, , or are wooden
wands, decorated with two (zigzagging paper streamers) used in
Shinto rituals.
The streamers are usually white, although they can also be gold, silver, or a mixture of several colors, and are often attached as decorations to straw ropes () used to mark sacred precincts.
The
shrine priest or attendants () use the to bless or sanctify a person or object in various Shinto rituals. The is used for some ceremonies, but its usual purpose is to cleanse a sacred place in temples and to cleanse, bless, or exorcise any object that is thought to have negative energy. In addition to its use in
purification ritual
Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of ''uncleanliness'', especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may ...
s, it may be included in an (wooden wand with many ), and serve as the object of veneration () in a
Shinto shrine
A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion.
Overview
Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings.
The '' honden''Also called (本殿, meani ...
.
See also
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Flail
*
Glossary of Shinto for an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Shinto, Shinto art, and Shinto shrine architecture.
* , wooden wands used in
Ainu
Ainu or Aynu may refer to:
*Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East
*Ainu languages, a family of languages
**Ainu language of Hokkaido
**Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands
**Sakhalin Ainu la ...
rituals
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*
Ruyi (scepter)
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*
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References
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Shinto in Japan
Exorcism in Shinto
Shinto religious objects
Wands
Ritual weapons
Honorary weapons
Ceremonial weapons
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