KIFUNE JINJA
Kifune Shrine is the main shrine of the water gods, numbering 2,000 shrines throughout Japan, and is dedicated to the water god Takakami-no-kami, who is the source of life for all things. It is one of the oldest shrines in Japan, with a record of its construction being rebuilt in Hakuho 6, some 1,300 years ago, although the date of its foundation is unknown.
The water from the springs, the breath of the mountains, the singing of the birds. Kifune Shrine, surrounded by the great nature, has been praying for a bountiful harvest and peace of mind for the country with the blessings of the five winds and ten rainfalls since ancient times. During the Chrysanthemum Flower Ceremony in autumn, flower petals, which have been treasured as flowers of longevity, are floated in clear sake, and chrysanthemum sake, in which the fragrance of the chrysanthemum flowers is transferred, is drunk to ward off evil spirits and pray for prosperity.
The legend of the origin of Kifune Shrine, in which the Great Kifune Goddess is said to be the deity of the shrine, is preserved in the shrine chronicles. It is said that about 1,600 years ago, when Princess Tamayori-no-Mikoto, the mother of the first Emperor Jinmu, travelled up the Kamo and Kifune Rivers to the present Okumiya shrine as a source of water, she found a dragon pit called ‘Reikyofukii’, where fresh water gushed out and built a shrine.
貴船神社「霊境吹井」
貴船神社は万物の命の源である水の神「高龗神（たかおかみのかみ）」を祀る、全国二千社を数える水神の総本宮です。創建年代は極めて古く、その始まりは不詳ですが約1,300年前の白鳳六年にはすでに社殿造替の記録がある指折りの古社です。
湧き出づる水、山々の呼吸、鳥たちの鳴き声。大いなる自然に抱かれた貴船神社は、古来より五風十雨そのよろしきをもって国の豊穣と人々の安寧を願い続けてきました。秋の菊花神事では、長寿の花として大切にされてきた花弁を清酒に浮かべ、菊花の香りを移した菊酒を飲むことで邪気を祓って繁栄を祈願します。
貴船神社の起源については、貴船大神が御鎮座することになった伝説が社記に残されています。約1,600年前に初代神武天皇の皇母である玉依姫命が鴨川、貴船川を遡り、水源の地として現在の奥宮に至った際に、清水の湧き出る「霊境吹井（れいきょうふきい）」と呼ばれる龍穴を見つけ祠を建てたことが由来と伝えられています。