noro (3)

opmerkelijk:

de gelijkenissen met ónze Maria-cultuur:

1. intercessor

From legendary times...

until the present day...

the noro priestess has exercised a powerful influence in the Ryukyuan community. Until 1879, a daughter or sister of the king at Shuri usually assumed the role of the chief high priestess, as intercessor between the spirit world and the king’s household, and was often an important counselor in royal affairs.

-

It was the noro’s duty...

to preserve the fire on the hearth.

It can be imagined with what difficulty fire was transported from island to island in primitive days, and what hardships a community suffered if the precious flames were extinguished by accident.

A daughter in each household was assigned the task of conserving and feeding the hearth's fire. Fire was a communal treasure, in itself a living thing, handed on from generation, to generation.

2. virgin

A taboo system grew up around the office of the fire-custodian.

She was expected to remain a virgin, and was thought to be in close communication with the ancestors from whom fire descended. When new households were established, fire was transferred from the family home to the new dwelling, or kindled anew with ceremony. In this way the continuity of the fire came to represent blood relationships and family continuity as well.

The custodian of the fire upon the oldest hearth in the community assumed an official distinction. Her office was hereditary, passing usually to a female child of the noro’s brother.

A plot of land was set aside for her support. Thank offerings from the community enlarged her income. Within her house, three hearthstones served as a center of worship, for these formed the locus of the root deity (ne-gami) of the village.

-

It has been suggested that in ancient days, fire was always made by striking stones together and that, through association the stones themselves became sacred.

Another theory suggests that the three stones originally were used to support the earthenware pots over the fire and so became associated with it. It is noteworthy that the stones are brought from the seashore, no matter how far inland the house or village altar may be, and that among the pantomimic seasonal dances performed by Okinawan villagers, there usually is one which tells a legend of the “fire-bringing visitors.”

3. white cloth, rosary

Vestments of white cloth (symbolizing ritual cleanliness) and a string of beads (including the magatama or curved jewels) have been symbols of the noro’s office since prehistoric times.

Her duties require care of the hearth fire, worship of the ancestors through ritual devotion, and divination to settle upon auspicious days for marriage, burial, travel, or the simple tasks of the agricultural community.

While the noro has all but disappeared at Naha and Shuri, the institution still commands respect as diviner and intercessor for the common man in the country villages and in the outlying islands, where she guards the ritual objects on the sacred heath and attends springs and sacred groves associated with the welfare and protection of the village life.

4. immaculate conception, holy spirit (wind)

According to the Ryukyu Shinto-ki [about 1603], at the beginning of time two deities named Shineri-kyu and a female named Amami-kyu in due time, they built huts side by side. Although they indulged in no sexual intercourse, the female deity Amami-kyu became pregnant, thanks to the influence of a passing wind.

Three children were born to her. The eldest, a son, became the first ruler of the islands. The second, a girl, became the first noro or priestess. And a third, a son, became the first of the common people. Fire, which was essential for their well-being, was obtained 'from the Dragon Palace', traditionally believed to rest on the bottom of the sea...


~bron~