Abstract
In an article contributed by M. Michel RrvoN to the Toung-pao last year, he contends that the norito en realite constituent des forniules magiques and not prayers. Distinction importante; car, dans le premier cas un vorito etait une supplication, une humble reque'te a des dieux libres, tandis que dans le second cas, il devient ull ordre, une action forcee sur des dlieux qu'on peut dompter. It may be premised that M. Revon is the first person to take this view of the norito. The Yen gishiki, which contains the first recension of them knowni to us, applies to most of them the term matsutri (X), that is to say, sacrifice or worship. The Fire calming norito which is specially singled out to illustrate his theory is one of these. It is called the Ho-shidzume no matsuri or Fire-calming religious service. The distinction between magic (majinai or noroi) and prayer is well known in Japan. But nobody applies these terms to the norito. On the contrary magric is condemned in one of them as an unielean thing offensive to the Gods. Moto6ri and ilirata never dreamed of calling the norito magic. And all European scholars before M. Revon have adopted their opiuion, which is, that their object is to persuade the Gods by offerings and honours and not to compel them. The word prayer is used in the titles of two, niamely, the Tosligohi (prayer for harvest) 37
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