Himorogi

In ancient times, it was called "Himoroki." It was a place where a divine spirit could reside or reside, in order to invite it to a divine festival. In ancient times, it referred to a pure and sacred place, but later it came to refer to evergreen trees planted in a garden or indoors. In ancient rituals, and even today in ground-breaking ceremonies, there was no shrine, and when praying for the descent of a divine spirit only in the case of a divine festival, a sacred place where the divine spirit could reside or a sign of this was needed, and this is what it refers to. The section on the descent of the heavenly grandson in the "Nihon Shoki" states that Ameno-koyane-no-mikoto and Futodama-no-mikoto descended bearing the Amatsu-higashi tree and were ordered by imperial decree to worship it for the imperial grandson. Similarly, the section on Emperor Suinin mentions that among the sacred treasures brought by Silla prince Ame-no-hiboko was a set of bear-no-higashi trees, which suggests that the term "kumano-higashi" (sacred tree) was already used to refer to the ritual implements used in divine worship in ancient times.

[Junichi Kamata]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古くは「ひもろき」。神祭りをするにあたり、神霊を招くための憑坐(よりまし)、依代(よりしろ)のこと。古くはその清浄、神聖な場をさしたが、のちその庭上、室内に立てる常緑樹などをさして称している。古代祭祀(さいし)、また現在でも地鎮祭などでは社殿がなく、その神祭りの場合のみ神霊の降臨を願うとき、神霊の宿り坐(ま)す神聖な場、またそのしるしが必要となるが、それのこと。『日本書紀』天孫降臨の条に、天児屋命(あめのこやねのみこと)・太玉(ふとだま)命に天津(あまつ)神籬を持ち降臨、皇孫のため奉斎せよと勅されたとあり、同じく垂仁(すいにん)天皇の条に、新羅(しらぎ)の王子天日槍(あめのひぼこ)が持ちきたった神宝のなかに熊(くまの)神籬一具とあるのをみると、神祭りをするための祭具をさして称することがすでに古くあったかとみられる。

［鎌田純一］

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