| Magatsuhi-no-kami |
Evil kami. Shinto theology and cosmology, where articulated, does not encourage the notion of a fixed dualism of good and evil forces in the world. Whether things turn out well or badly depends partly on the will of the and how effectively they are propitiated by rites and Whereas the anti-social deity Susano-o performs destructive actions he is a "heavenly" kami and enshrined as the purifying deity tenno of However, the Magatsuhi-no-kami seem to be consistently evil; they emanate from the lower world of and were identified by Motoori, Norinaga as the source of everything in life that is bad and unfortunate. Their counterpart, however, is the Naobi-no-kami, born immediately after the Magatsuhi, who repair the damage caused by the Magatsuhi and restore purity. See also kami |
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| Magog On The March |
MOM |
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| Mai-kaa |
'My car'. A term used to describe proud owners of cars, thousands of whom attend shrines and temples at New Year to have their cars purified. A shrine specialising in this practice may generate most of its annual income from car purification rites, prayers, amulets and bumper stickers |
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| Majinai |
Broadly 'magic'; a collective term for means such as talismans, mantras and rites by which people try to manipulate events and influence spirits, either to bring good luck or to ward off harm (sawari) curses (tatari) disease or other calamity |
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| Major Deity |
MD |
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| Makoto |
Sincerity, having a true heart, wholeheartedness, conscientiousness, loyalty. Makoto is a cardinal virtue in many Japanese religions including Shinto. Its meaning varies according to context |
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| Mamori |
Amulets, charms. The practice of obtaining amulets from shrines and Buddhist temples is almost universal in Japan. O-mamori are traditionally small brightly coloured brocade bags with drawstrings, usually with an inscription giving the name of the shrine and perhaps the benefit (riyaku) for which the amulet has been obtained. Recently, innovative o-mamori including those shaped like (or doubling as) decorative telephone cards have been introduced. O-mamori are acquired by children (see Shugaku ryoko) by people who are sick, at New Year, for passing an examination, for traffic safety (kotsu anzen) and at the time of a pilgrimage or occasional shrine visit. Mamori means "protection" so strictly speaking the function of an amulet is to protect against bad influences, disaster etc. while a talisman (o-fuda) is supposed to attract or channel good fortune, but good fortune is the absence of bad so there is considerable overlap in the function of o-mamori and |
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| Man'yoshu |
"Collection of a Myriad Leaves'. The earliest anthology of Japanese verse, edited around 770 and containing four and a half thousand examples of poetry dating from approximately 645-759. The verses range from court poetry written for state occasions by the Otomo clan (see Kotodama) to folk verse. The period covered by the poems in the Man'yoshu saw substantial changes at court, as Chinese, including Buddhist, influence penetrated all areas of life. Four types or "periods" of poems have been discerned in the anthology. The first is reflected in poems by female court poets (o'una) the second in verses by male court reciters (kataribe) the third in verses related to themes beyond the court and the fourth in poems by new sacred specialists including Buddhists and shrine priests. The Man'yoshu is especially valued for its "Japaneseness" by Shinto commentators, including the pioneer scholar no Mabuchi (1697-1769) who believed that the true Japanese spirit of spontaneity was corrupted in all Japanese literature subsequent to the Man'yoshu |
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| Manchester Area Conference of Churches |
MACC |
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| Manual of Zen Buddhism |
MZB |
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| March To Jerusalem |
MTJ |
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| Marebito |
Supernatural guests, possibly ancestors, who arrive from conceived of as a miraculous land across the sea, to infuse the land with power at New Year. Remnants of belief in marebito survive in folk dances and mimes and they share some of the characteristics of the horned, straw-coated of northern Japan and the of the south. They are part of a "horizontal" cosmological structure in which kami, like ancestral spirits at are believed to come from, and return to, a place over land or across the sea rather than from another world vertically above or below this one. Boundary deities (sae no kami etc.) as well as deities of good fortune such as and also belong in the general category of marebito as deities who come 'from the outside" and are invoked for special purposes. See also |
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| Marian Movement Of Priests |
MMP |
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| Marion Williams Bible Institute |
MWBI |
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| Martin Luther Home Society , Inc. |
MLH |
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| Maruyama, Sakura |
A member of the government who had been imprisoned before the Meiji restoration for advocating the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate. He was very much influenced by Hirata, Atsutane's ideas and briefly held office in the revived before entering the diplomatic service. He founded the chuaisha group dedicated to suppressing the "people's rights" movement of the 1870's—1880's and became an influential government voice in shrine matters, working, albeit unsuccessfully, to re-establish the department of divinity (jingikan) which had lasted only three years from 1868-71 |
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| Mary Queen of Peace Church |
MQP |
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| Massha |
"Branch shrine'. Like a minor shrine which is a "branch" of another shrine within a host shrine's precincts. See under |
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| Masuho, Zanko |
A remarkable Shinto popularizer who used "soapbox" techniques and vulgar anecdotes to instil an appreciation of Shinto and the superiority of 'the Japanese way' in his large audiences. Also known as Masuho, Nokoguchi, he was probably born in Oita, Bungo province (Kyushu) He first became a Pure Land monk, then converted to the Nichiren school of Buddhism. At the age of 43 during the Genroku era (1688-1704) when the Nichiren sects were repressed by the he left the priesthood, travelled to Kyoto and Edo and turned to Shinto. He was well known for both his Shinto theories and his intimate knowledge of the red-light districts of Japan, distilled in his popular work of 1715, Endo tsugan (A comprehensive mirror on the way of love) He fiercely attacked Buddhism and Confucianism, though both of these traditions as well as the influence of Ise (Watarai) Suiga and especially Shinto are evident in his teachings. He distinguished from 'foreign ways' a 'Japanese way' which he also called wa no michi (the way of harmony) makoto no michi (the true way) and kodo (the way of the lord, or the public way) He punned on the word "shin", interpreting shinto to mean the way of the kami, of the body and of the heart. Celebrating the 'harmonious union of yin and yang [between men and women] and the divine transformation' he was exceptional in rejecting the "Chinese" view that men and women were unequal. In Confucian fashion he exhorted people to fulfil the requirements of their status in life and argued that all Japanese, regardless of their actions, were divinely endowed with all necessary virtues especially "straightforwardness" like Amaterasu, purity like Hachiman and compassion like Kasuga myojin (see Sanja takusen) Figures like Zanko were responsible for making rarefied Shinto theologies like suiga and yui-itsu accessible to a wide public, paving the way for the popularity of later |
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| Matsuno-o taisha |
A Kyoto shrine founded in 701 and dedicated to two kami one of whom is identified as the tutelary kami of -brewing. The shrine and its branch shrines are effectively dedicated to the kami of sake. The procession (shinko-shiki) in April includes a trip by boat across the Katsura river to the |
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