Kagura - Sacred Dance
The ritual dances performed at shrines to entertain and honor the kami.
Kagura are sacred dances performed to please the kami, dating from Ame-no-Uzume's dance that lured Amaterasu from her cave. Today, miko (shrine maidens) perform these dances at festivals and ceremonies, their movements channeling divine energy and blessing.
Through kagura, the dancer becomes a vessel for divine joy and blessing.
Kagura preserves ancient performative traditions that predate written history.
Kojiki
Written about in
- What Shinto says about beauty
Kagura is beauty with a job. The dances descend from Ame-no-Uzume's performance outside Amaterasu's cave, which the tradition credits with bringing the sun back — the one story where making something beautiful is what actually fixes the situation.
- What Shinto says about conflict with people close to you
Ame-no-Uzume dances, the assembled kami make noise, and the cave door opens. The oldest instruction Shinto has for a rupture is to make something good outside the door and let the person come back on their own terms.