Michihiraki: Opening the Way
Shrines of Sarutahiko Okami and the crossroad deities, lighting the road at life's turning points.
For wishes likeCareer change, independence, relocation, new beginnings, cutting through indecision
MieTsubaki Grand Shrine (Tsubaki Okamiyashiro)
Head shrine of Sarutahiko no Okami, the deity who opens the way.
MieSarutahiko Shrine
A shrine of way-opening, where the eight-sided direction stone rests.
IbarakiIkisu Shrine
The way-opening deity Kunado and the Oshioi wells — one of the Three Shrines of the East.
FukuokaMunakata Taisha
Three sanctuaries of Michinushi no Muchi, the deity who guides every path.
About Michihiraki: Opening the Way
Shrines of the michihiraki (way-opening) lineage enshrine deities said to stand at the parting of the ways and light the path ahead — Sarutahiko Ōkami, Kunado no Kami, and others. They have long been venerated as gods who guard journeys, the road, and the boundary.
Sarutahiko Ōkami, held foremost among these deities, is said to have served as guide at the heavenly descent, and from that bond has been widely revered as the god who opens the way. Gods such as Kunado no Kami, held to stand at the forks of roads and the borders of villages to bar the entry of calamity, are also enshrined, and the faith is said to have been joined with the guarding of boundaries and crossways. The road is a place where people pass to and fro, and at the same time a border dividing the inner from the outer; to the gods who stand there have been entrusted the safety of the journey and the guarding of things at their beginning.
This lineage is held to suit times when one is uncertain of one's course, times of life's turning points — a change of work, a move, setting out on one's own — and times when one would settle the heart upon a direction or a beginning. Many visit before taking a new step, praying for safety and clear sight upon the road ahead, and many come who stand on the eve of a departure.
At shrines of michihiraki, it is said to be good to trace in the heart the path one means to walk before bowing. The way is held to open only as one walks it oneself; together with asking for guidance, one would confirm before the deity the resolve to take that step. When the way has safely opened, a visit of thanks for the guidance received is said to set the heart in order for the step to come.
In choosing a shrine of the michihiraki lineage, it is considered good to take as one's guide its ties with the land or the road toward which one is bound. A shrine resting at the place of one's departure, or one near daily life that can be visited from time to time — keeping a shrine bound to one's own path, and visiting at each turning point, is said to become a support for the heart.