farewell, "calamity year"
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
Yesterday we went to a sea-side shrine to observe the new year with prayer and the throwing of small clay balls.
The small clay balls cost ¥100 for a packet of five, and you throw them (left-handed, if you're male) at a the top of a gigantic rock on the water's edge. The purpose is to cement your good luck for the coming year by having the clay ball come to rest within a thick rope tied in a ring atop the rock formation. There's a small water-filled notch in the top of the rock which is ideally where you want the clay ball to land (because it will stay there) but since the notch is half-full of clay balls already, that's easier said than done. I managed, for once, to get a clay ball to stay within the ring; and on my first throw no less. I gave the remaining balls to Kenny, who made a good effort but failed in the end (as I usually do).
Both Mari and her mum also succeeded, however.
When I pray at a shrine in Japan I always feel like a bit of a hypocrite because I don't believe I'm actually engaged in a process that could have results (e.g. I'm not communicating with anyone) but it's nice to take a moment to be thankful and to say a few nice thoughts for people who are struggling. There always seems to be someone in (or recovering from as a stay in) the hospital, and this year was certainly no exception.
Our last order of business to attend a ceremony to have the "yakudoshi" lifted. "Yakudoshi" means "calamatous year"; I've been suffering from this because I'm in my forty-second year. Ten months through the year I finally was able to attend a cermony to have it lifted. When Mari told me that it was ¥5000 I told her, "$60! So it's a scam? I mean, at ¥1500 I could see it..." She looked embarrassed for me said that both my brother-in-law Nori-chan and she herself had to do the ceremony as well this year, so we made a thing of it. The cost included some take-aways (in addition to the removal of bad luck) such as a bottle of shouchou (the no-snake variety, I trust), some candies, a wooden thing you can keep around until it's time to dispose of it at the end of the year, and a key-chain sort of affair which is likewise disposable. I had already had one of the latter from Mari's last trip to Japan in the summer of '10 (bought in anticipation of my bad luck year) but as that was now a filthy warn thing (cloth keychain!) it was good to have a re-light. Apparently Mari's mum will have the old one burned as it's absorbed bad luck (in addition to pocket grime).
Besides, there's a nice sea-side shrine in a cave to maintain, and monks need to eat. And the ceremony was pleasant, and Kenny got to sit with us and experience it too.