Page:Occult Japan - Lovell.djvu/149

Rh More chanting brings the purification service to a close.

The bowl that held the pyre is then removed, and sheets of paper are laid in the centre of the sacred space in the new places the performers are to occupy. Then the gohei-wand is brought down from the shrine and stood up in the midst.

The men take their seats for the descent of the god. Up to this time they squat on their heels in the usual Japanese fashion; from now on they sit with folded legs, which some say is the exalted seat of old Japan, and others ascribe to Buddhist influence. The maeza seats himself first, opposite and facing the shrine, folds his legs in front of him, and, drawing his dress over them, ties it together from the sides and then brings the farther end up and ties it to his girdle. This is the usual Japanese mode of tying up a bundle. The others do the same, the shiten seating themselves at the four corners, and the deputy maeza and clerk by the side of the maeza. The nakaza is as yet unseated, officially speaking.

All face the gohei and go through a further short incantation. Then the wakiza