Origin from 1187
A noro is the chief priestess of a Ryukyuan community, an office documented by ethnographers as existing since at least the start of the Gusuku period in the late twelfth century and continuing in parts of Okinawa today. The role was historically hereditary and state-appointed, filled from among the female relatives of local administrative officials and passed to their descendants along matrilineal lines, and a noro was widely understood to embody a particular kami and to hold a corresponding semi-divine status within her community. Noro conducted the official rituals and ceremonies of their village, and at the highest level the chief high priestess of the royal court at Shuri was traditionally the reigning king's own sister or daughter, serving as intercessor between the spirit world and the royal household until that court role ended in 1879. The institution is documented as one expression of a wider structural belief, onarigami, that a woman's spirit protects her male relatives.
Facts
Organisation
Who May Belong Reach of Its AuthorityA locality: a parish, a district or a town 1 Mode of SuccessionHereditary, historically passed along matrilineal lines among the female relatives of local administrative officials, with state appointment recorded at the community and royal court levels. 1 Attributions
Associated ReligionRyukyuan Religion, the indigenous belief system of the Ryukyu Islands. 1 Origins
Origin Period Status
Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Sources
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