This year I spent the Yule and Christmas period in Hiroshima. The 23rd and 25th were spent on the spiritually rich Island of Miyajima (also known as Itsukushima). It has been the seat of nature worship since ancient times. Especially the magickal Mt Misen covered in primeval forests The island is classed as one of the three most beautiful places in Japan. The origins of the Shinto Isukushima Shrine date back to 596. In 806 the Buddhist monk Kukai on his return to Kyoto from China made a stop on the Island. He felt the island to be holy and could feel that the island was the home of a large number of spirits. He built a Hondo ( main Buddhist Hall) on Mt Misen. The island is also sacred to the Goddess Benzaiten (who has a special meaning to me). It had been over 15 years since I had last visited the island, but it felt like coming home and it was a truly magickal visit.
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| The island is the home of a large number of deer. |
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| The tori gate at Itsukushima Shrine, the border between the human and spirit worlds. |
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| For me, Daishoin is the most vibrantly spiritual Buddhist temple I have visited. |
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| Itsukushima shrine from the rear. |
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| A boat on the approach to the island. |
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| Statues at Daishoin. |
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| This guy was really getting into the spirt of dressing up as a Samurai. |
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| Five story pagoda |
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| View from the slopes of Mt Misen. |
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| Small statues at the Hondo on Mt Misen. |
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| The eternal fire at the Hondo on Mt Misen, that has been burning since 806. I believe the flame was used to to light the eternal flame at the Peace Park in Hiroshima, which will burn until the last nuclear bomb in the world has been destroyed. |
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| View from the top of Mt Misen. |
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