Camellia Tea Ceremony🍑NETHER REGION NEEDS🍇
In Kyōto, no matter your material, physical or spiritual needs, there will be a god waiting to hear your prayers.
And there is a one that has a very specific job...to aid with hemorrhoids (痔核 'jikaku' in Japanese)😮
Iwato Myōken-gū (岩戸妙見宮), a shrine to the north west of the city, is home to 'Shūzan Jiun Reijin' (秋山自雲霊神), a god said to cure hemorrhoids and other problems of the lower body (particularly around the 🍑).
The story of this deity begins in Edo (what is now Tōkyō)...
Okada Magōemon (岡田孫右衛門) was a clerk at a saké store in Edo's Shinkawa neighbourhood (江戸/新川の酒問屋). For 7 years he suffered from unimaginably painful hemorrhoids, and in 1744 eventually died from complications😱😨
Whilst sick Okada often visited the Nichiren temple of Honshō-ji (本性寺) to pray. Feeling death approaching, he vowed to become a protector for those suffering from similar ailments.
He was thus enshrined at the temple as a guardian of 'below-the-waist illnesses'.
Deified as Shūzan Jiun Reijin (秋山自雲霊神), Okada's small shrine proved so popular that other Nichiren temples spread his 'cult' from from Edo to Settsu, and then on to Kyōto.
Hirota-jinja (広田神社) in Nishinomiya became famed as a 'healing centre' for hemorrhoids in Edo times.
Through the Nichiren sect the 'hemorrhoid god' reached a large audience (he remained popular until the development of modern medicines).
In Kyōto 'Shūzan Jiun Reijin' found a home at Enjō-ji (圓成寺), a temple founded in 1630 by Nichinin (日任), 21st abbot of Honman-ji (本満寺).
Enjō-ji absorbed Iwato Myōken-gū (岩戸妙見宮), an ancient religious site established on a hill where it was thought the souls of the dead convened.
Iwato Myōken-gū's statue of Myōken likely belonged to Reigan-ji (霊厳寺), a temple established in 839 by Engyō (円行), and famously alluded to in 'Wakamurasaki' (若紫), Chapter 5 of 'The Tale of Genji'.
In Heian times imperial offerings were made on the 9th day of the 9th month.
Bob Blaskiewicz 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇬🇱@camelliakyoto You come across this one, @nmillerche?
Nathan Miller ネイト・ミラー@rjblaskiewicz Within a couple kilometers, but not to that specific spot. On the whole, I hope its visitors find their relief.
Zen Zero ☯️ ◯@camelliakyoto @SRDas Well, that must suck. He has to deal with assholes all day.