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Unjami
or Ungami is a ritual held in the seventh
lunar month that welcomes or "receives" the presence
of gods to celebrate fertility that will come the following
year. The term Unjami
refers to the gods of the sea and conveys the meaning of welcoming
gods from far Nirai Kanai."
 The
Unjami
at Janagusuku, Ogimi, in northern Okinawa is held after July
20th of the lunar calendar. On the night before the festival,
a community priestess, the Noro,
holds the Utakabi or Ungumai
rite where they confine themselves to pray in a Niiya,
the house of the community's oldest family holding authority
and/or at an Ashagi, a structure for religious rites. When this
rite is completed, the Arahansaga,
an appointing ritual for priestesses, follows. At this ritual
where men are strictly prohibited, the new priestesses or Aradamuto
are surrounded by higher-ranking priestesses. This is the moment
when gods' divine spirits enter or inspire the new priestesses.
The
next day, early morning brings the rite where the priestesses
head to shore to welcome the deities from Nirai
Kanai. They believe that these gods ride the high tide
and visits the community on the day the festival is to be held.
After they see to the arrival on shore, the priestesses gather
in the afternoon at Norodunchi,
 the
house of the Noro priestess.
Led by drums sounded by Shiidu
(men acting as priests), they ascend to a site in a small forest
where the Ashagi structure for
religious rites and an open area named Maa
is located. Various rituals continue at this very site. Prayers
are first chanted to gods surrounding the Ashagi
area. Entering the structure, the priestesses sit according
to rank and offer sacred liquor to community members participating
in the rite. In this ritual, people believe that blessings will
be brought to their families by accepting liquor offered by
the Noro priestess, the Niigami
priestess (a person holding authority of the community), or
a priestess from their family or clan. The next ritual is conducted
by another group of priestesses by the name Ashibibiramuto.
These priestesses pray to the gods of the sea and the mountain
and then rotate in a circle while chanting, "Unkui,
unkui," with a stick in hand. After this rite, they
don on their heads a Haabui,
a handmade crown of vines, and dance using the stick. It is
a dance of the priestesses and the gods from Nirai
Kanai. The sequence of rituals at the Ashagi
site concludes with gods' departure in the Naa
Ashibi ritual. It symbolizes the gesture of seeing the
gods off to Nirai Kanai.
At
this Unjami
or Ungami ritual, the priestesses of the community
confine themselves in the Ungumai
rite or purify themselves to become closer to the Nirai
Kanai gods. People living in the community regard them
as the divine spirit's incarnation. They offer these priestesses
sacred liquor and at the same time, receive the same to celebrate
anticipated blessings. Becoming closer to the gods of the sea
enable these female priestesses to communicate with divinity.
The Unjami
ritual is truly an observance where the Nirai
Kanai deities descend upon women to communicate.
The
Shinugu
is a ritual where men disguise themselves to play the role of
gods. It is a ceremony when men instead of women transform into
gods. In Ada, Kunigami, this ritual, held in the seventh lunar
month, alternates with the Unjami
ritual. Major rites are held on the first day of the Shinugu
ritual.
After
journeying up a mountain, a group of men and boys don ivy and
leaves all over their bodies and chant their prayers to the
mountain gods then repeat the same to the gods of sea. After
these prayers, they descend from the mountain, chanting, "Ee
Hei Hooi," to the rhythm of the drum. At the entrance
of the community, a group of women await their arrival with
sacred liquor. Upon their arrival, the men form a circle around
the women and swap them lightly with tree branches. They then
chant to the women, circulate the community, and head to the
ocean.
When they arrive at the ocean, they shed their costumes for
the ocean waters to sweep away and bow deeply to worship the
mountain and the ocean. They conclude their rite by heading
far upstream of the community river to wash and purify themselves.
The Shinugu
ritual is an observance that strongly emphasizes the communityfs
belief to dispel misfortunes or epidemics. The gesture of swapping
women with branches symbolizes their expectations for fertility.
Men from young to old incarnate as gods at this ritual in Ada.
Other rites depicting the weeding of fields and a rite named
"Yaaharikoo" (literally
meaning the launching of a boat) can also be seen during the
ritual in Ada. |
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