Ofuda
In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an or is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal. are commonly found in both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and are considered to be imbued with the power of the deities or Buddhist figures revered therein.
Certain kinds of are intended for a specific purpose and may be kept on one's person or placed on other areas of the home. Paper may also be referred to as, while those made of wood may be called., another kind of Japanese talisman, shares the same origin as and may be considered as a smaller and portable version of.
A specific type of is a talisman issued by a Shinto shrine on which is written the name of the shrine or its enshrined and stamped with the shrine's seal. Such, also called, or, are often placed on household Shinto altars and revered both as a symbol of the shrine and its deity – containing the 's essence or power by virtue of its consecration – and a medium through which the in question can be accessed by the worshiper. In this regard they are somewhat similar to , physical objects which serve as repositories for in Shinto shrines.
In a similar vein, Buddhist are regarded as imbued with the spirit and the virtue of buddhas, bodhisattvas, or other revered figures of the Buddhist pantheon, essentially functioning in many cases as a more economic alternative to Buddhist icons and statuary.
History
The origins of Shinto and Buddhist may be traced from both the Taoist, introduced to Japan via Onmyōdō, and woodblock prints of Buddhist texts and images produced by temples since the Nara and Heian periods. During the medieval period, the three shrines of Kumano in Wakayama Prefecture stamped their paper talismans on one side with intricate designs of stylized crows and were called or the. At the time, these and similar were often employed in oath taking and contract drafting, with the terms of the oath or agreement being written on the blank side of the sheet.The currently found in most Shinto shrines meanwhile are modeled after the talisman issued by the Grand Shrines of Ise called. were originally Harae that wandering preachers associated with the shrines of Ise handed out to devotees across the country as a sign and guarantee that prayers were conducted on their behalf. These wands, called, were contained either in packets of folded paper – in which case they are called , due to the packet's shape resembling a sword blade – or in boxes called. The widespread distribution of first began in the Muromachi period and reached its peak in the Edo period: a document dating from 1777 indicates that eighty-nine to ninety percent of all households in the country at the time owned an Ise talisman.
In 1871, an imperial decree abolished the and allotted the production and distribution of the amulets, now renamed, to the shrine's administrative offices. It was around this time that the talisman's most widely known form – a wooden tablet containing a sliver of cedar wood known as wrapped in paper on which is printed the shrine's name and stamped with the seals of the shrine and its high priest – developed. In 1900, a new department, the, took over production and distribution duties. The distribution of was eventually delegated to the National Association of Shinto Priests in 1927 and finally to its successor, the Association of Shinto Shrines, after World War II. The Association nowadays continues to disseminate to affiliated shrines throughout Japan, where they are made available alongside the shrines' own amulets.
Varieties and usage
come in a variety of forms. Some are slips or sheets of paper, others like the are thin rectangular plaques enclosed in an envelope-like casing, while still others are wooden tablets which may be smaller or larger than regular. Some shrines distribute, which consists of a sliver of wood placed inside a fold of paper. The issued by the shrines of Ise before the Meiji period were usually in the form of ; while the variety is currently more widespread, of the type are still distributed in Ise Shrine.and are available year round in many shrines and temples, especially in larger ones with a permanent staff. As these items are sacred, they are technically not 'bought' but rather 'received' or, with the money paid in exchange for them being considered to be a donation or offering. One may also receive a wooden talisman called a after having formal prayers or rituals performed on one's behalf in these places of worship.
Shinto
such as are enshrined in a household altar or a special stand ; in the absence of one, they may be placed upright in a clean and tidy space above eye level or attached to a wall. and the that house them are set up facing east, south, or southeast.The Association of Shinto Shrines recommends that a household own at least three kinds of :
- The of the tutelary deity of one's place of residence
- The of a shrine one is personally devoted to
Other are placed in other parts of the house. For instance, of patron deities of the hearth – Sanbō-Kōjin in Buddhism, Kamado-Mihashira-no-Kami in Shinto – are placed in the kitchen. In toilets, a talisman of the Buddhist wrathful deity Ucchuṣma, who is believed to purify the unclean, may be installed. Protective such as, a depiction of the Tendai monk Ryōgen in the form of a yaksha or an are placed on doorways or entrances.
Japanese spirituality lays great importance on purity and pristineness, especially of things related to the divine. It is for this reason that periodic replacement of and are encouraged. It is customary to obtain new before the end of the year at the earliest or during the New Year season, though one may purchase one at other times of the year as well. While ideally, old and are to be returned to the shrine or temple where they were obtained as a form of thanksgiving, most Shinto shrines in practice accept talismans from other shrines. held during the Little New Year, the end of the Japanese New Year season.