AUN NO KOKYU

Aun is the mystic (Sanskrit) syllable 'aum'. It is repeated fifty times by seven priests as part of the evening celebration on November 26th of the koden-shinjo-sai, a harvest matsuri conducted for the hereditarygujipriest (rather than the kami), of theIzumo taisha. The rite originated in theKumanojinja, was transferred to the Kamosu jinja (Shimane) in the sixteenth century and to the nearby Izumo taisha in theMeijiperiod.