Ukehi Explained

is a Japanese Shinto divination ritual.

Function and performance

Hayashi Oen, a nineteenth-century practitioner of ukehi, identified six functions of the rite. He claimed it could be used to:

• ask for information or messages from the kami
• establish the will of the kami
• predict the outcome of an event
• enervate or animate living beings
• manipulate weather conditions
• kill one's enemies^[1]

The dictates of ukehi can come as a dream, but more commonly the petitioner would use the ritual to ask a question of the kami and then await an omen of some sort to confirm their ^[2] response. If nothing happened, it was assumed that the kami did not favour the proposed course of action.^[1] The questioning of the kami took the form of an oath or vow.^{[3] [4]} Sometimes the ritual involved inscribing the choices available on bamboo slips, which were then shaken in a container; whichever slip fell out dictated the appropriate course of action.

In the novel Runaway Horses, Mishima Yukio described the procedure of ukehi as "contain[ing] an element of danger not unlike a footing that could give way at any moment".^[5]

Notable ukehi

• An ukehi ritual undertaken by the deities Amaterasu and Susanoo-no-Mikoto resulted in the birth of eight more deities.^[6]
• In the late 19th century, Hayashi Oen and his pupil Otaguro Tomoo performed ukehi several times, and eventually the latter received what he believed was divine authorization to begin the Shinpūren rebellion.^[7]

See also

• Kotodama
• Flipism, the practice of relying on random outcomes to make decisions

Notes and References

1. Book: Helen Hardacre. Adam Lewis Kern. New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan. 1997. BRILL. 90-04-10735-5. 427.
2. Book: Donald Keene. Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912. 13 August 2013. Columbia University Press. 978-0-231-51811-6. 779.
3. Book: Edwin A. Cranston. The Gem-Glistening Cup. March 1998 . Stanford University Press. 978-0-8047-3157-7. 483.
4. Book: Nichibunken Japan Review: Bulletin of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies. 1998. The Center. 200.
5. Book: 三島 Mishima . 由紀夫 Yukio . Gallagher . Michael . 奔馬 Runaway Horses . 1985 . . Japan . 978-4805303542.
6. Book: Tenri Journal of Religion. 1979. Tenri University Press. 108.
7. Book: Henry Scott Stokes. The Life and Death of Yukio Mishima. 8 August 2000. Cooper Square Press. 978-1-4616-2422-6. 151–152.