| Research Abstract |
1. This study attempts to reconstruct the order underlying the ritual world of the Miho Shrine, in Shimane Peninsula. For this purpose attention was first directed to the fact that the rituals performed at this shrine are closely related to the social organization of the Mihonoseki regional community, composed of folk settlements. This socio-ritual order seems to form a basis of the religious cosmology by which the Miho Shrine and the Mihonoseki folk settlements are incorporated into a whole set. This study emphasizes the people's view that the other worlds exists beyond the sea, and the female principle which underlies various, and regards them as the principles of the ritual world of the Miho Shrine.
2. More specifically, Aohushigaki-Shinji, the ritual performed at the Miho shrine on April 7, was examined to elucidate the relationship between the ritual world and the social organization of this community. It was verified, as a result, that both the toya (the male ritual practitioner) and the ondo (the young, virgin female ritual practitioner)play an important role in Aohushigaki-shinji. Prior research seems to have held that the male ritual practitioner is fundamental, as do the people of this region. However, through inquiry into its process revealed that the Miho Shrine ritual world is basically upheld by the ondo.
3. The close relationship between the Miho Shrine ritual world and the nature of the other world was studied by examining Kamimukae-Shinji (the ritual of May 5 for welcoming deities), Mushibarai-Shinji (the ritual of August 5 for repelling noxious insects) and Morotabune-Shinji (the boatrace ritual of December 3). This study concludes that the Female Spirit (i.e., the deity of the other world beyond the sea ) sends "vital" power (fertility and reincarnation) to this world, from the other "dark" world. A comparative survey was conducted on the ritual world of the Itsukushima Shrine, and similar principles were revealed.
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