Naki-sahame, the Goddess of weeping, Ta-jikara-wo (hand-strength-male), whose _shintai_ is a bow, and Omohi-kane, the thought combiner, are rather mythical personages than deities on the effective list. It is doubtful whether Mari no kami, the foot-ball God, who has three faces, is a personification of skill or a hazy, imaginative recollection of some distinguished player. The very terrible deity known as Bimbō-gami, the God of Poverty, is of later origin. FOOTNOTES: [147] See Ch. K., p. 102. [148] Probably a sepulchral dolmen. There are many in this district, said to be the tombs of Minakata's descendants. [149] The east is in Japan the soft wind--our zephyr. [150] See Index, _Nakatomi_. [151] See Index, _Ujigami_. [152] See Index, _Imibe_. [153] "There lies in dwarfs a special acquaintance with the healing virtues hidden in herbs."--Grimm, 'Teutonic Mythology.' [154] See above, p. 107. [155] See above, p. 93. [156] See Index, _Michiahe_. [157] "Before strangers are allowed to enter a district certain ceremonies are often performed by the natives of the country for the purpose of disarming them of their magical powers, of counteracting the baleful influence which is believed to emanate from them, or of disinfecting, so to speak, the tainted atmosphere with which they are supposed to be surrounded."--Frazer's 'Golden Bough,' i. 150. [158] See Index, _Tsuina_. [159] Eustathius, the commentator on Homer, points out that the barley-corn denoted the vulva with the writers upon the Bacchic Komuses. [160] I have before me a picture of a Dōsōjin. It stands at cross-roads, and is a phalloid natural boulder over which depends a _shimenaha_ supported by two bamboos. In front of it are little piles of stones, of which the similar offerings to the Buddhist children's God Jizōsama are doubtless a survival. The modern practice of bringing the Jizō of the neighbourhood and dumping them down before the lodging of a newly-married couple is no doubt a similar case of survival. A custom which began with the Dōsōjin is continued with the Jizō, which now occupy their place at crossways. [161] We may compare with this an old English custom mentioned by Brand of the priests blessing candles at Candlemas and distributing them to the people, "so that the Divil may fly out of the habitation." [162] See above, p. 93. [163] _Phaseolus radiatus_. [164] The modern spelling _sai_ implies an altered conception of the function of these objects. It means good luck, a vaguer and more general idea than _sahe_, which means prevention (of disease). [165] See Index. [166] The names of plants. [167] The names of plants. [168] Crossways had a special sanctity in many countries. The Hermæ of ancient Greece stood at crossways. [169] See Index, _Tsuji-ura_. [170] Measures were taken in ancient Greece to check the excesses of the Bacchanalian rites.