Read, reflect, pray
Awashima kami Mi-machi purification
粟島神巳待祓
A text in the 1911 Shintō Ōharai Zenshū anthology. It is presented as a historical reading, not the current ritual of every shrine or temple.
English meaning, sound explanations and source text
English meaning and sound explanations
About this English rendering
This site’s English rendering of the Japanese meaning guide, aligned with this edition. It is separate from the source words for recitation and is not an official liturgy. Sacred sounds are explained where possible, not given speculative literal translations. Historical beliefs, royal authority, illness and protection claims belong to the text; they are not present-day judgments, medical advice or guarantees of results.
We address Sukunahikona, governor of human spirits. This passage links the day Tsuchinoto-mi with ‘the body,’ whose foundation is restraint, and interprets Mi-machi as widely worshiping humanity. Calling humans the chief of all things and the rite ‘jitsumadō,’ it wishes good destiny and long life and praises medicine as accordant with Awashima’s divine heart.
The source connects 己巳, 身待, and 実真道 through similar sounds. No established ordinary meaning has been invented for 実真道.
Respectfully we welcome you and bow again. Before the venerable presence of Sukunahikona no Mikoto, whose name we speak with awe, we offer these words.
The kami of Mi-machi is Sukunahikona, the youngest male child among Takamimusubi’s fifteen hundred children. Small in body, he came in a boat of millet to Nasa District in Kishū, and is worshiped as Awashima Daimyōjin: so this edition tells.
Working with Ōnamuchi, the great land kami, and united in purpose to heal the people’s illnesses, he became the ancestral kami who began the medical arts.
He guards life so it may endure long and peacefully, continuing through grandchildren’s grandchildren without ending. This text particularly likens father to heaven and mother to earth, tracing vital activity and lineage to the father-kami and flesh and bones to the mother-kami, and calls the human body ‘tsuchino no mi.’
People still pray to this kami concerning their illnesses, awaiting bodily health and blessing. Hence he is called the kami of Mi-machi, ‘awaiting the body.’
We deeply honor and trust the merit of great purification through divine wondrous power. Purify away illness and unexpected dangers; protect and bless us like unshakable rock so descendants may continue for ages. With reverence, we offer these words.
Source text and reading aid
Roman letters are provided for 3 of 7 lines. Readings not fully supplied in the source are left without Roman letters.
How to use the Roman letters
Roman letters follow the kana displayed in this site’s Japanese reader; some readings are editorial additions documented on the Japanese page. These are a reading aid, not restored Sanskrit or a recording of a temple’s chanting. Historical spellings (such as wo, wi, we and ha used as a particle) are kept. Double vowels and repeated vowels mark the written kana; rhythm and pronunciation can differ by tradition.
You can simply read the meaning or sit quietly. No recitation is required. For a temple or shrine’s own recitation, follow that tradition’s published guidance.
人津霊少彦名夫己巳とは慎を本とする身を云ふ。身待は普く人を祭る事ぞ。人は則万物の長なれば、是を祭るを実真道と云ふ。然り運命良長として。薬力粟島の神慮に叶ふ。
謹請再拝再拝。掛麻久毛賢く少彦名尊の宇津の広前に、恐美恐美申す。
kinjiyausaihaisaihai. kakemakumokashikoku sukunahikonanomikotono uzuno hiromaheni, osoremiosoremi mausu.
抑巳待の神と申奉るは高皇産霊の尊の御子にして、一千五百柱の末男子、少彦名命なり。御長小作御座。粟を御船として、紀州灘佐の郡に着給ふ故に、之を粟島大明神と祭奉る。
somosomo mimachino kamito maushitatematsuruha takamimusubino mikotono mikonishite, itsusengohiyakuhashirano suwenomiko, sukunahikonanomikotonari. mitakechiisaku tsukuri mashimasu. ahawo mifunetoshite, kishiunagusano kohorini tsukitamafu yuweni, korewo ahashimadaimiyaujinto matsuritatematsuru.
于時大国神大己貴命と力を合せ御心一にして、天下の蒼生人の病を療治給はんと医術の道を始給ふ元祖なり。
其巳寿永安にして、孫の孫八十続まで、不絶事を守給ふ神なり。殊父は天なり母は地なり、気脈氏を父神より請、骨肉は母神より受故に土野の身とは申奉るなり。
今に至るまで万民己我己の病を此神へ祈り、身健に福を奉待る故、身待の神とは申すなり。
imani itarumade banmin onogaonoreno yamahiwo konokamihe inori, misukoyakani sahihahiwo tatematsurimatsuru yuwe, mimachino kamitoha mausunari.
神力神妙の大祓なる功徳を厚く敬ひ深く信じて、病難奇難を祓除き、子孫長久、常磐堅磐に守護福給へと、謹美恐美恐美申す。
Connected kami and buddhas
These connections include figures addressed, mentioned, or associated by tradition. They do not assign a universal recitation practice.
Sources and edition (1)
English explanations on this page were prepared by Inori no Mori from the cited text and its Japanese explanations. They are not an official translation or a prescribed liturgy.