Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/225

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
WORSHIP.
215

hempen fibre and a number of strips of paper.[1] One of the wands is of the cleyera japonica, or evergreen sacred tree. The other is a bamboo of a particular species. Their use is connected with an old Japanese rule of etiquette that presents to a superior should be delivered attached to a branch of a tree, the object being doubtless to mark a respectful aloofness

of the giver from the receiver. The paper slips represent the yufu, or mulberry-bark fibre. The use of yufu for clothing having become more or less obsolete, owing to the introduction of cotton, paper, which in Japan is made of the same

  1. Reminding us of Homer's στέμμα θεοἲο, which consisted of tufted wool attached to a wand (οκήπτρον). The ancient Jews made offerings of wool.