Blinding Ritual
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The Blinding Ritual is a sub-ritual performed prior to the Strangling and Demon Tag Rituals of the Himuro Mansion. The ritual's main purpose is to use the blood of a maiden's eyes in conjunction with the Blinding Mask to 'blind' and weaken the spirits beyond the Hell Gate. The ritual's sub-purpose is the creation of an oni or demon to choose the next Rope Shrine Maiden and Blinded Maiden.
Preparation
A child is chosen to become the next Blinded via the Demon Tag Ritual. Of a group of girls playing the game, she is the first to become caught by the previous Blinded who is playing the role of the 'demon' in the game.
The Ritual
Prior to the Demon Tag Ritual (November 26th) and Strangling Ritual (December 13th), the maiden is taken to the Blinding Room. This ritual may in fact also take place on November 26th, but it is unclear. Presented to the Ceremony Master who is wearing the Mask of Reflection, she is held by two priests and forced to kneel in front of him. The Ceremony Master then takes out the Blinding Mask from its storage location before forcing the mask down upon the maiden's face. The Mask itself has spikes in the eyeholes which point towards the users eyes, thus puncturing them when it is worn.
The mask is then taken and inserted like a key for the doorway located in the Demon Mouth that opens a path that the Himuro Family took to enter the Rope Altar. The maiden's blood is said to 'blind' the spirits/demons beyond the Hell Gate and weaken them in preparation for the Strangling Ritual.(Citation Needed!)
Result
Blinded
The Blinded maiden goes on to fulfil her role as the 'demon' for the next group of young girls participating in the Demon Tag Ritual. Ryozo Munakata speculated that blinding the maiden also served to eliminate her attachments to her family, since her direct relatives may have been among the children performing the Demon Tag Ritual.[1]