Inori no Mori祈りの杜working title

Star or lunar mansion

Mokuyōsei

木曜星もくようせい

An illustration of Mokuyōsei created for this site
An original illustration made for this site.

A star placed ninth in the group of the Nine Luminaries (Kuyōsei).

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 Mokuyōsei

A star placed ninth in the group of the Nine Luminaries. Its principal deity is said to be Monju Bosatsu and its direction east, and in the Womb Realm mandala it is described as placed in the south. The page also has a description of good and bad fortune for the years that fall under this star.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院・飛不動尊 正宝院

The Nine Luminaries: celestial bodies represented as deities

The Nine Luminaries are the seven luminaries (the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) plus Rago and Keito. Rago and Keito are concepts related to the points where the apparent paths of the moon and the sun cross; they are not two planets visible to the naked eye. Here, images representing celestial bodies as Buddhist deities are introduced.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

Prayers at the star festival to remove misfortune and invite good fortune

Shōhōin explains the star festival (hoshi matsuri) as a Buddhist service that enshrines the Nine Luminaries and the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions and prays for removing misfortune and inviting good fortune. The grouping of the Nine Luminaries combines knowledge that grasps the movements of the heavens with the wish to spend each day peacefully.

Source: 飛不動尊 正宝院

Mantra (in Japanese, as written in the sources)

オンボラカサンマチ、ノウマヒタバノウヤマラバラダニ、ソワカ

Source: 高野山真言宗 宝泉寺(金沢・五本松)

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)