Cleansing and purification
Harai, the Shinto rite of purification
The wand, water and salt rites of Shinto that clear tsumi, impurity, from people and places.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Harai, or harae, is the Shinto rite of purification. Shinto holds that impurity, kegare and tsumi, comes from death, wrongdoing and ordinary misfortune, and must be cleared before a person approaches the kami, the deities. The best-known form is a priest waving a wand of paper strips, the haraigushi, over a person or an object.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Haraigushi wandToolA stick hung with paper or linen strips, waved over the person.
- WaterSubstanceUsed in the temizu rinse and in misogi.
- SaltSubstanceScattered to clear a space.
- Norito prayerWordSpoken by the priest.
- Paper figure (hitogata)ObjectA paper doll that carries impurity away.
- Shrine hallSpaceWhere the rite takes place.
- Tool
- Substance
- Word
- Object
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Cleanse Rinse the hands and mouth at the basin. Step 2: Gather Take a place in the hall as the priest begins. Step 3: Speak The priest recites the norito, the prayer of purification. Step 4: Cast The priest waves the wand over the people and offerings. Step 5: Offer A paper figure is given to the shrine to carry away impurity. Step 6: Close Everyone bows and the rite ends.
Forms of the rite
At the entrance to a shrine, visitors rinse the hands and mouth at a water basin, an everyday small purification. A fuller form is the oharae, the great purification, spoken by priests on 30 June and 31 December in the shrines' calendar. A second kind is misogi, in which a person stands under a waterfall or enters the sea, and in the summer ceremony people pass through a large ring of grass, the chinowa.
Occasions and meaning
Harai opens most Shinto ceremonies, from a groundbreaking to a car blessing and a baby's first visit. Some shrines also offer it after an illness or to start a new year. Scholars see in it a view of the world in which cleanliness and renewal are moral and social goods, and Shinto priests say it is not a confession of guilt but a restoring.
What it is for
- Clear impurity
- Open a ceremony or a new year
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Harae (The rite itself.), Shinto (The religion.).
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Misogi: Ds13 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source