Great Construction

The Godless Month

     The other day during the program about religions on the radio, the minister of a certain religion talked about kannazuki, “the godless month.” There were so many points in his talk with which I could not agree that I decided to give our interpretation.
     As is clear from the history of Japan before the Emperor Jimmu, Japan was controlled by the Izumo dynasty. At that time the center of that control was Ōkuninushi no Mikoto who was successor to Susano-o no Mikoto. Susano-o no Mikoto had come from Korea and seized hegemony. To put it simply, in those days Korea controlled Japan. Such were the circumstances that in October every year, members of the Izumo dynasty would depart on a certain day from Cape Hinomisaki which is behind the Grand Shrine of Izumo and sail back to Korea, and after a month, come back to Japan. Priests of the Grand Shrine even now explain “the godless month” in this way. The tenth month is the month that Susano-o no Mikoto is absent so it was called “the godless month.”
     That is the meaning of the origin of the name “the godless month,” so it does not have any significance at all nowadays.

 Hikari, Issue 28, September 24, 1949
translated by cynndd