Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/226

216 material, was substituted for it. The oho-nusa are still employed on important occasions, but for general use they are now replaced by the well-known gohei (p. 215), in which the hemp and one of the wands are omitted. Another form of nusa, called ko-nusa (little nusa) or kiri-nusa (cut-nusa), consists of paper with leaves of the sacred tree chopped up and mixed with rice. Travellers in ancient times carried this mixture with them in a bag and made offerings of it to the phallic deities along their way. It was also used when in danger of shipwreck. The same system of " accommodements avec le ciel " is further illustrated by the substitution of the still more inexpensive hemp leaves for the original hempen fibre or fabric. If, it is argued, the God does not really eat the food or wear the clothing placed on his altar, a few grains of rice or a few leaves of hemp will answer the purpose of expressing the sentiments of the worshipper just as well as more costly gifts.

There were sometimes sets of coloured gohei—blue, yellow, red, white, and black. The awo-nigi-te (blue-soft-articles) and shira-nigi-te (white-soft-articles) consisted of hemp and bark fibre respectively.

Tama-gushi are often mentioned. I take it that in this combination tama means gift or offering, not spirit or jewel, as is taught by some modern Japanese authorities. Kushi means skewer. The tama-gushi are twigs of the sacred evergreen tree (sakaki) or of bamboo, with tufts of yufu attached. They are, in short, a simple form of nusa or gohei. They have a striking resemblance to the (suppliant branches) mentioned in the opening lines of 'Œdipus Tyrannus' and explained by Jebb as "olive branches wreathed with fillets of wool." In one Nihongi myth, Susa no wo is said to have planted kushi in the rice-fields of his sister, the Sun-Goddess, "by way of claiming ownership," says a commentator. Compare with this the following quotation from Hakluyt's 'Historic of the West Indies': "Every one [of the Caribs] encloseth his