Dragon & Water Deities
Shrines of the water-governing dragon deities and Okami no Kami, for when the current of your life needs to change.
For wishes likeChange, purification, breaking stagnation, a fresh start, the flow of work and money
KyotoKifune Shrine
Head shrine of the water deity, on the banks of the Kifune River.
NaraNiukawakami Shrine Shimosha (Lower Shrine)
A shrine of the water deity, where sacred white and black horses greet you.
KanagawaKuzuryu Shrine (Hongu)
The nine-headed dragon deity at rest on the shore of Lake Ashi, with a monthly rite on the thirteenth.
NaganoTogakushi Shrine
Five shrines beneath a sacred peak, enshrining the gods who opened the Rock Cave of Heaven.
About Dragon & Water Deities
Shrines of the dragon god and water god lineage enshrine dragon deities held to govern the flow of water, and water gods such as Okami no Kami and Mizuhanome no Kami. They often rest beside rivers, waterfalls, and springs, and it is said that both the blessing and the awe of water have long lain behind this faith.
The power of water — bringing rain, watering the fields, at times greatly changing its course — has been told down the generations through the figure of the dragon, as an ungraspable working of nature. Among the enshrined deities are Okami no Kami, held to govern the waters that rest in valleys and ravines, and Mizuhanome no Kami, regarded as the divinity of water itself; prayers for the water that sustains farming and daily life are said to lie at their origin. Many shrines have deep ties to prayers for rain, to transport upon the water, or to the guarding of water sources, and the faith has been handed down together with each land's memory of its waters.
Since water is held to wash away stagnation and call in a new current, this lineage is said to suit times when one wishes to set stagnant things in motion or to change the flow of events. Those at a turning point in work or life who hope for a fresh start, those who wish to recover a clear current, and those whose livelihood is bound up with water also often come to worship.
At shrines with deep ties to water, it is said to be good to treat the temizu basin and the springs of the precincts with care, to still the heart listening to the sound of the water, and then to bow. The blessing of water is held to sustain daily life where the eye does not see, and one would join one's hands without forgetting reverence for that working. When a wish is granted, one would wish to return with thanks, not forgetting gratitude for the current received.
In choosing a shrine of the dragon god and water god lineage, it is considered good to look to its ties with the rivers, waterfalls, and springs of its land. A shrine enshrining the water source of the region where one lives, or a shrine whose pure waters moved the heart on a journey — taking the bonds of water as one's guide is said to bring the prayers proper to this lineage close at hand.