Page:Occult Japan - Lovell.djvu/263

Rh steed of state, kept for the divine use in the sacred stable, an adjunct to all well-appointed shrines. For in these festivals it is no stick that rides; the god himself sits in the saddle. It is the god's chosen way of appearing in public. In no other way, indeed, does the god ever leave the temple. The prurient may possibly detect some inconsistency between this statement and the one made above to the effect that the god is always coming and going; but it should be remembered that in no cosmogony is consistency expected of spirits. Besides, to go out in state and to go out incognito are two very different things, even in the case of royalty.

All these are examples of quite invisible possessions. Though the god be there, the undevout would never know it. But there are sensible possessions of the gohei; cases where the incarnation of the god may be both seen and felt. It will be remembered that the first sign of the coming on of the possession in the possession trance is the shaking of the gohei-wand. So spontaneous does this shaking seem, that it is no wonder it should be thought so in fact. The gohei shakes, believers say, because the god