The Art of Time (continued)

Some reliquaries and some shrines contain artifacts whose origins reach back into mythic times. According to Japanese mythology the sun-Goddess Amaterasu, after being offended by another god, retreated to a cave and plunged the world into darkness. Some of the other gods then set up a tree outside the cave and hung in it a sacred mirror "cast in the heavens by the eight million deities." The gods then began to sing and dance and when Amatarasu looked out to see what the excitement was she saw the brilliant shining light of her own reflection. Curious to know who this new shining god was, she emerged from the cave only to realize it was her own image reflected in the sacred mirror. Later Amaterasu gave the mirror, together with a sacred jewel and a sword, to her grandchild , Ninigi no Mikoto, as three symbols of God-bestowed authority to take with him when he descended to earth to rule Japan. These three gifts became Japan's imperial regalia handed down for generations from one emperor to the next. According to tradition, in the fifth century, Japan's tenth emperor had the mirror taken to Ise to be enshrined at a complex dedicated to Amaterasu where it remains to this day.

The evolution of stupas into pagodas

Various stupa and pagoda forms used for reliquaries and mortuary markers in Japan

                                     Ise- ground level view

 So how does one venerate a god or the gift of a god that is a symbol of an imperial clan? At the Naiku, or inner shrine, the mirror is placed in a wooden container shaped like a boat inside a raised floor sanctuary and surrounded by four fences. Only priests who have ritually purified themselves may, on special occasions, enter the compound. What is perhaps most interesting about the grand shrines of Ise is that at the Naiku, the Geku or outer shrine, and at several major subsidiary shrines, there are two identical sites that sit side by side. Every twenty years the shrines are completely rebuilt in every detail on the adjacent site. The holy artifacts are then moved to the new building and the old shrine is taken down. This practice has gone on every 20 years since the 7th Century and has helped to preserve a living example of early Japanese architecture. Perhaps more important, the rebuilding allows each new generation of Japanese people to reconnect with their own ancient traditions in a way that simply visiting the shrine would not allow. It enables them to become part of their history and to help pass it on to another generation. If the purpose of a shrine or reliquary is not simply to set aside an object of value, but to pass on some values and traditions to future generations, then the Grand Shrines of Ise has succeeded.

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