Takibiraki, Mt Takao, Tokyo
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The devotees will have good luck and they will avoid serious adversity.
On the other hand, there is a local belief, especially amongst young
adults, where couples who climb Mt Takao will separate shortly
thereafter.
The purpose of water training (takigyo) is to
identify with Seiryu who is a great blue dragon revered as the guardian
deity of water. Water ascetics chant the deityfs name while an attending
monk recites a sutra. Loud chanting and clenching hands and fingers in a
certain symbolic gesture (mudra) help mind stay focused and away from
destructive emotions. A story
tells about a man who killed the woman he loved in
an attempt to murder her husband. After this experience he purified
himself by standing
in the icy cold waterfall for 21 days while reciting 300,000
incantations.
Purification rituals using water is an essential part of Shinto practices. Every shrine provides water for washing the hands and rinsing the mouth before approaching it. There is the myth of the god Izanagi, who follows his consort Izanami to the land of the dead (yomi). After seeing her in a state of decomposition, he returns to the world and purifies himself in a stream. Cleansing his left eye gives birth to the solar divinity Amaterasu. Cleansing his right eye gives birth to the lunar divinity Tsukuyomi, and cleansing his nose gives birth to the storm divinity Susanoo.
Shojin ryori (temple food)
