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Kagura
Type of ceremonial dance in Shinto ritual / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kagura (神楽, "god-entertainment") is a type of Shinto ritual ceremonial dance. The term is a contraction of the phrase kami no kura ("seat of god"), indicating the presence of gods (kami) in the practice.
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One major function of kagura is chinkon (purifying and shaking the spirit), involving a procession-trance process. Usually a female shaman will perform the dance and obtain the oracle from the god—in the setting, the dancer herself turns into the god during the performance.[1] Once strictly a ceremonial art derived from kamigakari (神懸, "oracular divinification"), kagura has evolved in many directions over the span of more than a millennium. Today, it is very much a living tradition, with rituals tied to the rhythms of the agricultural calendar, thriving primarily in parts of Shimane Prefecture, and urban centers such as Hiroshima.[2][self-published source]