Mizuko Kuyo

Jizo statue by Robin Noll.

Abortion has been legal in Japan since 1948.  Despite years of hounding by Western countries, especially the U.S., it has kept abortion legal.  Prior to 1948 it was illegal primarily to boost the population during WWII, and not because of right-to-life issues.  After the war years overpopulation was a concern to a country with limited economic resources, and there was a general consensus that small families were better.  The Japanese love children, and for them it seems to be an issue of quality of life for all family members.

Because the Japanese feel that the living are the key concern, there is not the stigma that we have here.  Here if a woman chooses to undergo an abortion, she has to be politically strong and assert herself at a time when what she needs the most is compassion and understanding.  In Japan, there is concern for the mother/parents.  To assuage her/their grief there is a ceremony called mizuko kuyo.

Jizo, guardian of Mizuko.

Jizo is one of the most beloved of all divinities in Japan.  He is a bodhisattva, one who reached enlightenment but chose to stick around until all sentient beings attain enlightenment.  He is a guardian of children.  For about forty years he has grown in popularity as primarily the guardian of the souls of mizuko - stillborn, miscarried, or aborted fetuses.  Mizuko literally means "water child".  Jizo takes care of all the mizuko, and is often depicted holding a child and surrounded by children and occasionally animals.  He is also sometimes shown with the features of a baby.

Some Japanese believe that mizuko are not fully human.  Fetuses are potential persons, but not complete because existence flows into a being slowly, like liquid. Children are regarded as treasures, and every child should come into this world greatly desired.  Which is not to say that abortion is regarded with a cavalier attitude.  It is a regrettable necessity for many that comes with persistent remorse.

Mini Jizo statues in a temple garden.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

A mizuko kuyo is a ritual of apology and rememberance.  It can be simple and inexpensive, or very elaborate and expensive.  It begins with a stone doll that looks like a baby.  This is often dressed, mostly in red, and placed in a cemetery or temple with other dolls.  Sometimes offerings are left, such as flowers, food and drink, or toys.  The ritual may be a one-time affair, or repeated monthly, annually, or whenever the mother/parents feel the need.

Sometimes wooden plaques are left for the mizuko.  They are heartfelt and sad. Some have messages like the following:  "We are sorry, but it couldn't be helped. We love you"; "There was no room.  Do not feel bad.  Come again into my womb in three years."; "Your mother and father love you.  Be at peace."

Wooden plaques similar to ones parent(s) write.
Image courtesy of japanbits.blogspot.com.

The mizuko kuyo has become a multi-million dollar business.  There are advertisements claiming, "We can bring your child peace."  They warn that an angry and restless child can bring bad luck or a curse.  There are even mail-order ceremonies, that once paid for provide the mother/parents with a memorial card by mail.  Temples make a lot of money from the ceremony, and even rent the mizuko dolls.  But before we label this as crass merchandizing, we have to ask whether temples are abusing the hopes and beliefs of the Japanese people, or are they meeting their needs?  Tough call.

Jizo statues at a cemetery at Zojoii Temple, Tokyo.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Doctors also make a good income from abortions.  The Pill was not introduced until 1999, and again there is a question of whether it was held back because of the potential loss of income from abortions, or the stated concerns of side effects and the legitimate fear that it would bring a decline of the use of condoms in the middle of a growing number of HIV patients and STDs.  The Pill that was initially tested was a high dose one and did have a lot of side effects.  While Western women found it liberating as there was really no alternative, Japanese women were more skeptical.  Most health insurance in Japan covers neither the cost of abortion or the Pill.  The Pill requires an initial check-up as well as follow-ups, plus the price of the prescriptions, which could make it costly for a lot of women.

Lots of pressure was put on Japan by the West.  Western women who wanted abortions and could afford the trip were going there, which did not sit easily on the predominantly male health, religious, and political sectors.  The Pill was then heavily advocated as an anti-abortion measure.  The West claimed that adoption of The Pill would "modernize" birth control in Japan.  Again, to whose benefit is this?
The Japanese attitude is that the woman concerned is the best one to make the decision, which seems far more "modern" than having strangers enforce their decision on you.

These Jizo figures are by Jan Chosen Bays.  They are available from
the Zen Community of Oregon, who offer remembrance rituals.

The "return" of a child to a temporary place until the right time by parent(s) who are currently unable to provide enough love, money, and proper attention without it being detrimental to a family makes as much sense as any religious philosophy. Perhaps even more as the focus is on quality of life.  There is evidence of mizuko kuyo all over, and seeing this must provide validation to parent(s) who go through it knowing they are not alone.

In the West, we, too, need to concentrate on healing the women who choose to undergo an abortion, instead of making them defensive.  But despite our laws guaranteeing certain freedoms, we as a whole find it hard to allow them, putting our own personal thoughts and ideas first and foremost.  Supporting women in their tough choices is the sign of an enlightened society.

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Kung Hei Fat Choi! Xin Nian Kuai Le!

In English, that is equivalent to "Happy New Year!"

Image courtesy of www.koreanpress.com.

Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year (the Year of the Rabbit), also known as the Spring Festival.  It begins on the first day of the first month of the Chinese traditional calendar, and ends on the fifteenth day with the Lantern Festival.  It is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar, and one that is centuries old.  The dates are consistent when determined by the Chinese calendar, which is lunisolar - a calendar whose date indicates the time of the solar year and the moon phase.  In the Gregorian calendar the event falls on different dates each year, between January 21 and February 20.

It's silly to try and assign customs and traditions to an ethnic or cultural group and think that they apply to everyone in it.  In any group there will be a wide variance by region.  This is no less true with Chinese New Year.  There are some commonalities, however, that can be found all over China and the Chinese communities all over the world.

New year items for sale at a Chinese  market.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

One of the legends regarding the beginning of Chinese New Year is that it began with a mythical beast called the Nian.  It would come on the first day of the new year and devour everything; it especially liked children.  People began to put food out in front of their doors, hoping the Nian would eat it and leave.  One day the Nian saw a child wearing red and it ran off, so the villagers learned that it was afraid of the color red.  So now every new year red lanterns, red scrolls, and red coverings on windows and doors are hung.  Firecrackers are also used to scare the Nian away.  The Nian was eventually captured by a Taoist monk who used it as a vehicle.

Red is the predominant color and is associated with virtue, truth, and sincerity. The word for red in Chinese is also the word for prosperous, making red an auspicious color with an auspicious sound.  Fireworks, invented by the Chinese, are an old custom.  They are banned for private use in many areas though, because of the injuries that have occurred.  Municipalities often put on a public fireworks show.

Fireworks in Sydney Harbor, Australia.
Image courtesy of  www.mymym.com.

On the day before the celebration starts, people thoroughly clean their homes.  Bad luck is swept out to make room for good luck.  Doors and windows are sometimes given a fresh coat of red paint.  Family altars are cleaned, and the decorations put up the year before are burned and new ones added.  Banners are hung stating "happiness", "wealth", "longevity" and other positive affirmations.  In addition, people buy new clothing, shoes, and get haircuts in order to make a new start.  The day before is also a big cooking day.  Food is prepared for a big family dinner that night, and the food for the following day is prepared, as it is bad luck to make fires or use knives on the first day.

Image courtesy of The Baltimore Sun.

During the two weeks of the festival the emphasis is on family and honoring the gods and the ancestors.  Every day has its prescribed activities.  A lion dance troop may be invited to scare bad spirits.  It is traditional to give gifts, usually food or sweets, to friends or relatives of different households.  Oranges, cakes, biscuits, or chocolate would be a typical gift.  Married members of the family give out red envelopes containing money to kids and teens.  The amounts can range from a couple dollars to hundreds, but are always even numbers (uneven amounts are given at funerals).  Odd and even numbers are determined by the first number, hence 10, 30, or 50 would be odd numbers.  Bosses give bonuses in red envelopes to their employees.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Near the end of the celebration, on the thirteenth day, people eat vegetarian food to clean out their systems from eating too much rich food the past two weeks.  On this day, organizations and businesses honor the Chinese god of war, General Guan Yu.  Because he won so many battles, he is considered a symbol of wealth and success.  On the fifteenth day, the Lantern Festival signals the end of the festivities; families walk the streets carrying lit lanterns to guide wayward spirits home.

This chart shows the twelve animals of the Chinese calendar.  Although they represent individuals born during their respective cycles, they are not the same as astrological signs.  Chinese astrology, like Western, is complex.  Western astrology uses one's sun sign as only part of a person's character - the moon sign, rising sign, and positions of houses are also some of the things considered when casting someone's horoscope.  Likewise, Chinese astrology - which does not calculate the positions of the sun, moon and planets - uses the five elements (metal, wood, water, earth, and fire), inner animals and secret animals, Yin and Yang, and other considerations.

Today begins the Year of the Rabbit.  May your new year be prosperous!

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The Rodent Arises...

Punxsutawney Phil from Gobbler's Knob.
Image courtesy of Groundhog Org.

Today is Groundhog Day.  It is customary in the U.S. to wait for and watch a groundhog poke its head out of its burrow to check out the weather.  If he sees his shadow, then we can expect six more weeks of winter.  If not, then we will have an early spring.

The groundhog is not a hog.  It's formal name is Marmota Monax, and it is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, basically just a large ground squirrel.  It is also known as a marmot or a woodchuck.  Woodchucks do not chuck wood, despite the tongue-twister.  Since they burrow, they don't have anything to do with trees.

The groundhog is a rodent belonging to the family of large ground squirrels.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

"Woodchuck" is a word we borrowed from the Algonquian language, "wuchak", along with chipmunk, raccoon, opossom, moose, caribou, and squash.  Various tribes of the north and east parts of the U.S. spoke dialects of Algonquian, including the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Mohican, Powhatan, and Ojibwa, among others.

The U.S. custom began with the Pennsylvania Germans in the 18th and 19th centuries.  The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, about 84 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, where it has been celebrated since about 1886.  In Alaska the holiday is called Marmot Day, a holiday created by a bill in the Alaska legislature that was signed in 2009 by then-Governor Sarah Palin.

Punxsutawney Phil giving his prognosis.
Photo by Gene J. Puskar, AP

Some European countries have similar customs, such as Serbia.  On February 15 Sretenje is celebrated.  On this day a bear will wake up, and if it sees its own shadow it will get scared and go back to sleep, which means a longer winter.  If it doesn't then winter is almost over.

In England, Candlemas is celebrated either February 2nd, or the Sunday between January 28th and February 3rd.  If bears or wolves emerge to inspect the weather and return to their dens and lairs, there will be at least another 40 days of severe weather.  Italy has the same custom called Candelora.

Imbolc, or St. Brigid's Day is an ancient Celtic festival marking the beginning of spring.  It is commonly celebrated on February 1st or 2nd.  It is traditionally a time of weather prognostication, and there is an old tradition of waiting to see if badgers come out of their winter dens.  It is also the day the Cailleach, or hag, gathers firewood for the remaining winter.  If she intends to make the winter last longer, she will cause the weather to be sunny and bright so she can collect plenty of firewood.

No celebration of Groundhog Day would be complete without a clip from the eponymous movie.  And so, without further ado, here is Bill Murray as Phil Connors....

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When the Saint comes beboppin' in...

John Coltrane
Image courtesy of www.flickr.com

"My goal is to live the truly religious life, and express it in my music.

If you live it, when you play there's no problem because the music is

part of the whole thing.  To be a musician is really something.  It goes

very, very deep.  My music is the spiritual expression of what I am -

my faith, my knowledge, my being."

John Coltrane

John William Coltrane (1926-1967) was arguably the greatest tenor saxophone player in jazz history.  "Trane" was at the helm of bebop and hard bop, and helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz.  He was a prolific composer, and explored and developed a harmonic progression variation known as the Coltrane changes, among other names.  A jazz musician's improvising ability is measured by how well s/he can solo over the Giant Steps/Coltrane cycle from Coltrane's 1960 Giant Steps album.  (For a detailed explanation of this, click here.)

Seeing Charlie Parker play, in 1945, was a momentous occasion for Coltrane.  He told DownBeat in 1960, "the first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes."  They played together in the late 1940s.  In the early and mid 1950s Coltrane played with Dizzy Gillespie, among others.  But he had a longer association with Miles Davis.

From the summer of 1955 until April of 1957, Coltrane was in Davis's band the "First Great Quartet" which showed Coltrane's increasing ability.  They disbanded because of Davis's heroin addiction.  Coltrane then played with Thelonious Monk, and went on to make what is widely considered his best album from this time, Blue Train.  He and Davis played together again from 1958 to 1960.  It was at the end of this period that Coltrane composed Giant Steps.  Not long afterward he began playing the soprano saxophone, an instrument that had not been used much in jazz before.

From 1960 - 1962, Coltrane took a new direction, playing the most experimental music ever, influenced by modal jazz, free jazz, and even Indian ragas.  However, he did not receive much critical acclaim for this.  This new kind of jazz was perplexing to audiences, and Coltrane was even booed off the stage playing with Davis in France.  DownBeat in 1961 pronounced Coltrane as one of the players of "Anti-Jazz".

Coltrane in 1960, photographed by Francis Wolff.

It was in his "classic quartet" period from 1962 - 1965 that Coltrane's spiritual concerns came front and center.  From this time forth, he became more and more involved with experimental jazz, pushing the limits and often becoming incomprehensible to much of his audience.  It is suggested that he might have been experimenting with LSD in 1965, which may have influenced his music.  He died of liver cancer at the age of 40.  His death was unexpected, as few knew of his illness.

Coltrane's maternal and paternal grandfathers were both ministers of an AME (African Methodist Episcopal) Zion Church.  His first wife was Muslim and it was from her that he came in contact with Islam.  He was very interested in religion, studied Hinduism, the Kabbalah, Buddhism, and the philosophers Plato and Aristotle.  He had problems with heroin addiction and alcoholism, but claimed a religious experience caused him to overcome his addictions.  In the liner notes of his 1965 album A Love Supreme he stated, "During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life.  At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music."  In 1966, Coltrane was asked by a journalist what he would like to be in five years.  His answer:  "A saint."

St. John Coltrane
Photo by Heidi Schumann for the NY Times.

Well, he got his wish.  Archbishop Franzo King and Reverend Mother Marina King began a church, inspired from hearing Coltrane perform in San Francisco in 1965.  They say they knew the presence of the Lord when they heard his music. They make it clear that they are "not dealing with St. John the man, but St. John the sound and St. John the Evangelist and Sound Baptist, who attained union with God through sound".  They call their church the St. John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church.

Members of the church include jazz musicians who play for the
congregation each Sunday.  (Archbishop King is on the right.)
Photo by Heidi Schumann for the NY Times.

Sunday services, which begin at 11:45 A.M. and last until 2:30 P.M., are part revival meeting and part jam session.  Besides the unusual hagiography and music, the church's activities include personal "witnessing" and various social activities. Each week the church features "sound baptism" using St. John Coltrane's later albums, after he saw the light and quit drugs, referred to as the "Risen Trane". Although Coltrane's music is the focus, all types of music are played, including funk, reggae, and gospel.  Members are encouraged to bring their own instruments.

The highlight of each week's sound baptism is the choir reciting Psalm 23 over the track "Acknowledgment" from the A Love Supreme album.  There is a call-and-response participation as the audience calls out "a love supreme" during selected moments.  The musical ministry is delivered through the "Ministers of Sound" aka Ohnedaruth (Sanskrit for "compassion"), a group that has played internationally, and can be booked for events.

Sunday service at the St. John Coltrane church.
Photo by Heidi Schumann for the NY Times.

And if you are not in San Francisco but like the concept, just listen to Coltrane. Not many people who aspire to sainthood make it.  It must be the music.

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