(from the brochure) Agon Shu's Hoshi Matsuri literally means "Star Festival" and is a combined Shinto-Buddhist Fire Rites Festival. The ceremony is held with 2 scacred goma-dan, or pyres. One goma-dan is a "Shinkai dan" for the realization of prayers, wishes and hopes for the living. The other is a "Bukkai dan" for the liberation of afflicted spirits of the departed. Agon Shu holds its fire rites with these 2 goma-dan using special spiritual techniques and methods in the course of the rites.
There's a long route up from the shuttle bus stop before you get to the Bhutan Square where the Agon Pavilion is. Some more walking before you get to the Agon Shu's Main Temple. We were hovering outside waiting to see the Gagaku Dance but then realised that the dance was held INSIDE the Main Temple (which obviously required admission fee of 300Y). The Gagaku dance is dedicated to display sincere feelings of respect and esteem for Japanese gods and ancestral worship, which is part of the special manner of holding the combined Shinto-Buddhism fire rites festival.
Some of the interesting things we saw:
(1) Gomagi prayer sticks, which are thin strips of wood on which prayers, requests and desires for the living, as well as prayers for the liberation and consolation of the afflicted spirits of the departed are written. Gomagi received from the people are piled up and burnt on 2 sacred wooden pyres. Prices range from 100Y, 1000Y, 3000Y, 5000Y and 10,000Y
(2) Oracle on a stick
Apparently, if the oracle is not in your favour, you don't bring it home with you and you just tie it on a rope. This is Omikuji Kukuriki. People tie the oracles stating bad predictions to avoid taking bad fortune home.
No offense, but then what is the point of this? This would effectively mean nobody will get the negative stuff, no?
(3) Shrine girls giving out leaves (she offered me one but I didn't want to take it)
(4) At all the tents, there are rest areas and they provide hot drinks. We had several cups cos it is really comforting to have a hot drink on a cold day.
(5) Special blessing of Kashiri Daikoku. This requires a donation of at least 3000Y. But goes up to a few hundred thousand yen. So does that mean the more donation I give the better the blessing? Hm.
and of course,
(6) the Hoshi Matsuri
There are people in charge of tending the fire and others who were in charge of throwing wooden boxes into the fire. Those who were really near the fire had clothes that were black with ash. It was quite a huge fire that required constant tending like splashing water, etc.
There are also scheduled Yamabushi question and answer ceremonies but of course we could not make sense of what went on. Apparently, the Yamabushi's knowledge of doctrine is tested during these sessions.
(7) the ritual costume of the Yamabushi (mountain ascetics of esoteric Buddhism - don't ask me what this means, I copied it off the brochure), which is different from a monk's attire. The Yamabushi are lay ascetics devoted to mental and physical self-discipline in the mountains who contemplate the mountains as both the Kongo-kai (Diamond Realm) and Taizo-kai (Womb Realm) Mandalas, in the aim to become one with Fudo Myo-o (Acalanatha), a deity which embodies those mandalas. Their practice mainly consists of practical ascetic training and meditation, and they reportedly memorize the doctrines by connecting them to Yamabushi's costumes and objects used in riturals. The Yamabushi training and meditation to attain enlightenment and widom is sought for the benefit of oneself and others and is not limited to training in the mountains but also relevant to daily lives.
I will only mention the most memorable object worn by the Yamabushi, the Yui-gesa, which resebles a surplice with pompoms. There are 4 Bonten-busa (pompoms) in front and 2 in the rear. The leaders wore white ones and the newcomers wore black ones. The white Bonten-busa symbolize Rokuharamitsu (six methods of perfection) while the black ones represent Rokudo (six lower worlds), implying that leaders having already acquired knowledge of Rakuharamitsu will guide newcomers who remain plagued within the six lower worlds in the Buddhist faith. Today, they don't use black or white pompoms anymore. Instead, green, orange, purple, and scarlet pompoms are attached to indicate the ranks of Yamabushi.
Raided the basement of JR Isetan and got this mont blanc from Patisserie Kanon, produced by Shotani. It was possibly the most chestnut-y mont blanc we ever had. Loved it.
Tobs wanted to bring me to this nice place for dinner but unfortunately, after disappearing down a dark walkway on the 5th storey of a secluded building, it was not opened. En route we had a very helpful lady to helped us find our way despite the cold. She even used her mobile phone to google map the location. :)
We rushed back to Sannomiya station and got back to Umeda area. We had
tried several times earlier to call our dinner place - Quatre Lapin -
but never got through. Grace half suspected that they had closed down,
which I doubted since the latest review on Tabelog was posted just weeks
before. Alas, when we reached the restaurant, the doors were shut and
there was no sign of business. Disappointed, we had no choice but to
return to Shin Osaka for a simple dinner of 551 gyozas/siu-mais and
Matusya's fantabulous (and cheap) Sundubu-chigae, which lingered in
Grace's mind for months to come.
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