Misogi

Misogi ( Japanese 禊 ) is a cleansing ritual (washing) in the Shinto religion, which takes place twice a year. Before the worship, the believers clean themselves in a waterfall or in running, mostly cold water, before sunrise.

Special clothing is worn for the ritual, for women this is the white kimono and a headband , for men a loincloth and a headband.

The tradition of the ritual goes back to the myth of Izanagi and Izanami . Izanagi purified himself in the sea after traveling through Yomi , the realm of the dead.

Misogi is also the origin of a number of other cleansing rituals:

• Ascetic practices such as kessai ( 潔 斎 ), a hybrid form of misogi and the cold water washings of Buddhism ( 水垢 離 , mizugori )
• Temizu ( 手 水 ), washing of hands and mouth before the service in the Shinto shrine , is performed in a separate shrine building, the temizuya or chôzuya ( 手 水 舎 )

The Misogi is related to the Harae purification ritual , so that both together are also referred to as Misogiharae ( 禊 祓 ).

source

• Dr. Vollmer's dictionary of the mythology of all peoples. Newly edited by Dr. W. Binder. With an introduction to mythological science by Dr. Johannes Minckwitz. Third edition. With 303 illustrations. Stuttgart: Hoffmann'sche Verlagbuchhandlung, 1874. (p. 337)

Web links

• Nishioka Kazuhiko:  "Misogi" . In: Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugaku-in , March 31, 2007 (English)