Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Star or lunar mansion

Nijūhasshuku (the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions)

二十八宿にじゅうはっしゅく

A grouping of twenty-eight lunar mansions, determined in ancient China according to which constellation the moon lodges in each night.

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 names and roles of the Nijūhasshuku

A grouping of twenty-eight lunar mansions, determined in ancient China according to which constellation the moon lodges in each night. From Kakushuku to Shinshuku, they are presented in four groups: Seiryū in the east, Genbu in the north, Byakko in the west and Suzaku in the south.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Tracing their forms and traditions

It is explained that there are twenty-eight mansions for the roughly 27.5 days the moon takes to circle the celestial sphere, and that in India there seem to be twenty-seven, leaving out Gyūshuku. The practice of judging whether things are auspicious or inauspicious by the moon's position is introduced, and the images are said to have been made based on the Butsuzō Zui.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Twenty-eight divisions of the stars for reading the moon's course

The Nijūhasshuku are an old astronomical division for tracking near which stars the moon appears. Seven mansions are assigned to each of four groups (east, north, west and south), which are linked with Seiryū, Genbu, Byakko and Suzaku. The way of dividing differs from that of the Jūnikyū, which divide the sun's path into twelve.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

Star faith preserved in calendars and images

The Nijūhasshuku have also been connected with judging good and bad days in the calendar and with faith in which the stars are enshrined. Shōhōin states that the form of each mansion is not fixed, and presents images based on the Butsuzō Zui. We introduce them as historical calendar notes and faith, not as something that determines whether today's actions are auspicious or inauspicious.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

Mantra (in Japanese, as written in the sources)

曩莫三滿多沒馱喃　唵　阿瑟吒　尾孕設底喃　諾乞察　怛囉毘藥　儞曩𩕳曳　摘計　吽　惹　娑嚩賀

Source: CBETA 電子佛典（大正新脩大藏經 第18冊 No.852a）

Shown as written in the Japanese sources. This site does not set how or how many times to recite it.

Related kami and buddhas

Sources (in Japanese)