JAPAN: MT.TAKAO: ANCIENT RITUAL OF FIREWALKING

Описание: (12 Mar 2000) Japanese/English

Hundreds of people gathered at the foot of Mt. Takao, north of Tokyo, on Sunday to perform a rare and ancient ritual - walking on fire with bare feet.

Every spring, the mountain dwelling practitioners tackle the challenge of completing a month-long training to realise an ascetic path.

It's here at the foot of the mountain that monks gather every year to complete their ritual.

The firewalk is created from the embers of burning brushwood.

The monks walk through them with a traditional Japanese fighting sword to defeat evil spirits.

While the flames cover the firewalk, practitioners chant and prepare their minds for walking over it.

After the chanting and prayers, practitioners remove their shoes and step onto the burned coal.

Praying and chanting, they walk steadily over the scorching coals.

After crossing over the coals, the practitioners are given blessings by holy abbots.

Once the fire has settled to hot coals, some of the worshippers who gather at the ceremony also undergo the ordeal.
Some of them do it for just for fun.

However, others believe that completion of this ritual will cure their diseases and calm their worries.

SOUNDBITE: (Japanese)
"This ritual symbolise reborn. Walking over fire purifies the sins and you will become newly born again after that."
SUPER CAPTION: VOX POP, Practitioner

SOUNDBITE: (English)
Question: "Was that hot?.
Answer: "A little bit hot, is it?"
Question: "How about you?"
Answer: "It was fine."
Question: "Were you scared?"
Answer: "Yes, I was scared."
SUPER CAPTION: VOX POP, Mother

SOUNDBITE: (Japanese)
"I wished to become smarter."
SUPER CAPTION: VOX POP, Girl

Most of the firewalkers claim to be unharmed by the ceremony - a result they say as the testament to the individual's strength of mind and spirit.

Mount Takao was known as the sacred field for the practice for more than one thousand and three hundred years.

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