Praying for peace of mind

While on our long bike ride yesterday, my family stopped by Akatsuka Hikawa Jinja in Itabashi.  For the most part, it is a pretty standard small neighborhood shrine.  There is a torii at the entrance, dirt grounds without any grass or vegetation besides very old trees, and stone paths leading from the entrance to the various buildings throughout the sacred grounds.

We noticed some small changes due to Covid 19.  The purification fountain had been turned off and there were not any ladles to cleanse one's hands.  At the main shrine building, the fabric used to ring the bells as part of the prayer had been tied up.  And the office building was closed (but that might have been for other reasons, you never know).  Despite all this, we took a few minutes to wander around and say a few prayers.

After visiting the main shrine, we looped around the building to see all the smaller shrines.  One of them made my husband stop in his tracks.  It housed the demon of smallpox (in Shinto if a demon is elevated to the level of a god then they can no longer do harm).  Long ago, Itabashi had a smallpox epidemic that was devastating to the region.  In response, many people went to the local shrine to pray for protection against the cruel disease.  They also displayed dolls dress in red in their house to protect their home and all the inhabitants from smallp.  It was believed that the demon was afraid of red.  In fact, the fear had some real ground to stand on, as one of the eventual treatments used to reduce scarring was the use of red lights.

The marks on the stone represent the scars left by smallpox.

While we didn't purchase any charms, we made sure to say prayers asking for protection against Covid 19.  As a pretty superstitious society, I was surprised that there weren't other people at the shrine seeking protection.

While I don't actually think praying at a shrine will protect me from a virus, I do think it is good to set my intention and ask for help when I am feeling helpless.