Chinowa-Kuguri / Purification ritual in Shinto / Sacred ring to pass through
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
That ring is Chinowa in Shinto ritual.
We Pass through the sacred ring and it is called Chinowa-Kuguri.
It is a kind of MISOGI,purification ritual,of Shinto.
You can find the ring at some Shinto shrines in the end of June and December.
Summer purification is especially called Nagoshi-no-Harai/Harae.
Kameidoten Jinjya shrine,Tokyo.
Kanda-Myoujin shrine,Tokyo.
Chinowa-Kuguri,How to do
1,Counterclockwise
2,Clockwise
3,Counterclockwise again
4,Go to the God place
Except for very small shrines,there are Torii gate in front of most Shinto shrines.
We need to "pass trough" and walk to shrine,worship place for local nature gods.
Inside of Torii means Mother's body.
The approach to shrine means birth canal.
Round trip between Shrine and Torii = Becoming new,Rebirth,Refresh
Many foreign travelers love red Torii,but they don't know about the roots.
Shinto shrine is root of human's life.
Local nature gods distribute new lives to pregnant women in the area.
Chinowa-Kuguri or Torii represents human's repetition between this world and another world after death.
So,Chinowa-Kuguri is equivalent to Immersion Baptism.
Photo by wikipedia