Rurimon Kumotsu Festival 瑠璃門供物 ("Offerings to Lapislazuli")
Religious event
First Day of the First Month
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On the first day of the new year, offerings of shishisô fur are brought to the shrines of the kami Rurimon Kumotsu (a name roughly meaning "The Lapislazuli One of Ten Thousand Moths"), who is said to be comprised of the souls of over ten thousand moths. He is often depicted as a murasaki moth with a snake-like, long body, one hundred and six wings, and a lustrous blue color, which is said to be the elevated hue of murasaki purple turned blue by his enlightenment.Kamigami 神々 ("Various Gods") is a sect of the ur-soulism religion that is practiced widely in the Yamato Kingdom. The general belief that people and sometimes even animals that die with intense negative emotions or great enlightenment may have their soul become stuck between this world and the Daihô is held very deeply in Yamato culture. This is also why they are considered to be very superstitious since it is natural to them to believe in the existence of incorporeal spirits that sometimes influence their lives and, in rare cases, great amalgamations of contented souls that form powerful entities that can be benedictive or vindictive, depending on their narrative. They are often attached to pieces of lands and are called "kami". Often the Yamato people will construct shrines to honor them and bring them offerings, a custom attached to the ideas of ur-soulsim, which also enshrines the five ur-souls of the elements.
The offering is made to him to appease him and ask for his blessing of the land since murasaki moths hibernate in winter and require a small storage of shishisô when they wake in spring. This offering of shishisô to Kumotsu is meant to keep him well-fed during winter, so he does not awaken hungry and perhaps angry from his sleep.
