Footsteps Forward

Errors in this post have been corrected.

I previously commissioned and posted a translation into English of Guide to Omitama Offerings, a Fushimi Inari Taisha (the head shrine of Inari) publication on the care and worship of wakemitama (divided spirit of Inari-sama).

Today I’ve been doing research on Hatsuuma (初午) (one of the main matsuri (festivals) of Inari) to build a wiki, called WikInari, which I haven’t opened up yet. In the process of doing so, I discovered that the translators made an error in the translation of Guide to Omitama Offerings. It correctly stated that Inari-sama descended onto the three peaks of Inariyama (Mt. Inari) on the first horse day of the second month (Kisaragi) of Wadō 4 (711 AD). However, the translator inserted a note in brackets indicating that the first horse day was the sixth day of the month. In fact though, the first horse day of any month is always different… in 711, it was the eleventh day of Kisaragi. I have now corrected this.

Kisaragi, however, is not the same as February. The Japanese during this period used a lunar calendar. Kisaragi refers to the second month of that lunar calendar, which does not line up exactly with February. The eleventh day of Kisaragi of Wadō 4 is in fact March 4, 711 using today’s calendar. However, we continue to celebrate Hatsuuma on the first horse day of the second month — it’s just that now, we are using the modern calendar’s second month, February. The end result is that we celebrate Hatsuuma about a month earlier than the actual yearly anniversary.

I should clarify here that “horse day” refers to days that have the Chinese zodiac of the horse (uma, 午). Most people are familiar with the fact that each Chinese year has a zodiac sign (“Year of the Tiger/Horse/etc”), but each month, day, and even hour has one too. At any given point in time, there are animals for that time’s year, month, day, and hour.

Long story short, reading the original, erroneous translation you would be led to believe that Inari descended and was enshrined onto the three peaks of Inariyama on February 6th, 711. This is incorrect… it was on February 11th, 711. (source [1])

Today, Hatsuuma is celebrated on whatever the first horse day of February is for each year. It commemorates Inari’s enshrinement onto the Fushimi mountain peaks themselves, which occurred on what was the first horse day of the second month of 711. FYI, the first horse day of February, in other words, the Hatsuuma, for the next few years are:

Tuesday, February 4th, 2014

Wednesday, February 11th, 2015 (same date as 711!! :D )

Saturday, February 6th, 2016

Sunday, February 12th, 2017

Some sources for these dates (sorry, cannot find any English sources): [2] [3] [4]

A second festival is also celebrated for Inari on the second horse day of February. This is called ni no uma (二の午) ([1] [5]). Some also celebrate a third festival on the third horse day (which usually ends up in March), called… yep, you guessed it, san no uma (三の午) ([5]).

The upcoming ni no uma dates are: (source [2])

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Monday, February 23, 2015

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Friday, February 24, 2017

The upcoming san no uma dates are: (source [2])

Friday, February 28, 2014

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Commission of Sekhmet for Lucy! The prompt of her being tipsy was really funny!

So we’re finally here. It’s Wep Ronpet [for me].

I woke up this morning with butterflies and random weirdness. It was to be expected; I had things I needed to do early in the morning so that I could get through my day. I completed a ritual between Heru Wer and I, a contract of sorts, that is to last a year. I was both terrified that I would fuck it up (which I did) and excited as hell because it’s the first time, I feel, that I’ve taken my religious life into my own hands and made a conscious decision.

Here’s to hoping that works out.

I brought everyone over to the sunlight to get some good rejuvenating in. It’s always a good idea to sit around and bask in the sun, imo. The gods are no slouches in this department either. Everyone greeting the rays of Ra and said hello.

While I was letting the dog outside, I glanced into the window and I swear I saw Djehuty wink from his perch. Cheeky little shit.

I created another sa amulet for the SO’s vehicle. I made one for myself last year and even though working with felt was a pain in the ass, it was easier imo to go with a pita that I knew versus one I didn’t (in other words, using some type of red fabric).

I pulled the one I crafted for myself last year, unmade it, and used it a blueprint for the SO’s. His is a little smaller, I think, because I was trying to base this off of memory measurements and realized that measuring out curled up felt is not ideal. I used crown of success oil over all of the symbols I chose to decorate the interior with and then got to work tying those bad boys up.

They’ll sit on S’s altar for a day or two before basking in the sun and getting placed in our cars.

This evening, I made “dua” brownies for offering. (I make brownies and then spell words in them with mini marshmallows.) While I was working on my sa amulets, they got to glutton themselves on chocolate.

Tomorrow, I go off to the SO’s parents out to borrow their chiminea so I can burn all of the heka I’ve crafted this year and send that shit far away from me.