![]() ![]() For a country beginning to enjoy the Tokugawa peace after centuries of intermittent and sometimes intense civil war this must have been a very appealing concept. The quotation is "難即滅七福即生”, shichi-nan-soku-tsume, shichi-fuku-soku-shō: a loose translation is that once the Seven Misfortunes have disappeared or been extinguished the Seven Happinesses will follow. one which the anonymous author claimed was a translation from the original Indian language but was in fact composed in Chinese or Korean. Note that the Nin-no-Hanya-kyō is one of the so-called apocryphal sutras, i.e. He traces the beginnings of the cult surrounding them to a quotation in a somewhat lesser known Buddhist text, the Sutra of the Humane King (仁王般若経, Nin-no-Hanya-kyō), as does the Buddhist Tendai sect on its (Japanese) home page. In modern times, they have occasionally been involved in the formation of new religious movements.Probably the first scholar to investigate the origins of the Seven Lucky Gods was Kida Teikichi. Kamigakari and takusen fulfilled important political functions in ancient Japan and were later also perceived as important means of learning the divine will. Another example is the subsequent oracle obtained from Usa Hachiman by Wake no Kiymaro in opposition to Dōkyō. A prominent example of active spirit possession is that of of Empress Jingū ( Jingū Kōki ), which is documented in Kojiki and Nihon shoki (collectively referred to as Kiki ). Documented examples of passive cases include the divine pronouncement of the kami Usa Hachiman to enthrone the Buddhist monk Dōkyō (?-772) as emperor and the vengeful words of Sugawara Michizane, a famous political figure at the Heian court who fell victim to political intrigue, whose angry spirit possessed the child of a kannushi priest at Hira, Ōmi Province (present-day Shiga Prefecture). Kamigakari and takusen may be passive, when a person speaks after suddenly becoming involuntarily possessed or has a dream revelation they can also be active, when spirit possession is induced in a specific person to ascertain the divine will or gain a divine revelation. In addition to a medium or a miko (or a geki, which is a male shaman), the site of a takusen may occasionally also be attended by a saniwa who interprets the words of the possessed person to make them comprehensible to other people present. Miko at shrines today do no more than sit at reception counters and perform kagura dance. As time passed, they left the shrines and began working independently in secular society. In days of old, "female shamans" ( miko) once performed spirit possession and takusen as vocational functions in their service to shrines. Children and women most often deliver takusen as mediums due to the belief that they can more readily enter a state of possession. In a ceremony called yudate, a person becomes possessed in the process of walking around a pot of boiling water while sprinkling the water on his or her body with "bamboo grass" ( sasa) leaves. To induce that state, other people present produce sounds using a koto, bell, shakujō staff, or other implements, continuously intone incantations, and voice loud cries of encouragement. ![]() Kamigakari, or spirit possession, is generally accompanied by a physical and mental transformation. ![]() Also included in the category of takusen is "dream revelation" ( mukoku), in which a kami appears in a dream to communicate its will. It is often followed by takusen, whereby the possessed person serves as a "medium" ( yorimashi ) to communicate the divine will or message of that kami or spirit. Kamigakari refers to the possession of a person by a kami or other spirit.
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