skills/training
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Sacred dancing
Warding off evil spirits
Divining
(see prayers & rituals for more information)
× practice sealing and purification rituals, which are highly form-based and symbolic, and are used to bless, purify, or exorcise evil spirits.
(Historically, they conveyed messages from the gods while in a shamanic trance, or performed ritual dances)
× roles of the miko include performing in ceremonial dances 巫女舞 (dance of the priestess, "miko-mai") and assisting priests in wedding ceremonies. (Today miko can be found at many Shinto shrines. Their duties include assisting with shrine events, performing dances and rituals, and fortune-telling.)
× skilled in some variety of martial art or the use of a traditional Japanese weapon, such as yumi (longbow), tantō (knife), or any of the various Japanese swords: katana, wakizashi, etc. Miko were also attributed the ability to do magic, especially ofuda.
× wear masks while performing clerical duties, both for effect and to hide their identity.
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Weapon(s):
× a shrine maiden's main tool, or possibly simply the most popular one, is a stick with elaborately folded paper on the end, known as a "gohei".
gohei are wooden wands, decorated with two shide (zigzagging paper streamers) used in Shinto rituals.
The streamers are usually white, although they can also be gold, silver, or a mixture of several colors, and are often attached as decorations to straw ropes (shimenawa) used to mark sacred precincts.
The shrine priest or maiden attendants (miko) use the gohei to bless or sanctify a person or object in various Shinto rituals. The gohei is used for some ceremonies, but its usual purpose is to cleanse a sacred place in temples and to cleanse, bless, or exorcise any object that is thought to have negative energy. In addition to its use in purification rituals, it may be included in an Ōnusa (wooden wand with many shide), and serve as the object of veneration (shintai) in a Shinto shrine.
× other common tools are small rectangular papers used for sealing, called "ofuda"; these are elaborately painted with various mystical symbols and rites of sealing.
ofuda (御札 or お札 ofuda, a charm) is a type of household amulet or talisman, issued by a Shinto shrine, hung in the house for protection, a gofu (護符). It may also be called shinpu (神符). It is made by inscribing the name of a kami and the name of the Shinto shrine or of a representative of the kami on a strip of paper, wood, cloth, or metal.
It is to be renewed yearly, typically before the end of a year, and attached to a door, pillar, or ceiling. It may also be placed inside a private shrine (kamidana). It is believed to protect the family in residence from general harm, such as a disease. A more specific o-fuda may be placed near particular objects such as one for kitchen to protect from accidental fire. A popular ofuda called jingū-taima (神宮大麻) or simply taima (大麻) is issued by Ise Shrine. It is made from hemp cloth; the use of hemp as a material was common from antiquity.
A portable form of ofuda, commonly called omamori (お守り or 御守, o-mamori) is typically given out wrapped in a small bag made of decorated cloth. This originates from Onmyōdō and Buddhism, but was subsequently adopted by Shinto. Both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines give out these o-mamori. While an o-fuda is said to protect a whole family, an o-mamori offers support for personal benefits.
× azusayumi (梓弓 or “catalpa bow”) - an azusayumi is a holy bow in Japan, and a customary Japanese bow utilized within music. This is produced using the wood of the catalpa tree.
× tamagushi (玉串 or “offertory sakaki-tree branches”) - tamagushi is a type of Shinto offering produced using a sakaki-tree extension adorned with shide pieces of washi paper, silk, or cotton and is regularly utilized at Japanese weddings and funerals.
× gehōbako (外法箱 or the “supernatural box that contains dolls, animal and human skulls ... [and] Shinto prayer beads”) - the gehobako is a crate, accepted to be extraordinary, which holds different magical things, for example, dolls and the skulls of creatures and people.
× prayer beads - prayer beads are used by members of various religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and the Bahá'í Faith to mark the repetitions of prayers, chants or devotions, such as the rosary of Virgin Mary in Catholicism, and dhikr (remembrance of God) in Islam.
× the miko also use “bells, drums, candles, and bowls of rice” in their ceremonies.
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× katana - historically, katana (刀) were one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (日本刀 nihontō) that were used by the samurai of feudal Japan. Modern versions of the katana are sometimes made using non-traditional materials and methods.
The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands.
The length of the katana blade varied considerably during the course of its history. In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, katana blades tended to have lengths between 70 and 73 cm (27½ and 28½ in). During the early 16th century, the average length approached closer to 60 cm (23½ in). By the late 16th century, the average length returned to approximately 73 cm (28½ in).
The katana was often paired with a similar smaller companion sword, such as a wakizashi or it could also be worn with the tantō, a smaller, similarly shaped dagger. The pairing of a katana with a smaller sword is called the daishō. Only samurai could wear the daisho: it represented the social power and personal honor of the samurai.
× tanto (her favorite) - a tantō (短刀, "short blade") is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords that were worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The tantō dates to the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon but evolved in design over the years to become more ornate. Tantō were used in traditional martial arts (tantojutsu).
The tantō is commonly referred to as a knife or dagger. The blade is single or double edged with a length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches, in Japanese 1 shaku).
The tantō was designed primarily as a stabbing weapon, but the edge can be used for slashing as well. Tantō are generally forged in hira-zukuri style (without ridgeline), meaning that their sides have no ridge line and are nearly flat, unlike the shinogi-zukuri structure of a katana. Some tantō have particularly thick cross-sections for armor-piercing duty, and are called yoroi toshi. Tantō were mostly carried by samurai, as commoners did not generally wear them.
Women sometimes carried a small tantō called a kaiken in their obi primarily for self-defense. Tantō were sometimes worn as the shōtō in place of a wakizashi in a daishō, especially on the battlefield. Before the advent of the wakizashi/tantō combination, it was common for a samurai to carry a tachi and a tantō as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi.
× azusayumi (梓弓 or “catalpa bow”) - an azusayumi (梓弓) is a sacred bow in Japan, as well as a Japanese (musical) bow made from the wood of the catalpa tree (azusa, 梓). Playing an azusayumi forms part of some Shinto rituals. In Japanese poetry, the word azusayumi functions as a makurakotoba ("pillow word").
The story is told in Japanese mythology that a golden bird perched on the bow of Emperor Jimmu, the great grandson of the sun goddess Amaterasu, and the first human ruler of Japan. This was seen as an extremely good omen; Jimmu's bow developed the power to dispel evil by the mere plucking of its string. His bow was made of catalpa wood, in Japanese, "azusa".
Since that time, 59 Azusa-Yumi (29 vermilion and 30 black - vermilion signifying male energy and black female energy) have been enshrined at the Ise Grand Shrine, Japan's most important Shinto shrine and the main residence of Amaterasu. They serve to protect and purify the shrine's sacred inner chamber. These bows that are enshrined at Ise become Goshimpo-yumi (Great Treasures of the Gods). Every twenty years the inner chamber of the Shrine is renewed and new offerings are made — including the Goshimpo-yumi.
