Women of the Sacred Groves

Introduction Prologue: Okinawan History, Henza Village, and `nthodology Part I: Divine Dis-order 1. Divine Dis-order: On Social Planes 2. Divine Dis-order: On Cosmological Planes Part II: Questions of Gender 3. Gender in an Egalitarian Society 4. Gender Separation and Social Integration 5. Women and Men and Ritual Part III: Sitting in the Seat of the Gods 6. Priestesses and Ritual: Feeding the Kami-sama 7. Divine Dis-order: Signs, Symptoms, and Sitting in the Right Seat 8. Born to Be Kami-sama Part IV: Questions of Power 9. The Problematics of Power 10. Priestesses, Yuta, and Ogami People Part V: Deconstructing Gender 11. Un-gendering Religious Discourse 12. Gender Bending(?) and Ritual Deconstruction Conclusion: Religion, Power, and the Sanctification of Gender Appendixes: 1. Glossary of Japanese and Okinawan Words 2. Dramatis Personae Notes References Index