Miko

A 巫女, or shrine maiden, is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. Miko were once likely seen as shamans, but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained to perform tasks, ranging from sacred cleansing to performing the sacred Kagura dance. Miko clothing The traditional attire of a miko is a pair of red 緋袴 (divided, pleated trousers), a white kosode (a predecessor of the kimono), and some white or red hair ribbons. In Shinto, the color white symbolizes purity. The garment put over the kosode during Kagura dances is called a 千早. Traditional miko tools include the "catalpa bow", the 玉串 (offertory -tree branches), and the a "supernatural box that contains dolls, animal and human skulls ... [and] Shinto prayer beads". Miko also use bells, drums, candles, gohei, and bowls of rice in ceremonies. The Japanese words miko and fujo ("female shaman" and "shrine maiden" respectively) are usually written 巫女 as a compound of the kanji 巫 ("shaman"), and 女 ("woman"). was archaically written 神子 ("kami" + "child") and 巫子 ("shaman child"). The term is not to be confused with miko meaning "prince", "princess" or "duke", and which is otherwise variously spelt 御子 ("august child"), 皇子 ("imperial child"), 皇女 ("imperial daughter", also pronounced himemiko), 親王 ("prince") or 王 ("king", "prince" or "duke"). These spellings of miko were commonly used in the titles of ancient Japanese nobles, such as Prince Kusakabe (草壁皇子, Kusakabe no Miko or Kusakabe no Ōji). Miko once performed spirit possession and takusen (whereby the possessed person serves as a "medium" (yorimashi) to communicate the divine will or message of that kami or spirit; also included in the category of takusen is "dream revelation" (mukoku), in which a kami appears in a dream to communicate its will) as vocational functions in their service to shrines. As time passed, they left the shrines and began working independently in secular society.