The reverence and worship of departed ancestors was a form of religion in Rokugan. It was believed that after death, the spirits of the departed lived on in one of several Spirit Realms, and those whose dharma had been completed had entered Yomi, the Realm of the Blessed Ancestors. [1] From there, the spirits of one's forebears watched over their descendants, receiving prayer for guidance, aid, and good fortune. [2] The Kitsu Medium school specialized in communing with the honored departed. [3]
Worship[]
Every family, even among the peasantry, kept a small altar with memorial plaques or statues to their beloved dead, appeasing their dead by bowing, clapping, speaking prayers or mantras, and leaving offerings of incense and rice with chopsticks jabbed vertically among the grains. These altars existed in addition to cemeteries. Ancient mausoleums full of clay grave goods and surrounded with moats dotted the landscape, but since Imperial Edict mandating cremation, remains were often interred in a graveyard beneath a stone block inscribed with the deceased's name and perhaps a death poem. Families visited their predecessors' resting places to tidy up and remember from time to time, especially during the annual Bon festival. [4]
Merged[]
During the rule of the religion of the , the ancestor worship, and the , the words of the were merged.
References
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