![]() ![]() Yoshitusune being trained in the art of the sword by Sojobo. The Tengu are also keepers of ancient forest and mountain magic. The Tengu are also somewhat famous because it is said that they are masters of the art of the sword, and the great hero Minamoto no Yoshitsune was said to have been taught his extraordinary swordsmanship from the king of the Tengu, Sojobo. The Tengu punish errant behaviors through humiliation. They are usually thought of as pranksters or tricksters, but this is often because they are meting out some manner of ironic justice. Tengu – often translated as “goblin,” the Tengu are a complicated race of shapeshifting bird-like humanoid beings. Probably the most famous example of this in media is Inuyasha. Hanyo – a being that is half yokai and half human. There are Oni that protect, are servants of kami or help keep malevolent yokai in check. Oni are often thought of as evil, but not necessarily. The most common is red, but blue and brown also exist. There are tribes of Oni, and each has a different skin color. Oni – often simply translated as “demon,” the Oni are actually more like giants or ogres. However, not all kitsune are associated with O-Inari Okami, just as O-Inari Okami is not associated with all kitsune. Many stories and legends exist of O-Inari Okami being a shapeshifter, which has in turn resulted in people mistakenly believing the Kami is a fox god. Kitsune are often associated with the O-Inari Okami, as foxes are the messengers and servants of this Kami. Common examples of these are tanuki (raccoon dogs), ookami (wolves), bakeneko (cats note the bake prefix indicating a shapeshifting creature), hebi (snakes) and the most popular of all thanks to anime and video games, the kitsune (fox). There are numerous subclasses of yokai (this is not an exhaustive list):Īnimals – typically spirits of a place or a natural feature, though sometimes they are A fox wedding.Īvatars or servants of a Kami. Bakemono is also used to describe beings that are shapeshifters, with obake being the honorific form. Almost all yokai are henge, or shapeshifters. Despite this, most tend to reserve the term “ yokai” for the darker entities like malevolent ghosts, demons, spirits, or monsters. Both are the embodiment of various forces and phenomena, take all manner of forms, and can exert influence on the manifest world. Kami are on the most fundamental level the same as yokai, with the primary difference in being how people relate to and/or approach the entity. ![]() Most people are familiar with the idea of Kami and equate them with gods, but that is a poor approximation. Shinto has an absolute plethora of beings, all of which have no direct correlation to western systems of thought, and therefore make describing them quite difficult. Anyone that has ever looked into the mythology of Shinto, or has a love of anime, has probably encountered terms like yokai, obake, and bakemono, and found them to be quite confusing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |