Onarigami holds that a woman's spirit carries precedence over her brothers, protecting and blessing them, a belief traced to the goddess Amamikyu and documented as the structural basis for the noro priesthood: official community ritual is conducted by women precisely because of the spiritual authority onarigami assigns them, not despite the absence of a male priesthood. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Origins
Historical OriginSourced to the subject's own accountThe belief was given formal political weight in the late fifteenth century, when the Ryukyu Kingdom's King Sho Shin created the office of Kikoe-Ogimi, chief priestess of the kingdom, and appointed his own sister to it, establishing a parallel structure of female religious authority standing alongside the male royal line rather than beneath it, staffed at every level down to village noro by women chosen for exactly the spiritual precedence onarigami describes. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategorySourced to the subject's own accountA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2 Current StatusThe role of priestesses has changed over time, but they are still celebrated in Okinawa today. 1 Scholarship and Forensics
Scholarly NoteEarly Western accounts suggested a matriarchal Ryukyuan society, but evidence is insufficient 1 Doctrinal category (class)Sourced to the subject's own account Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source Ryukyuan Religion (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Onarigami (Wikipedia)
Introduction, sentence 1
ancient belief of the Ry
Matriarchal interpretations
there has not been sufficient evidence to support this
Introduction, sentence 3
Though the role of priestesses has changed over time, they are still celebrated in Okinawa today.
View the Source2. Ryukyuan Religion (Wikipedia)
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