Deva (ten) or guardian deity
Katen
火天
A deity of the tenbu (heavenly beings) who governs the southeast among the Twelve Ten.
This introduction is based on materials from Shōhōin (Tobi Fudō). It is summarized within the scope of the beliefs and traditions those materials convey, and does not present explanations or customs common to all schools, shrines, and temples.
English pages are the site’s own translations of its Japanese pages. The sources cited are in Japanese. 日本語で読む
The name and role of Katen
A deity of the tenbu (heavenly beings) who governs the southeast among the Twelve Ten. It is explained that he is regarded as the lord of the many fire gods and hermit sages, that he was originally a god of the hearth who acted as a go-between carrying offerings to the gods in heaven, and that he is the deity who appears first in the goma fire rite.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
Tracing the figure and traditions
He is said to take the form of an ascetic hermit sage, holding in his four arms a vase, a triangle seal (sankakuin), a staff, prayer beads and other items. It is recorded that the triangle seal is a symbol of fire, and that there are also forms, nearly naked, riding a water buffalo.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院
Deities who guard the directions, heaven and earth, and the sun and moon
The Twelve Ten are protective deities connected with the eight directions — north, south, east, west and the four corners — above and below, the sun and the moon. They combine Taishakuten, Katen, Enmaten, Rasetsuten, Suiten, Fūten, Tamonten and Ishana-ten with Bonten, Jiten, Nitten and Gatten. It is a grouping that welcomes the deities who protect nature and space into Buddhist ritual.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院
Prayers that guard the place of ritual and remove disaster
Shōhōin links the Twelve Ten with prayers for harmony with nature and for warding off disaster, and describes them as beings who guard the place of the denpō kanjō (transmission consecration). The direction and held objects of each deity belong to this system of protection. It is a grouping separate from classifications of Shinto kami and from the twelve signs of the Western zodiac.
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院
Mantra (in Japanese, as written in the sources)
おん あぎゃなえい そわか。
Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院
Shown as written in the Japanese sources. This site does not set how or how many times to recite it.