Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/229

Rh made shintai, and even deified. The God worshipped at Atsuta was the sword Kusanagi, found by Susa no wo in the great serpent's tail, and the God of Isonokami was the sword called Futsu no Mitama (spirit of fire?) given by the Sun-Goddess to Jimmu. I have no doubt that these were originally "divine treasures," which owed their deification to long association with the God. A sword is one of the regalia at the present day.

The principle of substitution is illustrated by the models of swords prescribed as offerings in the Yengishiki. I have seen on the top of Ohoyama, sacred to a Goddess named Sekison (Iha-naga-hime?), a pit containing many hundreds of tiny wooden swords which had been deposited there as offerings.

Other weapons which figure as offerings are spears, spear-heads, shields, and bows and arrows.

Agricultural implements, bells, pottery, reels for reeling yarn, are also mentioned. It was the custom, in the case of these and other durable offerings, to offer the same objects again and again.

Human sacrifices formed no part of the State Shinto religion as described in the ancient records. But there are several indications of the existence of this practice in still older times. Human sacrifices to river-Gods have been already mentioned. We have seen that when a Mikado died a number of his attendants were buried alive round his tomb, from which it may be inferred that considerations of humanity would not have prevented similar sacrifices to the Gods. Cases are also recorded of men being buried alive in the foundations of a bridge, a castle, or an artificial island. These were called hito-bashira, or human pillars. The offerings of kane-hito-gata (metal-man-form), so often mentioned in the Yengishiki, were perhaps by way of substitution for human victims. It is