This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.
Shinto Hymns gathers two of the atlas's norito, the formal ritual addresses to the kami that the Engishiki of 927 CE preserved and that this atlas treats as Shinto's equivalent of hymn rather than anything mantra like.
The Oharae no Kotoba, the words of the Great Purification, is the central norito of the pair, recited at the twice yearly purification rite and generally at shrine ceremonies. Spoken in an archaic and highly formulaic Japanese, it lists the offences to be swept away and describes their removal by the currents of the rivers and the sea, in language deliberately kept ancient so that even at the time of the Engishiki it would have sounded old to those hearing it.
The Norito for the Michiae no Matsuri is recited at the twice yearly Festival of the Road Gods, addressed to the road deities Yachimata hiko, Yachimata hime and Kunado at the four corners of the roads leading into the old capital, warding off demons and epidemic spirits before they could enter the city. Where the Oharae no Kotoba is a purification recited widely across shrine life, the Michiae no Matsuri norito is a protective address tied to one specific festival and one specific boundary, the city gate, and it did not survive that festival's decline: it fell out of use during the mid Heian period once the newer Festival of the Four Directions took over a similar protective role.
Together the two norito show the same liturgical form doing two different jobs, ongoing purification and one time territorial defense, in the same archaic register.