AUN NO KOKYU

   Aun is the mystic (Sanskrit) syllable 'aum'. It is repeated fifty times by seven priests as part of the evening celebration on November 26th of the koden-shinjo-sai, a harvest matsuri conducted for the hereditary guji priest (rather than the kami), of the Izumo taisha. The rite originated in the Kumano jinja, was transferred to the Kamosu jinja (Shimane) in the sixteenth century and to the nearby Izumo taisha in the Meiji period.