Maroudo Shrine in Ohira-machi Part Two

This is a part two entry on Maroudo Shrine to introduce one of my thoughts on the enigmatic Maroudo shrine. For those who haven't read part one, check this out prior to reading this.

As I mentioned in the part one, several bloggers write this shrine based on the analogy of the Monkyakujin shrine (門客人神社) in Hikawa shrine (氷川神社). 

In the past,

Arahabaki shrine enshrined Arahabaki (荒脛巾) who does not appear in two Japanese chronicles and is thought to be an indigenous deity.

Monkyakujin Shrine in Hikawa Shrine as Sessha

When the Izumo tribe emigrate to the Musashi province, they enshrined their own deities there. It is likely that the Arahabaki shrine was subordinated to the Hikawa shrine by Izumo emigrants and became the Sessha of Hikawa shrine. The name was changed to Monkyakujin shrine. As a consequence, Arahabaki was kicked out by Tenazuchi and Ashinuchi who are the parents of Kushinada hime of Susanowo's wife. 

Similarly, was the previously enshrined deity of Maroudo shrine in Ohira town taken over by Takeminakata enshrined in Isoyama Suwa shrine? No archives exist to indicate the past enshrined deities in Maroudo shrine, which makes us ponder who the hell the enshrined deities used to be! 

Was Arahabaki the indigenous enshrined deity before Takehinakata took over the prime position???

This could be true, however, my gut keeps sending me a beeping noise. Hereafter I propose two possible case scenarios.

(1) This shrine is indeed overlooked Kadomaroudo shrine as Sessha of Ohira Shrine (太平神社). Just like the Kadomaroudo Shrine in Itsukushima Shrine (image below), this shrine acts as a gatekeeper of the Ohira Shrine. 

Two Kadomaroudo shrines in Itsukushima shrine

Here are pieces of evidence to account for this.

(a) The Mt. Ohira summit, Okumiya of Ohira shrine, Maroudo shrine, and Isoyama Suwa shrine roughly lie in a straight line!!! 

(b) The original name of Mt. Ohira (大平山) is Mt. Miwa (三輪山). The name was changed when the divinity of the three new deities, Amaterasu/天照皇大御神, Toyoukebime/豊受姫大神, and Ninigi/瓊瓊杵命 were transferred there. Originally the prime enshrined deity was Ohmononushi/大物主神, a deity of Mt. Miwa. His alternative name is "Mimoro no yama no ue ni omasu kami/御諸山上坐神 (= the deity residing in Mt. Mimoro) in Kojiki. Mt. Mimoro is an ancient name of Mt. Miwa in Yamato province/Nara.    

(c) Ohmononushi (大物主) was enshrined in Mt. Miwa by Ohkuni when Ohkuni reigned Ashihara Nakatsukuni.  Takeminakata (タケミナカタ), who is one of Ohkuni's sons. Collectively, they are all closely related!

(d) Arahabaki seems to have been worshipped in the northern part of Japan among Emishi (蝦夷) tribes as a deity of the snake because "haha" of habaki in Arahabaki meant snake in ancient Japanese. Back in the olden days, the direction was called according to the animal of the year. The direction is divided into twelve. The north corresponds to the first animal of the year, the mouse (子) and the remaining animals (丑-寅-卯-辰-巳-午-未-申-酉-戌-亥) follow clockwise. Because dragon (辰/tatsu) and snake (巳/mi) are similar, they are combined and called "Tatsumi (辰巳=巽)" which indicates "southeast".

If the Maroudo shrine was called Arahabaki shrine, it makes sense that Maroudo shrine locates southeast of Mt. Ohira's summit!!!

(e) BTW, Ohmononushi is a snake deity, too.

Am I fully in favor of this hypothesis???

Well, not really...

In the next entry, I will introduce the second possible scenario I am more into.

To be continued.

Daruma doll on bonfire

 Happy New Year.

It is an annual tradition among the Japanese to bring New Year's decorations and other stuff to the temple or shrine and say goodbye to them one or two weeks after the New Year's day. It is believed that Year God/Toshigami (年神) descends on houses where the entrance is decorated with pine trees and bamboo called Kadomatsu (門松). The Osechi cuisine (御節料理), a traditional food served in New Year's day, used to be the offering to Toshigami. After spending 7 to 10 days in the house, Year God returns to heaven. When the god is gone, New Year's decorations are stripped off but are not thrown in the trash bin. Instead, they are brought to the temple or shrine where purchased for ritual purification.   

Along with New Year's decorations, the daruma doll that represented the semi-legendary Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, a founder of Zen Buddhism is one of the objects to be purified annually. The reddish round doll has blank white eyes in its original figure. When the owner sets a goal or makes a wish, the left eye is painted black just like Far East Asian eyes. If the dream or wish comes true, the right eye is filled. The doll is used for facilitating the owner to make the owner's dream come true. When it's achieved, the doll is purified on a bonfire...