I’m not sure if their intention was to bring fertility to the crops of the area, or to their own creative endeavours in the coming year.

The direction the group took towards the north is traditionally the correct way in which to approach sources of energy and authority. Rivers are well-known energy lines, and the meeting of rivers is a convergence of energy often denoted by ancient markers such as a shrine (in this case Shimogamo Jinja).

The classic shrine in the midst of a wooded copse has been compared to the female womb which is reached through a passageway via a torii opening. Within the womb takes place a magical ritual signifying impregnation, by which the kami descends and life is re-created. This is all the more evident in the case of Shimogamo, since the meeting point of the two rivers forms a V-shape.

It seems then that this New Age Folk Shinto has been very well conceived! Green Shinto truly hopes this is an early indicator of what is to come in the following years as a young generation turns to the past for inspiration, in the same way that neo-paganism has done in Britain and elsewhere.

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The Osaka collective pose for a photo by Swiss video maker and Green Shinto friend, Roger Walch

Snakes: St Patrick’s Day

March 17, 2015 / John D. / 0 Comments

What on earth does St Patrick’s Day have to do with Shinto, you may well be wondering? Well, one aspect that caught my attention concerning the celebration of Ireland day was the matter of snakes. Look at the following by way of example:

“Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17) is marked with celebrations and remembrance of the great Irish saint who awakened the dead and drove out the snakes from the Island. Snakes here symbolize the inner demons and pagans, to let the radiance of God shine forth. With more than 35 million Americans having Irish roots we have a great time on this feast day of St. Patrick. We let our hair down and guzzle green beer, wear the pious symbol of trinity, shamrock and send Irish Blessings to our loved ones. The message is to drive out the snakes of lust, anger, and greed and give way to generosity, love and peace. Cheers!”

Benten, muse of the arts, dance and music, here seen playing the biwa (lute). Her familiar are white snakes, suggestive of regrowth and fertility of mind.

Snakes play a large part in pagan cultures, and in Shinto in particular. It’s the reason why they became demonised by Christianity and used as a symbol of paganism. In the Bible, famously, they act as a representative of evil in the temptation of Eve.

In Japan snakes are best known as the familiars of Benten, goddess of the arts. Since she’s associated with watery depths, one imagines they are water snakes. Inevitably they are white snakes, since that’s the distinctive mark of purity and the divine.

But there is more to the snake cult in Japan than just Benten. The most famous story is that of Omiwa, where the kami manifested itself in the form of a snake according to a mythological story. Visit Miwa Shrine now, and you’ll find eggs laid out as offerings for the snake kami in honour of the ancient cult.

The following excerpts from the Kokugakuin encyclopedia make plain how close was the identification of the snake with fertility and regeneration (because of its ability to slough off skin and start anew).

Another episode in Nihongi relates that Ōmononushi was wed to a woman named Yamato Totohimomosohime, but visited her only at night; when she requested to see his true form, he hid in her comb case, where she found him as a small snake. After her alarm caused the snake to flee in shame to Mt. Miwa, the woman felt remorse and used chopsticks to stab herself mortally in the genitals.

Paying respects to the mythological snake kami – notice the eggs on the table as offering.

Kojiki‘s tale of Ikutamayoribime is similar, with the maiden becoming pregnant by a young man who visits her only at night. Anxious to learn the identity of their daughter’s lover, her parents tie a thread to the hem of his garments and follow the thread the next morning, whereupon they find it leads to the shrine at Mt. Miwa. These legends are the basis for the broad category of legends of the “Mt. Miwa type.”

Another episode in Nihongi relates that Ōmononushi was wed to a woman named Yamato Totohimomosohime, but visited her only at night; when she requested to see his true form, he hid in her comb case, where she found him as a small snake. After her alarm caused the snake to flee in shame to Mt. Miwa, the woman felt remorse and used chopsticks to stab herself mortally in the genitals.

Kojiki‘s tale of Ikutamayoribime is similar, with the maiden becoming pregnant by a young man who visits her only at night. Anxious to learn the identity of their daughter’s lover, her parents tie a thread to the hem of his garments and follow the thread the next morning, whereupon they find it leads to the shrine at Mt. Miwa. These legends are the basis for the broad category of legends of the “Mt. Miwa type.”

One should not forget too that the dragon has a snake like body, such that depictions often look like a snake with a dragon head and legs. The cult of the dragon deity as sea kami is believed to have been particularly spread by practitioners of Shugendo, a form of mountain asceticism. Also the serpent kami of Konpira Shrine in Shikoku was worshiped by seafarers who revered the deity as a tutelary who would protect them from the perils of the sea – “During the Edo Period the Indian deity Kumbhīra (a dragon king sea deity) was conflated with Konpira, and the cult spread along with the development of shipping and the creation of transportation networks,’ notes the Kokugakuin encyclopedia.

Dragons have snake-like bodies, as can be seen here, incorporating the regenerative and other qualities of the creature.