Harae
Harae is a Shinto purification rite that removes ritual impurity and spiritual pollution from people, places, or objects.
Misogi: A Shinto purification practice in which water is used to cleanse the body and spirit. Misogi is a bodily purification practice closely related to harae.
Kami: Spirits or sacred presences in Shinto, associated with natural features, ancestors, and extraordinary beings. Harae prepares people and places for proper relations with kami.
Izanagi: A primordial kami in Japanese mythology who, with Izanami, created the islands of Japan. Myth recounts Izanagi purifying himself after returning from the land of the dead.
Shūbatsu: A brief Shinto purification rite performed before worship or another ceremony. This preliminary rite applies harae to participants before shrine activities.
Temizu: A Shinto practice of rinsing the hands and mouth at a shrine's purification basin. Temizu is a routine act of cleansing, unlike formal harae rites.
Ōnusa: A Shinto purification wand made from a branch or pole bearing paper or hemp streamers. A priest may use this wand to purify people or objects during harae.
Shinto: The indigenous religious tradition of Japan, centered on kami, shrine rites, and practices of purification. Harae is a purification rite within Shinto.
Kojiki: An 8th-century Japanese chronicle containing myths, genealogies, and accounts of early rulers. The Kojiki preserves the foundational myth of purification through Izanagi's ablutions.
Nagoshi no harae: The midyear Great Purification rite, commonly observed on the last day of June. It applies harae to accumulated pollution from the year's first half.
Baptism: A Christian rite involving water, commonly associated with initiation and forgiveness of sins. Baptism shares purification symbolism but belongs to a different religious framework.