Suzu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Suzu (disambiguation).
A suzu (鈴) is a ball-shaped Shinto religious bell. Ringing a handheld clustered suzu like sleigh bells for musical instrument, is the same as waving a gohei (御幣). It means calling gods and divinized heroes. Because it call them, the bell gets their spiritual power. Through its use, people thus acquire authority and power, and evil is repelled.
The suzu itself came to be believed to have spiritual power, so a small one became a bell charm called omamori (お守り), on sale at Shinto shrines.
There exists also another type of bell used in shrines, flat and without a clapper, which is rung using a mallet and is called waniguchi (鰐口) (literally "crocodile mouth").
