A special chance for English-language speakers to participate in celebrating New Year Japanese style with a licensed Shinto Priest based in Los Angeles. Rev. Izumi Hasegawa, of the Shinto Shrine of Shusse Inari in America, is offering this rare opportunity to all who apply. (For a report of the summer purification ceremony, see here.)
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Let’s recharge our spirit and invite good fortune in the new year!
We are preparing for the upcoming, once-a-year Toshikoshi-no-Ōharae, the Great New Year’s Eve Purification ceremony, on Dec. 31st! We will mail hitogata to our shrine members this week. For non-members, please download the form from our website ShintoInari.org. Please be sure to mail your hitogata and katashiro so that it will arrive by Dec. 28th!
The Great New Year’s Eve Purification ceremony is one of the two major purification rituals conducted throughout the year. You may remember our Mid-Year Purification (Nagoshi-no-Harae) from this past June! During this time, we cleanse all the impurities, misfortunes, stress, and fatigue from over the past year and refresh ourselves, and recharge our energy to invite good fortune in the new year.
This is a great opportunity to cleanse your spirit of the entire year’s accumulated misfortunes (yakunan), and kegare (impurities and/or tiredness). It is said that Toshikoshi-no-Ōharae brings good fortune in the new year. As we have experienced the COVID-19 pandemic this year, we really need Toshikoshi-no-Ōharae to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021 Toshigami-sama. So please join us for this once-a-year ritual service!
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