Hakusan （白山）– The Sacred Mountains

Shira-mine (白峰) is the name of the village where the entrance of the trail begins towards the peak of Haku-san (Mt.Haku). In the very old days, it was called Ushi-kubi-mura. Ushi means cow. Kubi means neck. Mura means village. What an awkward name. People say that the name derives from the shape of the village that looks like a neck of a cow.

But when I hear Ushi-kubi (牛首)、 Emperor Gozu (牛頭天皇) comes into my mind. Gozu means the head of a cow. Emperor Gozu was said to be one of the child of Susanoo in the Mythology of Japan. The blue colored spiritual body of Susanoo has appeared in different forms at different periods in our history. The energy of Susanoo was most active during the Heian Period (794AC~1185AC), and appeared in a very special figure. He was called Ushi-kubi (牛首). Ushi-kubi is an oni (鬼), an ogre (not always evil. In this case it comes from the Righteous World of the Gods). The person who was called Ushi-kubi actually had two horn like lumps on his head.


During and before the Heian Period, things like this happened often. It was a time when people where still connected with the spiritual world. The horns that come in my vision are about two to four inches long. It is rounded on the top. It appears to be made out of hardened skin. The horns seem to have appeared as a sign in the early stage of the development of males who had taken over the strong spiritual energy of Susanoo. After the Heian Period, as the development matured, even though some still inherit the spiritual energy of Susanno, the horns are no longer obvious as a physical sign.


From my understanding, the reason why the village under Haku-san was called Ushi-kubi is because at that time, there were two males with this horns, protecting Haku-san. They were the spiritual body of Susanoo in a human figure who did not allow anyone to enter the sacred mountain until 1300BC. They lived in Ushi-kubi-mura in Ishikawa Prefecture but was able to spiritually protect the whole range of mountains from Gifu Prefecture to Fukui Prefecture. I sense that they had unbelievable amount of stamina. Even nowadays, people tell me that it is common for the people in Shiramine to climb the mountain twice a day for their duties until they reach 60 yrs old. The mountain is 2700m (9000 feet) high. Last year, I heard a 90 yrs old man from that village who climbed to the top and return in one day. (It takes average of 8 hrs one way). It tells how strong these men are in this village.

From where I live, I could see the figure of Haku-san. Few times a year, it appears in the blue-white light reflecting in the sunlight. It is still the sacred mountains that receive the protection of Susanoo and Haraedo-Yonshin*(祓戸四神). It is the range of mountains that received the first breath of life on this planet Earth from The Root God.


Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live



For details on“Haraedo-Yonshin(祓戸四神)” please read article of Dec/24/08.

The Four Gods of Purification

- Following on the article of Dec. 20th about Haraedo Yonshin-

Ōharae-Norito, The Grand Purification Chant is the core essence of Shinto. The climax of this chant is where it explains the Haraedo-Yonshin purifying all sins (tsumi) and impurities (kegare). God Seoritsu-hime washes away all curses, sins, and impurities from the river to the ocean. God Hayaakitsu-hime awaits under the deep ocean to swallow all those curses, sins and impurities. God Ibukido-nushi make sure all the curses, sins and impurities are swallowed. And then he would shoot his breath toward the subterranean world, Ne-no-kuni Soko-no-kuni. At the end, Hayasasura-hime disperses the curses, sins and impurities that were brought into the subterranean world.

Seoritsu-hime is at the shore of the river that runs very fast. It is quite a task to pick up all the sins and impurities from this fast running river and bring them to the ocean. Out of the four secret steps of the Grand Purification process, I find the first step to be most important. At this process, the sins and impurities from the reality world are conversed to a spiritual energy. Without this process, the later three gods would not be able to do anything. Seoritsu-hime is a goddess with a special ability to convert a material from the World of Reality to the World of the Gods.

When I did a reading on these Four Gods, at the end Susanoo appeared. The Four Gods of Purification are the derivatives of Susanoo. Oppose to the soul of a healing mother, Goddess Amaterasu-Ohomikami (yan side of the sun), God Susanoo (yin side of the sun) has a significant job of purification who slaves behind the scenes.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live

The Matrix to be in Oneness

Around Meiji era (1868-1912), the form of 二礼二拍手一礼 “two bows, two claps, and one bow” started to become the official form of worship when visiting a shrine. It became the official form through out the Chain of Islands of Japan.

When you come to the front of a shrine, you first bow twice then clap your hands twice, and bow again at the end. As for the priests, the numbers of clapping hands may differ due to the tradition of the area. For example, the Izumo chain shrines where God Kunitsu-kami (国津神) is worshipped, the formal way is to clap four times. The formal way in Ise Jingu or The Grand Shrine of Ise is to clap four times x 2, which makes it eight times. It is called yahirade(八開手).

I am sure that Izumo Shrine has their own story of how it became four claps, but in my vision I see that it is worshipping the Four Gods of Purification, Haraedo-Yonshin (祓戸四神) lead by Susanoo. As for the eight claps of the Ise method, if you count four claps as one, it becomes two that is the original idea of the official form of today. In Shinto, the number eight has always been a sign of good omen since the ancient times.

People express their joy and excitement by clapping hands. It is an act of instinct seen all over the world. Babies clap their hands when they are having fun. It was the same in the ancient times. The ancient people clapped their hands to express their gratitude and sense of awe by the presence of god. They were actually able to see the gods. At an Iwakura (磐座)) - a landing place for the gods in energy form, the ancient people witnessed the energy form twisting and swirling up like it was dancing. The people naturally start clapping as they watched this magnificent thing happen. It seems that how many times you clap wasn’t really so important.

In my personal opinion, the reason why the offical form of worship settled to “two bows, two claps, and one bow” after much meandering, is because the “two bows” represents Izanagi and Izanami who are a husband and wife couple gods, and the official two gods who are the originator of the later gods. The “two claps” signifies to show respect to the two gods. The last “one bow” signifies that your innate god is one with the originator. It is a matrix to be in oneness.

Ikashite-itadaite Arigato-gozaimasu

Thank you for letting us live