Read, reflect, pray

Prayer to ancestral spirits

祖霊拝詞それいはいし

A prayer before a household ancestral altar. The original’s placeholder for an ancestor’s name is preserved; readings follow the cited edition with the additions noted on the Japanese page.

English meaning and source text

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English meaning

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.

Bowing before the ancestors of successive generations—the spirits of the ○○ family—I respectfully speak.

Gratefully receiving your broad and abundant blessings,

in accordance with the household’s lofty and honored teachings,

we conduct ourselves carefully and work diligently.

May all relatives and family members unite their hearts,

living together in friendship and harmony.

Please look with affection upon the way

we honor and serve you,

and, through the last generations of your descendants,

may the household stand tall and flourish.

With reverence I ask.

Source text and reading aid

Roman letters are provided for every line of this source text.

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.

代代（よよ）の先祖等（みおやたち）（何某（なにがし）の御霊（みたま））の御前（みまえ）を拝（をろが）み奉（まつ）りて慎（つつし）み敬（うやま）ひも白（まを）さく

yoyono mioyatachi ( nanigashino mitama) no mimaewo worogami matsurite tsutsushimi uyamahimo mawosaku

広（ひろ）き厚（あつ）き御恵（みめぐみ）を辱（かたじけな）み奉（まつ）り

hiroki atsuki mimegumiwo katajikenami matsuri

高（たか）き尊（たふと）き家訓（みをしへ）のまにまに

takaki tafutoki miwoshihenomanimani

身（み）を慎（つつし）み業（わざ）に励（はげ）み

miwo tsutsushimi wazani hagemi

親族家族（うからやから）諸諸（もろもろ）心（こころ）を合（あは）せ

ukarayakara moromoro kokorowo ahase

睦（むつ）び和（なご）みて

mutsubi nagomite

敬（うやま）ひ仕（つか）へ奉（まつ）る状（さま）を

uyamahi tsukahe matsuru samawo

愛（め）ぐしと見（み）そなはしまして

megushito misonahashimashite

子孫（うみのこ）の八十続（やそつづき）に至（いた）るまで

uminokono yasotsuzukini itarumade

家門高（いえかどたか）く立（た）ち栄（さか）えしめ給（たま）へと

iekadotakaku tachi sakaeshime tamaheto

慎（つつし）み敬（うやま）ひも白（まを）す

tsutsushimi uyamahimo mawosu

Sources and edition (1)

出羽三山神社（羽黒山伏会公開） — 神拝詞（公開PDF）・祖霊拝詞

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.

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