Interfaith Days: February 3, Setsubun-sai

When it's so cold and snowy in so many places in the U.S., I've enjoyed learning about spring holidays that are happening around the world. Today is Setsubun, or Setsunbun-sai (that is "seasonal division"). It is a Shinto holiday, a kind of New Year's Eve but on the eve of spring. Shinto has a focus upon uncleanness and ritual, and so on Setsubun, the evil of the previous year is cleansed and driven away, in order to provide a fresh beginning for the upcoming year.

According to this site, people throw beans at a temple to drive out the evil spirits from their lives and to bring good fortune. At home, an older relative roleplays a demon, and the family throws beans at him, 'saying "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi", which means "Evil is out, good luck is within."'

For more information see: http://blog.ameia-kl.com/2010/02/setsubun-sai-shinto-february-3.html (the source of this photograph).

(From the 2015 Interfaith Calendar of the Diversity Awareness Partnership of St. Louis---see dapstl.org for more information---and various online sources.