Mahikari members are called kamikumite (kah-mih-koo-mih-tay), which means 'hand-in-hand with God', or kumite for short (koo-mih-tay).

They are generally lovely people, but there's a barb in the tail. These folks are all about being helpful, and have been trained to look for the painful (ie vulnerable) areas of your life (are you lonely, unwell, poor, recently bereaved, recently unemployed, generally stressed and in a bad place? Wonderful.) They will target their message accordingly.

There are a few things that will identify a kumite in public. They almost always wear their special badge, called a goshinmon (goh-shin-monh). It looks like this, and is worn on the left side on the upper chest, near the shoulder:

Unless they're swimming or playing contact sports (including sexy times!), they will be wearing their omitama, the pendant that gives them God's protection and channels the 'Divine Light'. You won't be able to see it, because it's wrapped in lots of layers to keep it dry and safe, and it's pinned into a pocket in their underwear.

They wear a strong necklace chain that is long, and leads to the pocket inside their clothes (so it doesn't swing free outside of their clothes).

The most basic form of this chain is the simple ball chain. Depending on people's means, they may have fancier chains, but they will always be strong. No light delicate necklaces here. That omitama is more precious than your own life, so you'd better put it on a strong chain!

Anyone wearing a bra will usually have the omitama pocket inside their bra, either on the left (spiritual) side or centrally. Adults and kids (from age 10) who don't wear bras will always be wearing a singlet or undershirt of some sort. The omitama pocket is sewn into this garment, either in the centre of the chest, or on the left side.

Women are guided not to wear black, generally, and the usual religious exhortation about modest outfits.

So, the main visible things to look out for are the Mahikari badge, a long sturdy necklace tucked inside clothes, and people who always wear an undershirt.

Plus, they're always smiling, and nothing is bad. And they're really nice and helpful (which sucks, because they are usually genuinely lovely people on the whole, but misguided and victims who have become unwitting perpetrators).

And one of their hands is often cocked at an angle (surreptitiously giving Light whether you want it or not). If they offer to give you Light, politely decline. Or go on, be rude ...

#mahikari #sukyomahikari #omitama #kumite #cult #truelight #influence

So, what's Mahikari's True Light, okiyome, crap all about? It is supposedly coming directly to you from God Itself. Channeled through your omitama to your hand. Bypassing your filthy soul.

The Mahikari people (kamikumite, or kumite for short) spout off about it being a purifying energy, something that can dissolve toxins from your body, your cat, your garden, your food, your school, your home, the road, and even your car. Because it's so fucking great and miraculous, you need to do it a lot. A LOT. Like, every day. A lot.

If you're really devoted proper like, you're supposed to give and receive at least a basic session of okiyome every day. So you need at least one willing victim, I mean, subject. And you ideally need to hook up (not in a fun sexy way) with another kumite who can give you a session of okiyome too.

A ‘basic session’ of okiyome takes 30 minutes. It starts with both of you bowing and clapping and saying prayers. If you're hard core, you'll both be kneeling on the ground, on thin mats. Otherwise, on chairs facing each other.

Then the subject closes their eyes and puts their hands together. The kumite then recites a really long prayer in invented ‘ancient Japanese’ rubbish. It takes over a minute to recite. They say it’s in an incredibly ancient language, which is why modern Japanese people can’t understand the mystical sounds and meaning. Uh huh. Or maybe it’s just cos you MADE IT UP. The Divine World Prayer, or Amatsu Norigoto. I can still recite huge chunks of it, cos memorising this bullshit was one of the first tasks you had to do if you wanted to join. And I chanted at least once a day, if not more often (more was always better!) for over a decade! Wish I could get it the fuck out of my head. Here’s an explanation of sorts.

Once the prayer is over, the session starts with radiating this mysterious non-existent energy towards the subject's ‘main soul’ (third eye, forehead etc), for ten minutes. During this time the subject has to keep their eyes closed, and the kumite has to visualise a stream of golden light, streaming from their hand through the person’s head, focussed on a spot in the middle of the skull. All sorts of imagining of love, and grace, and positive intent too.

At the end of ten minutes, the kumite does a rather dramatic gesture. The big thing when you’re giving okiyome to the soul spirit is that the attaching spirits (THAT’S a whole ‘nother blog post) on the recipient are also receiving Light at the same time, and they might be getting upset, or sad, or chucking a tantrum, or feeling angry or generally trying to affect the recipient and their mind more than usual. So you have to get these spirits to calm the fuck down! This is achieved by the giver sweeping both hands in an upside down V shape from the recipient’s head, to the ground, three times, and saying ‘Oshizumari!’ very loudly with each sweep. THAT’LL DO IT, LADS!

After this, the person turns around, and they get Light radiated to the back of their neck, in two spots on each side of the neck. To help with blood flow to the brain. APPARENTLY. And then they get to lie down, the best part, and receive Light on their kidneys. Nice time to drift off for a bit of a nap. That’s a basic session.

If you’re going for a full session, you can receive an extra 20 minutes of Light to other parts, so if you have a rash, you’d get extra Light there, or whatevs. There were whole classes on where to give Light to for all sorts of different conditions. All of it ridiculous, of course. There has been some attempt by the organisation to remove itself from initial claims about being able to cure things, and they now use 'spiritual purification' instead. Too many lawsuits, hmmm? 🤔

I just realised why I hate wearing watches now ... we always had to wear a watch, to time our sessions. Huh.

#Mahikari #okiyome #TrueLight #purity #purification #prayer #AmatsuNorigoto #light