SPECIAL VISIT TO TARA

On 23 August 1999 Grandmaster Tanemura Tsunehisa Shoto Sensei arrived in Ireland for a 3-day visit to the Hill of Tara, Newgrange, Loughcrew, Knowth and some other interesting places. He was accompanied by 10 other Genbukan/KJJR Dojo-Cho from Ireland, England and Belgium.

Ireland has a beautiful large green surface which is very hilly. When arriving at the Hill of Tara we could see a beautiful white horse that was all alone in the meadow. Sensei told us this was already a special sign of Heaven.

Tanemura Sensei first did special Kuji-Kiri to a stone, to break the curse done to destroy Tara. He could strongly feel the bad spirit in the stone placed there by a bad priest. Hereafter we could all suddenly see a white cat coming out of nowhere coming to us. She was very friendly and according to Tanemura Sensei a second good sign. Then we went to the Mound of the Hostages and we could clearly see in the cave the stones with the inscriptures of the 3 spirals. We went further to the main hill to visit the Stone of Destiny. Tanemura Sensei explained the stone is not the true Lia Fail (Stone of Destiny), but we could use it as a focal point because Tara is a sacred place. Here Tanemura Sensei did a very special Kuji-Kiri ceremony to repair the Stone which was already damaged by the curse, supported by all the other Dojo-Cho. It gave us all a deep emotionally feeling.

Tara is a very special place and very old place in Celtic Legend where the royal lines of the "Tuatha de Danann" stretch back into the mists of time and the crowned Kings of Ireland, until approximately 1022 AD.

Tara was the political and religious centre of Ireland where ceremonies were done by Kings and druids in relationship with the Gods. Japan and Ireland have the same legendary history about the Goddess (in Japan Amaterasu) who hid in a cave so the light disappeared of the world. The Gods would then have made music and danced to lure her out of the cave. As soon as she came to take a look what was happening, guards took away the large stone before the cave and the Goddess came back out, so the light came back.

Tanemura Sensei told us afterwards that this was "the most beautiful day of his life". He told us that he could get for the first time a direct contact with Heaven. We all could feel a strong shining light (even when our eyes were closed) appearing above us. Sensei told us that this was "the light of the King of Angels". There truly is a deep connection between Tara and Amatsu Tatara. Even the symbol of the 3 spirals can be found back on ancient Japanese Amatsu Tatara scrolls. This visit left a very deep spiritual impression on all of us.

Text by Chief Dojo-Cho Kyoshi Filip Poffé
(thanks to Ireland Sanzen Shibu-Cho Shihan Martin O'Reilly)