Shamanism in Japan

Several ethnic-religious traditions on the Japanese islands are summarized as Japanese shamanism : A distinction is made between shamanism in northeastern Japan, that in the south ( Okinawa , Amami , Ryukyu ) and Ainu shamanism on Hokkaido . The latter is closer to shamanism of the Siberian type (the complex shamanism according to the German ethnologist Klaus E. Müller ); In contrast, shamanism in central Japan and in the south is in the Buddhist- Daoist sphere of influence. According to Müller's classification, it is obsessive shamanism . Throughout Japan, shamans are predominantly female; often the shamanic person is afflicted with a physical deficiency (most often blindness). The areas of activity of the Japanese shamans include, above all, the healing of diseases, communication with spirits and fortune-telling. The way you exercise can vary from region to region.

Shamanism in Japanese Mythology

Amenouzume

The fertility goddess Amenouzume (roughly: "the terrifying woman of heaven") is known for her shamanic dance in front of a rock cave in which the sun goddess Amaterasu was hiding. In her dance, possessed by a ghost, she bared her breasts and sex organs; this made the gods gathered around the cave laugh out loud. This in turn aroused the curiosity of Amaterasu, who finally came out of the cave and filled the world with her light again. The dance of the Amenouzume is considered to be the first Kagura dance (performance of ancient dances and music in Shinto).

Himiko

The first known shaman in Japan is the semi-legendary Himiko , mentioned in the Wei Zhi Chronicles (189 to 280 AD), who is said to have been the ruler of the Yamatai kingdom . It is reported that she lived in seclusion, never married and ruled the country through her brother. She is said to have communicated with gods and spirits and is also mentioned in the works Kojiki and Nihonshoki .

Relationship to Shintoism

As a rule, shamanism stands in contrast to institutionalized religion and occurs mostly in societies where institutionalization is low or nonexistent. The shaman is often a lone warrior who follows his own path or the path of his guardian spirit, which institutionalized religions rarely tolerate.

Shintoism and shamanism, however, are based on the same elements: family or sound gods, ecstasy, trance and possession by the protective spirit. Individuals who practiced ecstasy were often family members of the shrine rulers, their wives and daughters. So originally there was no conflict between shamans and priests or between religion and family, since both religion and state were essentially family-based. Ecstasy - the core element of shamanism - was practiced at all levels of society, from the imperial court to the smallest shrines. However, when Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 551 CE, the competition for influence began between Buddhism and the indigenous religious traditions from which Shintoism developed. In contrast to these pre-Shinto traditions, Buddhism was not family-based, and so more and more priests appeared in the shrines who, unlike in the past, did not belong to the family that controlled the respective shrine. There was also a need to strengthen the local religion. In 780 and 807 there were decrees against the practice of ecstasy outside of shrines, with the ecstasy in the shrines being declared real and the ecstasy outside of shrines being declared false. However, ecstasy was practiced in spite of these prohibitions, and the struggle continued until 1873. In 1873 (after the Meiji Restoration ), the practice of ecstasy was banned not only outside of shrines, but even inside shrines. So the ecstasy disappeared from the "official" Shintoism; the practice of ecstasy outside of shrines has been pushed underground.

Shamanism in northeastern Japan

The term for female shamans ( miko ) used in the past and in scientific sources refers in today's parlance to assistants of the priests in the shrines who do not practice ecstasy. With the shamans in northeastern Japan a distinction is made between blind and sighted.

The blind shamans are commonly called ogamisama . The regional names are itako in Aomori Prefecture , ogamisama in Miyagi Prefecture , onakama in Yamagata Prefecture and waka in Fukushima Prefecture . The seeing shamans are called kamisama . The main functional difference between the blind and the seeing shamans is that only blind shamans, the ogamisama , can work with the spirits of the dead.

Itako

Tradition has it that there were more blind people in northeastern Japan than the average because of the cold climate and poor diet. They were gathered and executed every five to ten years. In search of a more useful use for these people, an officer called a blind woman trained as an itako into his garden and instructed her to describe the area to him. She answered correctly that there was a pine in the garden and a lantern under the pine. So society began to use the skills of the blind.

Career and initiation with ogamisama (blind shamans)

The career of an ogamisama usually begins with an illness: it is either a loss of sight in childhood or an illness that leads to blindness (pre-shamanic period). The sick person is taken to a practicing shaman - often by their relatives on the advice of their neighbors - and can begin their training with her. The training, which is usually started between the ages of 10 and 20, lasts three to seven years; the prospective shaman (gyôja) or her family must bear the costs of the training. After completing the training, initiation ( kamitsuke ) takes place. During initiation the state of possession has to come in and the shaman has to say what spirit she is possessed by; this then becomes their guardian spirit. The initiation is preceded by a preparatory phase, during which the prospective shaman fasts or for 7 days on z. For example, salt, fire and grain are avoided and have to make cold water infusions three times a day. The preparation phase usually lasts about 28 days and can May be shorter (e.g. if it takes place before the onset of menstrual bleeding). During the initiation, the shaman wears white clothes like at the funeral ceremony and sits on the lap of her instructor, who hugs her. This is to symbolize that the gyôja undergoes a change from a dead person to an embryo when it is initiated and is then reborn. After initiation, the gyôja serves her instructor free of charge and learns for two or three more years. Then the shaman usually starts an independent business.

Career and initiation with kamisama (seeing shamans)

With the seeing shamans, the kamisama , there is no initiation ritual as such. Typically, they choose the kamisama path after they are 30 years old . This decision is usually preceded by a psychosomatic illness or family problem that neither the doctors nor the shamans can cure or eliminate; this leads to the person becoming more and more devout and devoting more and more time to service to the Buddha and the spirits. Kamitsuke (obsession with a ghost) is mostly spontaneous. As the illness and mental imbalance persist, the budding kamisama usually find themselves in social isolation. Then they take an opportunity to prove their skills by e.g. Cure a disease, find a lost item, or make an accurate prophecy. Then the news that the person is walking the path of the Kamis spreads around the area, and after a while the prospective shaman and her business are accepted by the local community until she is finally referred to as kamisama .

Origin theory

A theory about the origin of Japanese shamanism connects it with the belief in animal spirits: In the past it was believed that some families were possessed by a certain animal spirit (e.g. fox, dog). Other families feared and avoided the animal spirit families, also because of the idea that the family of a person marrying into such a family would be possessed by the same animal spirit. For this reason the members of the animal spirit families mostly only married each other; Shamanism or ecstasy was also practiced in their closed circles.

Shamanism in southern Japan (Okinawa, Amami, Ryukyu)

The shamans on Okinawa and Amami are commonly referred to as yuta and are mostly female. Male shamans are referred to as "womanly men" and always have a physical deficiency (missing extremity; blind or the like). The name yuta comes from the word for "shaking" : the shaman shakes while performing the ritual.

Depending on the specialization, other terms such as shinma (medium), yuudatsi (person who can communicate with the dead before the 49 days after death), kankakarya (“possessed by God”) are used.

The yuta practice privately and are paid for their services.

Functions

The main task of the yuta is to determine and eliminate the cause of a misfortune / maladministration (e.g. loss of soul, revenge of a deity or an animal; jealousy, envy). In this way yuta can z. B. Cure diseases. They can also interpret dreams, predict the future, compatibility with a partner or even bankruptcy. Like other shamans, yuta can communicate with the souls of the dead and pass on their messages. In doing so, some yuta pretend that they are speaking to a person who has received the deceased person on the phone: in this way, the customer is involved very directly in the communication. Yuta will advise on orientation of the house and help choose the orientation that is most likely to bring happiness to residents. Often yuta are invited home by people in the first days of the New Year - this is said to bring happiness for the New Year. In Okinawa it is believed that misfortune or illness may be based on the loss of the soul ( mabui ). The soul can be lost very easily, even e.g. B. when you sneeze or get sick. The cause of the disease can also be revenge ( tatari ) on the part of a deity or an animal if something has been done to them. If the latter is the case, then the shaman recommends honoring mar-gam (the protector god). This is always the job of women. Other causes of misfortune may be the forgotten spirits of the ancestors; this is e.g. B. The case when the person is plagued by the same suffering or misery as his ancestor. It can also happen that the suffering is due to a forgotten ancestor, for example when such ancestor died far from home and his “abandoned and forgotten” spirit suffers far from home. Yuta can usually determine the presence of such an ancestor and sever the negative connection between him and the client / person to be treated.

Jealousy and envy can also cause illness. Then man becomes obsessed with the spirit of vengeance. The yuta must remove this, but caution is required: it must not use force, but must show courtesy, respect and compassion for the spirit of revenge and thus cause the spirit to let go of the person.

Career

To yuta a person can be, which "high spiritual strength" ( saadaka Umari ) or predetermination has. If one is not aware of the existing predestination, the gods resort to “advance warning” ( shikashi ). This manifests itself in the pathological condition that is associated with hallucinations, fatigue and loss of appetite. If necessary, the person concerned turns to a practicing shaman who determines the presence of saadaka umari . If one tries to delay the fulfillment of one's destiny, kami daari (“holy curse”) will result. This is an extremely pathological condition that manifests itself in persistent headaches, cramps in the limbs, hallucinations, etc. The relatives then make the person aware that they may not be elected. A practicing shaman can confirm this and, if necessary, give advice on prayer, etc.

Once the person has chosen to serve the spirits, they must find the chizi, their spirit. For this she visits many holy places and gets advice from older shamans. They advise you, among other things, on your dreams, which can have a special meaning.

ritual

Many go to yuta with their whole family. Usually the oldest woman in the family speaks to the shaman. Yuta has many sacred objects on her altar: figures, pictures, crystal balls, scented pots and amulets from various temples and shrines. She wears simple, mostly white clothes. Usually the ritual begins with scented smoke. The shaman then asks for the personal data of all family members, including the year of birth, and records these on paper, in particular name kanjis and addresses. Then she says "utooto" and repeats the personal data. Often she hums to herself and picks up a pinch of rice. Then she counts the rice grains: Whether the answer is positive or negative depends on their number. Then she goes on singing and counts the rice twelve times or more.

During the ritual, the yuta's voice changes slightly depending on whether she continues her prayer or reproduces information received from a deity or ancestor. There is a kind of prayer book on her table. She tells the client which prayers to read and when. At the end of the ritual, the date is given on which the temple or the grave should be visited together.

persecution

From the later 17th and early 18th centuries, court judgments have been preserved in which murder cases were attributed to yuta's magic. The yutas were then sentenced to death or exiled. In the first half of the 20th century, the Okinawa shamans were accused of “misleading the uneducated masses”, jeopardizing social morality, spreading baseless rumors, and illegally obtaining goods and money. The yuta were persecuted on the one hand as a superstition, on the other hand because they competed with the nationalized Shintoism in Japan and would thus endanger the "spiritual unity of the nation".

Ainu shamanism (Hokkaido)

In the past, Hokkaido shamans were both male and female. They were responsible for ceremonies and numerous festivals throughout the year. Some male shamans had political power and also led troops to war. In the course of time a gender-specific division of labor developed: the male shamans were responsible for ceremonies and offerings, and the female for practical tasks and work with the spirits. They were able to cure diseases with their rituals and traditional remedies, played gods in dramas, and made prophecies in a state of possession. Shamans were also storytellers: in the past, every shaman was a poet. Poetry produced in a state of possession was called tusu sinotca .

Shamanism is later dominated by female healers and the media. Most shamans act as a medium in the altered state of consciousness that is brought about by passive possession by ghosts.

Forms of shamanism

Different names are used for shamans depending on their abilities. Generally, a person who is possessed by spirits and can function as a medium is called a tuskur . The shamans with clairvoyance are called ue-inkar (this is also the key quality of a shamanic healer), those who work with spells are called ue-inkar ; in addition, one knows tek-e-inu ("healing hand") and imu (spontaneously occurring trance state). Shamanic healers are known as ue-inkarkur .

There are also shamanic midwives , i-ko-inkar-kur . These are not shamans in the strict sense of the word, but they played a key role in maintaining the spiritual and medical-physiological wisdom, traditions and knowledge of the Ainus.

Career

In order to become a shaman, the Ainus require a combination of training, natural talent and individual will. In theory anyone could become a shaman, but in practice the family played a key role in imparting skills and knowledge. The training is a continuous process in which the aspiring shaman gradually acquires the necessary knowledge and skills. Mental illness can occur both early in the career and at a later stage; this should definitely improve shamanic skills. Initiation traditionally took place with older male relatives reciting prayers; however, this can happen more than once in the shaman's life. Today, female shamans often do the initiation themselves, as few men are able to do this today.

Attributes

In their rituals, the Ainu shamans use the jew's harp mukkuri , the string instrument tonkori and the drum kaco (today only preserved in Sakhalin ). In the past, the shamans also wore a sacred costume, which consisted of a sacred dress, sacred hat and sacred gloves. Today the shamans wear a mirror and a large pearl necklace. Sake, prayer stick ( iku-pasui ), tuki (sake bowl), inaw (cut willow wood sticks), tobacco and fire are also used.

Ikoinkarkur (shamanic midwives)

Just like the shamans, the work of the midwife with the Ainus was a charitable activity. The shamanic midwives were supported by the community. With the dismantling of the communal unit, their economic situation has deteriorated. Ikoinkarkur sometimes grow up in midwifery families and often learn the necessary skills from the mother, as they can attend the delivery early on. In their rituals, ikoinkarkur use worms, dried plant roots, tree bark, but also animal blood and hearts as well as stones.

A special ritual is used to promote the milk production of a breastfeeding woman: the midwife goes up a mountain and “fetches the soul of a white birch”. After performing a ritual, the bark of a white birch is scraped off; this is then boiled in the patient's water and administered. The tree itself dies afterwards, "because its soul has been sacrificed to man". Burned carrots and venison tongues are used to combat menstrual problems.

literature

Baženova, Žanna (2006). Samanstvo na Okinave. [Shamanism on Okinawa] (last accessed November 4, 2017, 9:22 pm).
Erlen, Kornelia (1984). Yuta shamanism in Amami-Ôshima. University of Hamburg (last accessed March 6, 2018, 7:31 am).
Fairchild, William P. (1962). "Shamanism in Japan". Folklore Studies 21, pp. 1–122.
Kawamura, Kunimitsu (1999). "The Life of a Shamaness: Scenes from the Shamanism of Northeastern Japan" . In: Folk Beliefs of Modern Japan. Inoue Nobataka (Ed.). Tokyo: Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics Kokugakuin University, pp. 92-124.
Kawamura, Kunimitsu (2003). "A Female Shaman's Mind and Body, and Possession". Asian Folklore Studies 62/2, pp. 257–289.
Ledford, Adam (2014). The Yuta, The Noro, And The “Okinawan Witch Trials” (last accessed: December 23, 2017, 9:00 p.m.).
Müller, Klaus E. (1997). Shamanism. Healers, spirits, rituals. Munich: CH Beck.
McCornick, Crystal Michelle (2011). Saadaka: An Aspect of Shamanism, Spiritual Power, and Pollution in Okinawa . Master thesis. Alabama: Auburn University
Scheid, Bernhard (no year). Ame no Uzume, the ancestor of rite, dance and theater. (Last accessed: February 18, 2018; 9:00 p.m.).
Tanaka, Sakurako (Sherry) (2000). The Ainu of Tsugaru: the indigenous history and shamanism of northern Japan. PhD thesis. Vancouver: University of British Columbia (last accessed February 18, 2018; 9:00 p.m.).
Tanaka, Sakurako (2003). Ainu Shamanism: A Forbidden Path to Universal Knowledge. (Last accessed: February 18, 2018; 9:00 p.m.).

Individual evidence

^ William P. Fairchild: Shamanism in Japan. In: Folklore Studies 21: 1–122, 1962, p. 48 ( PDF file: 1.9 MB; 123 pages on nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp).

^ William P. Fairchild: Shamanism in Japan. In: Folklore Studies 21: 1–122, 1962, p. 49 ( PDF file: 1.9 MB; 123 pages on nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp).

↑ Fairchild, William P. "Shamanism in Japan" , Folklore Studies 21: 1-122 (1962), p. 50

↑ Fairchild, William P. "Shamanism in Japan" , Folklore Studies 21: 1-122 (1962), p 53rd

↑ Fairchild, William P. "Shamanism in Japan" , Folklore Studies 21: 1–122 (1962), pp. 61, 57ff.

↑ Kawamura Kunimitsu. "A Female Shaman's Mind and Body, and Possession" , Asian Folklore Studies 62.2: 257-289 (2003), p. 262 ff.

↑ Fairchild, William P. "Shamanism in Japan" , folklore Studies 21: 1-122 (1962), S. 64th

↑ Kawamura Kunimitsu. "A Female Shaman's Mind and Body, and Possession" , Asian Folklore Studies 62.2: 257-289 (2003), pp. 263-264 ff.

↑ Kawamura Kunimitsu. "The Life of a Shamaness: Scenes from the Shamanism of Northeastern Japan" . In: Folk Beliefs of Modern Japan . Inoue Nobataka (Ed.). Tokyo: Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics Kokugakuin University, pp. 92-124, (1999).

↑ Kawamura Kunimitsu. "A Female Shaman's Mind and Body, and Possession" , Asian Folklore Studies 62.2: 257-289 (2003), pp. 266-271

↑ Fairchild, William P. "Shamanism in Japan" , Folklore Studies 21: 1-122 (1962), pp 34-36.