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This English translation of The Great Purificatin Norito Prayer
based on the modern langauage interpretation kindly provided by
Tsutaya OHTA of Uneno Hachiman Shrine. The myriad Spirits in the High Plane of Heaven, on the order of the imperial ancestor the Living Kamurogi (The Spirit Takamimusubi) and The Living Kamuromi (The Spirit Kamimusubi), met in the heavenly river plain and discussed the transfer of the rule of Japan from the great Spirit of the Earth to the Spirits of Heaven. The imperial descendent, The Living Ninigi, suggested descending to the Plane of Reeds, Japan. And after serious discussion, the Great Spirit of the Earth agreed to relinquish control of our country. And the mother of The Living Ninigi, The Great Spirit Amaterasu said “My heavenly child, The Living Ninigi, go and govern so that this country, Japan, remain peaceful for all generations to come” However, at that stage there were still, even though our country was thus entrusted, some in our country who would not obey, and since there were many of these wild spirits, sometimes we persuaded them, and even then if they still would not obey, we also removed them by force. As a result, the stones, trees, all the grass and weeds, and even each and every leaf that spoke like humans speak, so that it was so noisy then, obeyed the order to be silent. So then, the Living Ninigi, taking with him the Imperial regalia and making plentiful offerings, and violently tearing asunder the layers of thick clouds, came down from heaven to Takachihou in Hyuga province. In this way, having come down from heaven, he turned to governing with great care, and for this reason, throughout the land to all four corners of the country, peace reigned. And as the seat of governance of the Living One, the construction of a shrine was planned, and this shrine was placed upon stone foundations buried in the earth, with strong pillars, and its thousand roof beam rafters were raised so high that they seemed to pierce the clouds, a towering, resplendent shrine building. And in that shrine, the Living Spirit set about governing, from morning till night, and all night long still he worked, and through these great efforts, ritual and governance the country became stable, industry developed rapidly, and a great many children were born, and blessed with all these children the population expanded rapidly, but, at the same time, there were those that committed crimes, and fought with each other, their actions becoming a social calamity. Among these crimes there were sins of destroying nature, breaking of moral laws and many other things. And the widespread occurrence of all these sins, was of great concern to the Imperial government. In this way, since so many crimes had come about, the Spirits of Heaven gave their help. And this was done by following a ritual performed in Heaven; heavenly golden wood (holy hard wood) sticks were cut up, and arranged upon many shelves. And heavenly reeds were cut into bits, and splintering like needles, while we were instructed to read out the great purification ritual. If we perform the ritual in this way, the heavenly spirits will open the cave door of heaven, and tearing asunder the layers of clouds, will come to listen to our prayer. The Spirits of the Earth will come to tops of high and low mountains, and tearing asunder the shelters in the high and low mountains, will come to listen to our prayer. And if they listen in this way, there will be no sin worth calling sin in the world, we shall then be able to proclaim. This purification will be like, the strong wind that blows down from high mountains, which can blow away the clouds that have piled up thick, and like the way that the morning and evening wind can blow away the morning and evening mist, and like the way the wind can blow a large ship, berthed in a large harbor, breaking its chains, pulling up its anchor and blow it out into the ocean, and like the way we can clear mountains of trees and bushes by burning them and through the work of our sharpened hoes cultivate mountain sides, in this way, our sins will be gone, purely purified, and cleanly cleaned. The sins and impurities thus swept away, will fall from high and low mountains, with a thunderous sound into the water, the Spirit of rivers, Princess Seoritsu, who lives in the upper reaches of rivers that flow fast like the flow of a waterfall, will take them out into the ocean. And if they are taken out in this way, the Spirit called Princess Hayaaki, who lives in the whirlpools where hot and cold flows meet and collide, will gobble them all up. And if the sins and impurities are all gobbled up in this way, The Spirit, Ibukidonushi, who is the origin of the breath of life, will breath and blow them out to the world at the origin of the world. And if they are blow out in this way, The Spirit, Princess Hayasasura, who lives in the world at the origin of the world, will take them off into the distance so that, even these sins and impurities will be lost forever and completely. And if they are lost in this way, wherever one searches for them, we will allow ourselves to say, before the myriad Spirits, before the spirits of Heaven and the Spirits of the Earth, to whom we dedicate this purification, this cleansing prayer, that sins that can be called sins, will completely cease to exist. |