also: さいもん
ritual address to the gods; Shinto prayer
A formal prayer or address recited at Shinto ceremonies; also refers to a genre of song that originated with mountain ascetics and spread among common people during the Kamakura period.
The Shinto priest recited the ritual address to the gods.
There is a type of song called saimon that spread from mountain ascetics during the Kamakura period.
They turned the tragedy of the journey into a 祭文 and passed it down orally.
The Shinto priest recited the ritual address before the deity.
呪文 is a magical incantation or spell chanted for personal effect, whereas 祭文 is a formal address recited to the gods in a Shinto ceremony.
Standard kanji spelling; the reading さいもん is more common than さいぶん.
Alternate reading, less common; may appear in older or specialized contexts.
Composed of 祭 (festival, ritual) and 文 (writing, text). The exact historical derivation of the song genre is uncertain, but it is associated with mountain ascetics (山伏) and later spread to the laity.