Category: Sacred Creatures

Funadama is a sea-guardian deity—regarded as a goddess—enshrined at the center of a vessel. We unravel why a goddess was sealed inside a ship, the meanings of the distinctive sacred objects—a strand of woman's hair, dice, copper coins, and five grains—the mysterious phenomenon of a ship 'singing' before departure, and the traces of Funadama belief that remain at seaside shrines across Japan, illuminating a thousand years of relationship between the Japanese and the sea.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team

Aouma-no-Sechie is a court ritual performed on the seventh day of the New Year from the Nara through Heian periods, in which the emperor reviewed the white horses of the left and right horse offices. We unravel the mystery of horses as divine messengers—why it is read 'aouma' (literally 'blue horse') when the horses are white, the basis of the belief that simply seeing a horse dispelled evil, the traditions passed down at shrines such as Kamo Kurabe-Uma and Sumiyoshi Taisha's white horse ritual, and the lineage of white horse belief continuing today.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team

The white snake has long been seen as a messenger of the goddess Benzaiten, bringing wealth and renewal across Japan. Tracing the protected white snakes of Iwakuni, the legends of Omiwa Shrine, and the mystery of how it merged with Benzaiten worship, we unravel the ancient prayers embedded in the white serpent as a divine messenger.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team

Genbu, the turtle-serpent guardian of the north, is one of the Four Sacred Beasts. We explore how this celestial creature was absorbed into Japanese shrine culture.

Shrine Secrets Editorial Team