In this article, I would like to talk about this intriguing theoretical connection between Middle-Eastern pagan and religious mythology and Japanese pagan rituals and how they correspond with one another. Here are some few examples:
1. 御柱祭 (Onbashira-sai): This ritual is extremely ancient and is still practiced in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. This pagan ritual consist of cutting down a tall pillar made of Coniferous tree and pulling it down from the top of the cliff due to the belief that there?s a deity living inside the tree pillar [1].
Analysis: The word for pillar or pole in Japanese is 柱 (Hashira), the kanji letter for pillar is composed of ideo-grammatical combination between 木 (tree) and 主 (lord/god) which result to the word 柱. The baffling fact which suggest that combining the letter tree and lord making up the word pillar or pole is still a mystery. Although, if you look at the ancient Middle-Eastern Ugaritic paganism, according to the Old Testament the Canaanites worshiped a goddess of fertility named Asherah usually carved in a tree pole [2]. This strange connection between the ancient Japanese tree pole worship and the ancient Canaanite goddess Asherah made some Japanese scholar speculate that the ritual itself might have a Middle-Eastern pagan influence.
2. 御贄柱 (Oniebashira): This is the finishing ritual after the Onbashira-sai. This ritual is done on top of the Mt. Moriya in the same location as the previous ritual. According to the travelogue by Masumi Sugae, the ritual begins when the Head Priest Shinchou (神長) scatters the ropes on the ground as the other priests passes the danger to the High Priest (神官) as he places on top of the pole where the God Children Goshin (御神) dressed in scarlet clothes is binded on with rope as the ritual sacrifice. Later, the Messenger comes riding on a horse with the previous High Priest carrying the Holy Pillar saying: ?Treasure, treasure? as he shakes a bag full of small bells five times going around the shrine seven times along with the Messenger [3]. Thus, the God Children are released and seventy-five deer heads are sacrificed as offerings instead [4].
Analysis: This unusual transition from human sacrifice to animal sacrifice as a result of an interruption from a messenger is very similar to the story told in the Old Testament in the chapter of Genesis where YHWH commands to Abraham to sacrifice his only beloved son Isaac in order to prove his devotion to Him, but later intervened by Archangel Michael sent by YHWH and instead sacrificed the lamb which was entangled in the bushes (Genesis: 12-25). The ritual was later banned in Japan for conserving the specie of deer which was used for sacrifice otherwise and nobody really knows the origin of the ritual.
Conclusion: According to the Jewish-Japanese Common Ancestry Theory, many Middle-Eastern culture was brought to Japan during the Yayoi Period via Silk Road. These rituals that I have presented might be few among the vast hidden or forgotten other rituals in Japan that might have some connection with the Middle-East if the theory is legitimate.
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