The onusa is a Shinto purification wand hung with zigzag folded paper streamers (shide); when the streamers are mounted on a hexagonal or octagonal wooden staff it is more specifically called a haraegushi, "purification skewer." A priest waves it over a person or object in a left, right, left rhythm during a harae purification rite, transferring impurity (kegare) and ritual pollution (tsumi) from the subject onto the wand rather than sprinkling a liquid, distinguishing its mechanism from water-based aspersing instruments in other traditions even as it serves the same ritual purpose.
Facts
Use
Who May Handle ItClergy or ordained officiants only 1 ConsecrationNot consecrated; an instrument, not a consecrated object 2 Identity
Category of Sacred ObjectA wand used by Shinto priests in purification rites, hung with paper or linen streamers, shide. 1 Physical Form
MaterialWood staff with paper (shide) or flax streamers 1 Material (class) Material (class) Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Source Shinto: The Kami WaySokyo Ono with William P. Woodard
Related To
Sources
1. Shinto: The Kami Way
Sokyo Ono with William P. Woodard, Tuttle, 1962on onusa, haraegushi and harae purification
2. Shinto: A History
Helen Hardacre, Oxford University Press, 2017on Shinto purification instrumentsView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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