11 Friday Aug 2017
Posted in mythology, Philosophy, Poetry, Social Comment, Writing
(Creative Commons. Photo by Chi King, 2010)
Concluding The Twenty Two Japanese Shrines series.
Candles on your head;
curse at The Hour of the Ox.
The resident god
will transform to an oni*
and exact vengeance for you.
If you have enjoyed these recent series, then you might like
the Hiroshige poems on my site ( October 2016)
Cindy, you have read them, I know!
10 Thursday Aug 2017
Posted in Community, Environment, mythology, Nature, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Writing
(Photo by Bakkai, 2007, at Japanese Wikipedia)
Three shrines deify
different dragon gods. They
regulate weather:
offer black horses for rain;
white horses ensure sunshine.
09 Wednesday Aug 2017
Tags
(Creative Commons. Photo by 663highland, 19/2/11)
Angry bureaucrat-
scholar and poet exile –
has to be appeased.
Geiko and maiko serve tea
beneath blossom and lanterns.
08 Tuesday Aug 2017
Tags
boussokusekika, Gion Matsuri, hoko, palanquins, yama, Yasaka jinja
(Photo: Creative Commons)
The gods’ palanquins
were paraded through the streets:
the epidemic
stemmed. Giant hoko and yama*
commemorate shown mercy.
.
08 Tuesday Aug 2017
(Orig uploader -Whogue at English Wikipedia, 7/2007;
Photo by W Hogue, 2007; transferred by Kurpfalzbilder.de)
Famed azaleas
grace the place where the Empress
obeyed the goddess.
Amaterasu declared
she needed a shrine.
07 Monday Aug 2017
Tags
(Flickr; Wikimedia Commons. Image:
2006 Chris Gladis [M Shades] from Kyoto)
Setsubun customs
include scattering soy beans,
telling demons to back off.
If you eat the beans roasted,
you will derive peace and joy.
07 Monday Aug 2017
(Wikimedia Commons Photo by KENPEI,
August 2010)
A Princess gave birth
the day after her marriage –
so speedily that
women came to her to seek
such pain-free delivery.
06 Sunday Aug 2017
Posted in Architecture, Community, History, Language, mythology, Poetry, Politics, Social Comment, Writing
And now for the final Eight, Lower rank, in my series of boussokusekika
on the twenty two shrines:
(Wikimedia Commons Photo:
663highland; June 2008.)
Hiyoshi Taisha
Your shrine was once burnt
when a Daimyo killed his foes
and yet he was blessed:
unification expressed
in ‘Tenka Fubu.’*
06 Sunday Aug 2017
(Creative Commons. Image by KENPEI, June 2007)
The Sumiyoshi
are the gods of war on sea.
The shrine’s parkland
(hakushaseishou landscape)
inspired works of art.
05 Saturday Aug 2017
Posted in Architecture, mythology, Poetry, Writing
(Wikimedia Commons. Photo:
Kansai explorer; June 2007. GFDL
creative commons 2.5)
At Mount Ikoma,
three noble children were born.
Where the clouds arose,
a fierce eight headed dragon
was slain by Susa-no-o.
