Prince (Faith) - Ouji

...The occurrence of such a phenomenon means that the fixedness of the faith was broken, new activities of the shrine maidens were born, and oracles were given to awaken people at that time. An early and prominent example of this was the case of the Kumano Sansho Gongen, where the representative names of the Five Shono Oji (Waka Oji, Zenshi Oji, Sei Oji, Ko Oji, and Komori Oji) were seen at the end of the Heian period. Among them, Nyaku Oji, also called Wakamiya Oji (Chuu-u-ki), Wakamiya (Choshu-ki), Wakaichi Oji (Jisha Gen Yoki), and Wakameichi Oji (Mokusyo-sho), is a prince deity who appears in the form of a young girl or child, and is often enshrined in association with the Kumano Gongen. ...

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Prince (Faith)" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…こうした現象が起こるのは，信仰の固定化を破って，あらたに巫女の活動が生じ，時人を覚醒させる託宣が下されたことを意味する。これが早くかつ顕著に現れた例は，熊野三所権現の場合であり，平安末期には代表的な形である五所王子(若王子，禅師宮，聖宮，児宮，子守宮)の名がみられた。中でも若王子（にやくおうじ）は，若宮王子(《中右記》)，若宮(《長秋記》)，若一王子(《寺社元要記》)，若女一王子(《壒囊抄》)とも呼ばれ，少女または幼童の姿で現れる王子神で，熊野権現の勧請された所に随伴してまつられた例が多い。…

※「王子（信仰）」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報