last frost is gone, today we had the light and warmth of spring sunshine in accordance with the old lunar calendar. According to this calendar today is the day of Setsubun which is the eve of the first day of spring in Japan and is home to temples that held the ceremony to drive away evil often materialized with the figure of a demon to start the year again. This year I went to the Heian Shrine to see "Daina-no-gi" ceremony which is the to drive disasters and hazards. This ceremony is not very old, is a reconstruction of an old custom which was held at the imperial court in Heian era, but justifiably held at Heian shrine because even the sanctuary itself is a reproduction of the imperial palace. The ceremony seemed to me that it was a show rather than a religious ceremony, though it was interesting to see how the ancient courtiers drove back woes. Then at the end there was also the usual "Mamemaki" for which they invited a Geiko and Maiko two throwing soybeans with beautiful smile that was a really good sign!
 |
| Housoushi; man in form with four golden eyes, is yelling "Get out the demon!" |
 |
| Shoukei, the director of the ceremony, is cane shoots an arrow with a bow peach |
 |
| Oni and despite the above measures are still left some demons inside the palace |
 |
| throw soybeans against the demons to cast them out, and so disappear all |
 |
| but not enough to exorcise her smile? |
0 comments:
Post a Comment