Toshikoshi-no Harai Narabini Chinka-sai (Ceremony)

It is New Years Eve and Fiona and I decided to attend a purification ceremony at nearby Hie Shrine. Worshippers go to this shrine to cleanse themselves of the sins that they have committed during the last year by transfering them to a person shaped piece of paper. They also walk through a ring made of reeds. We participated and also listened to what seems like the sermon for lack of a better word. I could not understand all of what was said but a lot of the talk focused on international relations and the American economy. There were also a lot of prayers for peace and the end of war. After the sermon, everyone filed by these ladies to receive a small dish of sake and an emblem that you are supposed to put in your house as a window to the shrine (or so we were told by a nice man who stopped to chat).