New Years

I went to a Japanese Shrine for New Years, the famous one down in Ise. Just by seeing the sheer amount of people, you could tell how popular it was. There was also that air that I`ve found Japanese shrines to have…a sense of calm, but also of waiting. Like something might happen.

I wanted to share a couple of pictures, so that perhaps you can see what I`m talking about. It may not be magick, per se, but I feel that it`s rather close.

The main gates…this is where people were waiting for an hour or more to be able to pray for the new year

I was told that the little house on the rocks is Kami-sama (God`s) house

There were a lot of trees lending to the peaceful atmosphere

Some of the trees were gigantic! You could feel the age just by looking at them

What did everyone else do for New Years? While I recognize that the Wiccan New Year is in October, there is always something about the change from Dec 31st to Jan 1st.