Source: Atlas Obscura
Every fall, eight million Shintō deities from across Japan descend upon Izumo-Taisha, a historic shrine in the country’s western Shimane Prefecture, to deliberate over the fortunes of mankind for the coming year. In the temporal world, bonfires are lit on a nearby beach to welcome the gods, and Shintō priests perform a week of rituals to curry their favor in matters of life, death, and romance.
Believed to be the oldest shrine in all of Japan, Izumo-Taisha dates back to before the eighth century, though the date of its original construction is not known. The shrine was erected to honor Ōkuninushi, the deity who, in Japanese mythology, helped form the earth of Japan and who ruled from Izumo, an…
The post Izumo-Taisha appeared first on FeedBox.