crucifix is to Christianity and a great deal more; one of those symbols which modern defenders of the faith take much pains to assure you is only a symbol, and no pains whatever to prevent the people from worshiping as a god. As Shintōists are not so much distressed to harmonize their beliefs with science, being as yet unfired by the burning desire to know the reasons of things, they make small distinction between the gohei and the god. In many cases they make none at all.
For there are two kinds of gohei; the one, the harai-bei or purification present, and the other, the shintai or god's body. The first has for analogue in Christianity the crucifix. It is the universal Shintō symbol of consecration. Wherever you meet it you may know the spot at once for holy ground dedicate to the god; and specimens of it may be seen in profusion about any Shintō temple. They are the gohei that first greet the devotee, pendent from the sacred straw rope upon the lintel of the temple door; and they are the gohei that festoon the building's eaves and make frieze to the holier rooms within. It is they also that in the possession
