Dontosai’s Reminders
- At January 14, 2019
- By admin
- In Annes Letters
0
Dear Family and Friends,
Usually I head to the most popular shrine after dark, when the roar of celebration is loudest. But this year I added another dimension by going in daylight to smaller shrines, before the merrymaking had really started. It was humble and gentle, very personal and deeply touching.
In many ways this festival symbolizes a peeling away, not only of things, but of all preconceived ideas and past, shameful behavior. It is also a letting go of what we have known and loved so as to make room for what is to come.
January 14 is Dontosai, the end of the New Year season, the Naked Festival. It is a Shinto celebration, so shrines are bursting with people flocking to offer prayers, to seek fortune, to discard decorations and other beloved items, to clear out the old so as to prepare for the new.
Every aspect of this festival is highly symbolic. People walk the streets in groups, scantily clothed, shivering, stretching their physical and mental abilities to the limit.
Every aspect of this festival is highly symbolic. People walk the streets in groups, scantily clothed, shivering, stretching their physical and mental abilities to the limit.
They ring bells to forge their way, to awaken the gods, to disperse evil. Together they are absorbed in the collective energy of face, of proving prowess, and primarily of humility before forces far greater than any of us could ever muster alone. No pretenses, simply the effort to fend off cold, to endure, to challenge to the very end.
There are huge bonfires. New Year items are piled before shrines throughout the day. And when night comes, set ablaze for people, clothed and unclothed, to encircle in a form of ancient dance emerging from deep within the human psyche. People come to pray, to eat, to teach the young what it means to have Shinto in their soul.
Usually I head to the most popular shrine after dark, when the roar of celebration is loudest. But this year I added another dimension by going in daylight to smaller shrines, before the merrymaking had really started. It was humble and gentle, very personal and deeply touching.
There were families, individuals, old and young. Even pets came to be blessed.
In many ways this festival symbolizes a peeling away, not only of things, but of all preconceived ideas and past, shameful behavior. It is also a letting go of what we have known and loved so as to make room for what is to come.
What? We do not know. But part of the experience of Dontosai is surrendering to trust. Trust that as we move forward into the new year, we will find the inner resolve to face what needs to be faced. We will discover resources that come to our aid just in time, just as needed, just as we, in turn, assist others. Hopefully, too, we will come to realize that the nakedness of this festival encourages us to blossom our hearts toward life with a new sense of openness and of purity.
But even as we make personal promises, collect personal fortunes, and make personal efforts, we know that anything we do or have is part of a collective offering. Indeed, as all the individual decorations are united to become fuel for one huge bonfire, Dontosai reminds us that each of us in this life is privileged to work and serve a greater whole. Some people see that as family, others as community or society, and others as this vulnerable world we call home. Whatever the dimension, the work is always there for us to serve in purity, in courage, and in deepest love.
Love,
Anne
But even as we make personal promises, collect personal fortunes, and make personal efforts, we know that anything we do or have is part of a collective offering. Indeed, as all the individual decorations are united to become fuel for one huge bonfire, Dontosai reminds us that each of us in this life is privileged to work and serve a greater whole. Some people see that as family, others as community or society, and others as this vulnerable world we call home. Whatever the dimension, the work is always there for us to serve in purity, in courage, and in deepest love.
Love,
Anne
