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Terms for subject Religion (3987 entries)

Missionary Athlete Recruitment Campaign	MARC
Missionary Aviation Fellowship	MAF
Missionary Baptist Church	MBC
Missionary Diocese Of New England	MDNE
Missions Outreach Day	MOD
Missouri Missions Offering	MMO
Mitama-shizume	A traditional ceremony to pacify the of an individual and prevent it leaving the body
Mito-gaku	"Mito-learning'. The name of the school of Japanese and Shinto studies founded in the Confucian domain of Mito in the mid- Tokugawa period by Tokugawa, Mitsukuni, second of Mito. It aimed to synthesize Confucian (shushi) and Japanese ideas. The major project of the Mito school was a monumental 243-volume History of Japan (Dai Nihon-shi) only completed in the twentieth century. The work aimed to show that the then-neglected imperial household should be the focus of ultimate loyalty and devotion of the people, transcending ties to family and feudal lord (daimyo) This radical concept of the nation as a 'family state" (kazoku kokka) undermined the feudal Tokugawa system and was to provide the ideological support for the restoration. Two phases in the development of the Mito school are generally identified; in the early part it was dominated by the intellectual endeavours of Confucian scholars (jusha) Later on as the idea of devotion to the Japanese emperor became central the work was carried on by samurai who had been involved in the administration of the domain. Mito-gaku ideas were revived after the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 and incorporated in ethics textbooks (shushin) which extended the notion of bushido (the way of the samurai) to all subjects of the emperor. See no hongi
Mixed Race Sinner	MRS
Miya-mairi	The "first shrine visit" of a newborn baby who is brought to the shrine traditionally by the grandmother or another female relative since the mother is impure from childbirth, but in modern times often by the mother. The child thereby becomes a parishioner of the shrine and of its tutelary kami, and may receive its name from the shrine. Hatsu-miya-mairi is supposed to take place on the thirty-second day after birth for a boy, and on the thirty-third day for a girl
Miyaza	Shrine-guild. A group of men drawn from the village hierarchy who take it in turns to look after the shrine of which they are for a year, arrange festivals etc. An individual member of the group is also called a miyaza
Miyuki-matsuri	The main procession of kami at festival times, usually headed by a which may be accompanied by of various kinds, with a retinue of bearers and attendants often in costume. A spectacular example is the procession at the matsuri The journey, which is usually to an or temporary resting-place follows a route which may take the kami among the houses of parishioners and in some cases involves crossing water. In practice the shinko may be the major element in a festival, together with solemn rites and celebrations
Mizugaki	'Auspicious fence'. The inmost of four fences surrounding the shrine, e.g. at Jingu See
Mizugami	the water deity
Mizugami	Water is vital both spiritually and materially; it is a purifying agent used in shrine rites (see Misogi) and a reliable supply is essential for Japanese agriculture, especially for rice-cultivation which requires the fields to be kept flooded. Suijin is a general term for the kami of springs, wells and other important sources of irrigation. Despite the general name "suijin" the phenomenon of suijin is rather complex. Water-kami receive frequent worship under various names, particularly from women in agricultural communities and often at a small shrine set up near the water-source. The main water-kami found in large shrines and widely worshipped is Mizu-ha-no-me who was born from the urine of Shrines of suijin under this name are found at the Kumano, Atsuta, Dewasanzan, Sumiyoshi, and other shrines. Suijin like to receive as offerings kyuri (cucumbers) and other such products of the field and are often represented in the form of a snake, fish, eel or Rivers in Japan traditionally have a multitude of different names according to the different localities they pass through, so water-kami are attached to particular stretches, torrents, waterfalls (also worshipped as the Buddhist divinity Fudo-myo) etc. rather than to a river as a whole
Mizugori	Purification by water, lustration. See
mochi	A glutinous cake made of pounded rice, generally unsweetened in a Shinto context. It is a popular type of food at festivals, especially New Year. Like mochi may be eaten for protection from illness
Modern Literal Version	MLU
Modern Literal Version	MLV
Momoyama	A thirty-year period following the Muromachi and preceding the Tokugawa. It was named after Nobunaga, Oda's castle at Azuchi on the shore of lake Biwa. Nobunaga was murdered and succeeded in 1582 by Hideyoshi, Toyotomi (died 1598) The period was marked by the first persecution of Christians (see Kakure kirishitan) in 1587. A meeting in 1593 between Ieyasu, Tokugawa and Fujiwara, Seika led subsequently to the adoption of neo-Confucianism as the official cult of the Togukawa shoguns