今年は２月２日が節分です。これは１２４年ぶりのことだそうで、なんだか例年以上に気合を入れて鬼退治をしなくてはならないような気がします。

さて、節分の風習の一つに鰯柊（いわしひいらぎ）というものがあります。柊（ひいらぎ）のトゲトゲと鰯の臭いで鬼を撃退するんだとか。この柊はヨーロッパなどでも古くから魔除けとして使われているそうです。

昔、ヨーロッパとアジアの文化の交流がいま盛んではなかった頃でも、こうして同じものを同じ感覚で捉える感性は面白いなと思います。文化の中で育った感性、それ以前の”ヒト”オリジナルの感性、そんな視点から世界の文化を眺めてみるのも面白いかもしれません。

This year, February 2nd is Setsubun. This is the first time in 124 years, so I feel like I have to be more spirited than usual to get rid of the demon. Now, one of the customs of Setsubun is called "sardine holly. It is said that the spiky holly and the smell of sardines repel demons. This holly has also been used as a charm against evil in Europe and other countries for a long time.

I think it's interesting that even in the old days, when cultural exchange between Europe and Asia was not so active, people had the same sensibility to perceive the same things in the same way. It would be interesting to look at the world's cultures from the perspective of the sensibilities that grew up in the culture and the sensibilities that were original to "humans" before that.