Misogi - Shinto/Shugendo Spiritual Exercises

I have edited this down to the basics. Misogi is about taking a ceremonial bath in a waterfall. If you have a waterfall handy then you can use that - if not a ceremonial shower would suffice in my own opinion. It is a purification ritual and is familiar to Western occultists in a different form as a ritual bath or shower prior to ritual.
This could be easily tailored to fit what was available to a solitary practitioner.
In many ways it is similar in purpose to the "LBRP" or Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

Exercise I: Furitama or Soul Shaking

1. Stand with your legs apart about shoulder width.
2. Place your hands together with the right hand over the left. Leave space between them big enough for an imaginary ping pong ball.
3. Place your hands in that position in front of your stomach and shake them vigorously up and down.
4. While shaking them concentrate and repeat the words: Harae-do-no-Okami - an invocation to the Kami of the place of harai.

The purpose of shaking the soul is to generate awareness of it within yourself. Kon, (the soul), in Shinto, is one of the four important elements along with Mei (life), Rei (spirit) and Ki (which means Spirit in its causal aspect - Ki is a kind of energy source). Kon is the most important of the four since human beings can also be described as Waketama (separated individual souls), which is another way of saying "children of the Kami".

Exercise II: Torifune or Bird Rowing

1. Stand straight and put your left leg forward
2. Clench both fists with your thumbs inside
3. Lean forward and move your arms as though rowing a boat starting from your left knee and ending near your armpits. As you "row," shout "Yie".
4. Perform this 20 times and then repeat Furitama
5. Changing to a right leg stance, repeat the Torifune shouting "Ei" and "Ho" alternately. Do this 20 times and then repeat Furitama
6. Return to the left foot forward stance and remake the clenched fists as before and bring the hands up to the chest to a shout of "Yie" and thrust them down and forward with hands opened and fingers extended to a shout of "Se" After this, once again repeat the Furitama.

The basic purpose is to introduce a dimension of physical calisthenics along with the spiritual. Since misogi is a psycho-physical experience, both types of warm-up exercises are necessary.

Exercise III: Otakebi or Shouting - Ideally this is done with more than one person.

1. Stand up straight leaving a space between your feet.
2. Place your hands on your hips
3. Follow the leader, as they shout the following three invocations: Iku-tama! Taru-tama! Tama-tamaru-tama!
4. Follow in repeating three times the long invocation: Okami! Okami! Kunitsu-Okami! Sarutahiko Okami To-toshi-ya

Shouting Iku-tama activates the soul which is just coming to awareness. Taru-tama affirms the awareness that you can realize the infinite in your soul. Tama-tamaru-tama confirms both and keeps the soul activated at its quantum level. The closing invocation addresses Sarutahiko Okami, head of the earthly Kami and acknowledges him to be of great power.

Exercise IV: Okorobi or Yielding

1. Stand as in Exercise III
2. Place the left hand on your hip and your hand with two fingers extended in a gesture that resembles the "Boy Scout Salute"
3. Three Kami are invoked here and with each invocation, you cut the air in a sweeping gesture with the right hand as follows: Kunitoko-tachi-no-Mikoto! "Yie!" " Sarutahiko-no-Okami! "Yie!" Kokuryu-no-Okami! "Yie!" At each time of cutting the air, you should take a step forward with your left foot and then back again.

By specifying these three important Kami, Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto (the earthly Kami), Sarutahiko Okami (Kami of guidance and head of the earthly Kami) and Kokuryuon-no-Okami (Kami of water, life and ki), you can be united with them, remove your impurities and receive their power as your own.

Exercise V: Ibuki or Breathing

1. Stand with your feet apart
2. Lower your hands and arms towards your knees
3. Lift your arms above your head by extending them fully outwards
4. Inhale while raising them
5. Exhale slowly and deliberately while lowering your hands again
6. Place hands and arms down by knees and exhale completely
7. Repeat five times
8. Bow twice, clap twice and open your arms palms upwards.

The purpose is to conclude the preparation by taking deep breaths which have the effect of raising the metabolism of the ki to its highest level of sensitivity and receptivity by absorbing the ki of the universe.

Exercise VI: Nyusui or Getting into the Water - As I said above, ideally this is performed at a
sacred waterfall. A shower will substitute however.

1. Sprinkle some salt over yourself.
2. Take a ladle with Japanese sake and salt. Spray it from your mouth in three mouthfuls into the stream or air.
3. Recite the nine letter prayer as follows:
Rin-Pyo-To-Sha-Kai-Zin-Retsu-Zai-Zen.
4. Cut the air symbolically nine times, and shout "Yei!"
5. Enter the water and splash water on your face, chest and loins.
6. Clap your hands twice, and bow once
7. Cut the air from right to left with your right hand.
8. Approach the fall or shower and enter, right shoulder first. Hold your hands in front with middle fingers together pointing away from you.
9. Shout the following: Harae-tamae-Kiyome-tamae-ro-kon-sho-jo!

The expressions harae and kiyome ask for the purifying of the individual by the washing away of all tsumi from the ro-kon-sho-jo, from the six elements of human beings that Shinto identified, the five senses and the mind.