Friday, June 30, 2023 at 7:00 P.M. (Pacific)
Please join us for our once a year ceremony! 2023’s 夏越之祓 Nagoshi-no-Harae held on Friday, June 30th at 7pm (pacific) on our “ShintoInari” YouTube channel. Please join us to when it’s time for the ceremony! Link to ceremony.
From ancient times, the Japanese people practiced 夏越之祓Nagoshi-no-Harae, a prayer to purify and to rid themselves of the first half of the year’s 厄難yakunan (illness, accident, fight etc…) or “bad luck” and kegare, or “withered spirit”. Over the course of the first half of the year, the energy of a person’s spirit is diminished by tiredness, stress, and other pressures, so Nagoshi-no-Harae rituals are performed every June to cleanse and refresh this energy and recharge the spirit. Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America provides these traditional ceremonies with mystic rituals that have been passed down through the generations of our family.
One such ritual is the use of hitogata (paper effigies) on which have been written the mystic words, “十種神宝Tokusa-no-kamdakara.” Hitogata are slips of paper cut into the shape of a person, and it is believed that the hitogata represents the person concerned. In the Nagoshi-no-Harae service, the hitogata is thought to carry all of that person’s kegare. We also use katashiro that represent vehicles and pets so that they can be cleansed too.
We plan to live-stream the Nagoshi-no-Harae ceremony on YouTube starting at June 30th, 7:00 pm (Pacific) on the channel “ShintoInari.” We hope that you can join us wherever you are at the time.
If you wish to hear the closing talk, please become a member through our website or Patreon.com/ShintoInari. The Closing Talks will explain the prayers that were read, discuss traditional Japanese customs, and include other background information.
When you visit a Shinto Shrine, the custom is to put some Osaisen into the donation box.
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