According to the "Shin-sarugoki" (a textbook written about lives and cultures of the people of Kyoto in the Heian period) by FUJIWARA no Akihira in the late Heian period, the four elements shrine maidens were required to master were the abilities of uranai (fortune-telling,) kami-asobi (playing music and dancing in front of gods,) yotsura (beating out strings of Japanese bows as a ritual to ward off evil spirits) and kuchiyose (mediumship or technique to communicate with spirits), and in this book Akihira described his actual experience of witnessing a shrine maiden playing kami-asobi (Kagura), which to him appeared as if an immortal mountain wizard was enjoying dancing with a god.
平安時代末期の藤原明衡の著である『新猿楽記』には、巫女に必要な4要素として「占い・神遊・寄絃・口寄」が挙げられており、彼が実際に目撃したという巫女の神遊（神楽）はまさしく神と舞い遊ぶ仙人のようだったと、記している。