Visits of the Kami
to the Izumo Shrine, Japan
by Tom Bender

Located near a small bay on the west side of Honshu Island across from Hiroshima is the Izumo Shrine, the most ancient Shinto shrine in Japan. This shrine has been venerated continually for well over a thousand years. Every year in late fall the kami, or earth spirits, of Japan leave their normal homes throughout the country and gather for a week at the shrine. During this period, the Shrine is also visited by thousands of pilgrims who have come to celebrate the arrival of the kami. This visit of the spirits even has a special name in the Japanese language - the period of the visit is known as kami-arizuke (period with the gods) at Izumo, and kannazuki (period without gods) in all other parts of Japan.

At the time of their 1998 visit, we performed an experiment in remote dowsing to see if the visit caused any change in the chi energy of the Shrine’s site. Dowsers Sig Lonegrin in Europe; Joey Korn and James Sullivan in North America; and Hitomi Horiuchi in eastern Japan dowsed a map of the shrine precincts before, during, and after the visit of the kami.

All found a major change in the energy of the site during the visit, and a return to the earlier energy state after the departure of the spirits. One dowser registered confusion because his reading first showed an energy node at one shrine building, and rechecking later, found it at a different building. A call to the Shrine produced a schedule of events during the week, which indicated that a welcoming ceremony had been held at the first building at the time of the first reading; and later the spirits moved to the second building for another ceremony!

In spite of the Westernization of Japan, the Japanese still acknowledge the existence of the kami and continue their annual visits to the Shrine to honor them, as they have for probably more than a thousand years. The presence of the spirits is still perceptible to visitors, and people gather from around the world to celebrate and honor them.

Below: Honden, or main shrine building at Izumo Taisha,
in ancient Shinto style.




Below: Energy lines on site before and after kami visit.



Below: Diagrams by dowser Joey Korn showing multiple crossings of energy lines on main shrine buildings while kami were in residence. Light lines are “echos” of opposite energy resulting from the abrupt shift in energy.


Please visit Tom Bender's website at: www.tombender.org

Reprinted with the author's permission. From BUILDING WITH THE BREATH OF LIFE: Working With Chi Energy in Our Homes and Communities, Tom Bender, © 2000, published by Fire River Press. fireriverpress@nehalemtel.net 503-368-6294. The "right-brain" companion volume, SILENCE, SONG, AND SHADOWS is also available from Fire River Press. Note: Canadians can order Tom's books through Spectrum Books.