As part of the series of ceremonies and divine invitations that occur during the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, the Nan Tian Gong Nine Emperor Gods temple of Sekinchan (适耕庄南天宫九皇大帝) invited the North Star deity (北斗星君) yesterday on the 5th day of the festival.
Whilst the South Star deity (南斗星君) is believed to be in charge of matters regarding your well-being and living quality in this life, the North Star deity is in charge of the death (ie. lifespan) of a person, and therefore prayers are often offered to the North Star deity to prolong one's lifespan.
The invitation ceremony of the North Star deity carried out by Sekinchan Nine Emperor Gods temple yesterday was somewhat similar to the South Star deity invitation ceremony on the 2nd day of the festival (click to read in new tab), with the exception that it was more festive this time around, having a pair of lions performing the lion dance and escorted the entourage for the invite, plus we headed north of the temple this time to a spot located somewhere in the agricultural fields for the invitation. Also, as the site was quite close by, the temple entourage walked to the site which took us about 10 mins to get there.
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The schedule of invitation ceremonies at Sekinchan are as follows:
- 5th Oct 2021 (eve of festival) 10.15pm - Invitation of the Nine Emperor Gods
- 7th Oct 2021 (2nd day) 10.15pm - Invitation of the South Star Deity
- 10th Oct 2021 (5th day) 10.15pm - Invitation of the North Star Deity
- 12th Oct 2021 (7th day) 8.45pm - Invitation of Jade Emperor
- 13th Oct 2021 (8th day) 10.15pm - Invitation of Dou Mu
