THE HOT-WATER ORDEAL OF THE SHINTOS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2437, 28 November 1900, Page 64

THE HOT-WATER ORDEAL OF THE SHINTOS.

(Wide World Magazine.) j?he courtyard of the temple was full, and there were numerous Europeans and Americans watching from the room and verandah above. We sat there till 5 o'clock, nearly smoked out of our places, for the stokers kept up the fires, ever and anon taking off the lids of the seething' cauldrons. The afternoon was well or the wane when our patience was rewarded by the sight ot a white-clad figure. . . As the devotee entered the' square he clapped ais hands by way of summoning the notice of the god in whose faith he was about to perform the miracle. Then he proceeded to make the circuit of the boiling cauldron on our left, solemnly stopping at the cardinal points to pray. Round again he went, this time stopping midway between the. points of jhe compass. (This man, Kano by name, is the son-in-law of the chief priest). An older man now appeared, also dressed in a white cotton " kimono " and "hakama," "and took possession of the cauldron on the left. He went through j exactly the same performance, saying his prayers north, south, east; and west. - This round of prayers finished, they both vanished to reappear with saucers full of csalt. . Then both mad© the round of the cauldron & again, marking off with c pinch oi salt' the- outside edge of the cauldron, north, south, east, snd west. A second time this :vas done, the salt being deposited, ai tiift vige-catdinai points,, so UwJi

there were eight pinches of salt round the vessels when they had finished. A flint and steel were now introduced. Sparks were struck off ovei the steaming pots, north, south, east, and west. This procedure was also duplicated. Then the holy Gohei, the sacred wand tc which zigzag strips of paper are suspended, was brought from a stand outside the mystic square, and each man studiously stirred his* boiling cauldron at th^e cardinal and vice- ! cardinal points with the Gohei he held, j All these preliminaries took a very long ( time, and were irksome to those \vho were only looking forward to the so-called miracle. j The patience of many in the crowd was somewhat exhausted. ' The übiquitous and troublesome Japanese student lifted up his J voice in protest — calling out to them to , hurry up. But, not the least impressed by this, the men continued the stirring more slowly and •solemnly than before. * As round succeeded round the two men seemed to grow more and more engrossed in what they were doing. The prayers and salt-dropping, the flint-striking and Gdhei-stirring formed an exceedingly curious and pantomimic spectacle, but it was to be followed by a more grotesque final. The two men now appeared with branches of bamboo tied tightly together, and reminding one of pictures^ of birch-rods. Holding these high over their heads they stood a moment before indulging in the scalding shower bath. Then they began in earnest. The bamboo staff ' was plungedinto the boiling water at all the four points of the compass and the hot water was flung over each man'? head and shoulders. This was done a countless, numbei oi rounds. The older man, Yamasaki (on the left), •seemed afraid at first, but the younger roan, the chief priest's son-in-law, became , like one possessed. He ceased to walk round the cauldron ; he danced, lashing the bamboo Tna.dly over his head, the scalding liquid falling over him in showers. He flung himself madly first to one side and then to another of the square, sprinkling the bystanders and alarming not a few. The front row of ■spectators were convulsed with laughter. He made foi them, striding with one great step over the pole that marked off the square — and waved his bamboo staff maniacally over their heads for a moment. Then he sprang back to the .cauldron and went his round again. By this time the older man had warmed up, and the two now whirled round the cauldrons like wild creatures, whisking their bamboo staves (each man had one in each hand) in and out of the water and over their heads like .lightning. Not content with drenching themselves, they liberally lashed each other. The fires underneath hissed ' and sphittered ; volumes of steam began to hide the men- from view. Only -by the scattering of the water, the angry hissing of the fire as it was gradu- ' ally quenched, and the rising steam could j one tell that the two men were stil l there and active. At last this strange rite came to , an end, and. the two men stood forth, • drenched to the skin and as red as the ' sun which was then setting, but otherwise none the worse for their wild capers and their strange game with the scalding douches. The ground where they stood was a pool, the iron cauldrons were emptied, and the fires were out. They disappeared, and were seen no more that day.