Where the Gods go to gossip

Moving away from the theme of fish for a while, this is a post I've been wanting to do for months. Only now do I realise that it's quite fitting that I have delayed writing it until October.

This post is about the biggest and oldest shrine in Japan -Izumo Taisha- located in Shimane prefecture. As you start traveling around Japan, the one temple/shrine/castle begins to look like the previous one, and the next one.. But Izumo Taisha is the kind of shrine that will appear in dreams, that people will do pilgrimages to, that can change lives.



The most most significant things about this temple is that it's the official gathering place for the Gods, and a source of love.
Legend goes that, every October, the 8 million Shinto Gods of Japan gather inside this temple to catch up on the year's happenings, and discuss the potential matches of their yet unmarried worshippers. The old Japanese calendar even referred to October as "kannazuki" or "the month with no Gods". This name was used in 46 of the 47 prefectures - but in Shimane prefecture, home to Izumo Taisha - October was known as "kamiarizuki": The month of Gods.



The current Izumo Taisha, the one I visited, has been in exsistence since 1744. About 500 years before that, it looked different, but had the same basic shape as the "modern" temple. Before 1248 though, the temple stood 48 meters into the air, connected to the ground by an enormous flight of stairs, giant logs tied together in clumps of threes serving as pillars, and surely providing breakthtaking views over the forest sunrises and seaside sunsets.

Today, people go to Izumo Taisha to pray for finding love and keeping love. The prayers tied onto the trees repeated messages such as "suteki na hito aitai" - I want to meet a nice guy/girl. I swallowed my pride and clapped my hands together, wishing for the same. A newly wed couple posed for photos - probably the most prosperous location for wedding reception. Love was all around us, in the crunch of the hot, white gravel and in the mossy shade of the forests. There is some magic at Izumo.