Sarumaru Shrine Fire Ritual

Winter

Sarumaru Shrine Fire Ritual

Jun.30.2018

Sarumaru Dayu, one of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry, who wrote the famous “Walking through the fallen leaves deep in the forest, autumn is truly sad when I hear the cry of a deer”, is enshrined at Sarumaru Shrine. The shrine is also known as a place where people come to pray that lumps on their body will disappear, and more recently to pray for their cancer to stop growing. A regular service is held on the 13th of each month, and is attended by large crowds of worshippers. The “Fire Ritual” is held at the June and December regular services. In this ritual, fire skewers are burned as purification of half a year’s worth of uncleanliness and in hope that one’s prayers will be answered.