About witches

Some knowledge about Japanese witches is taken from "Pacific Game Network"

Witches exist in many Japanese games, cartoons and stories. Witches, as a religious profession, are very mysterious. But in fact, many friends have a superficial understanding of the witch, but they know very little about his origin. Witch is Miko in Japanese, which can also be expressed as "Son of God" and "Yu Zi" in Chinese characters. Generally speaking, it refers to a girl who serves the gods.

The source of witches

In ancient Japan, there were witches who could accept God's dependence and convey God's will. Among them, "Jimeizi" is a witch (シャマンンン), who occupies a high position among the rulers of the evil Mattel Kingdom.

In Japanese mythology, Yu (ァマテラス), the eldest daughter of three noble sons, is the goddess of the sun. Her other name is ぉぉひるみのむち), which can also be written as a witch, that is, a witch who worships the sun in reality, and some people say that she is Ji Miko. According to Japanese mythology, she is the ancestor of Emperor Jimmu in Japan, so the Japanese emperor is the descendant of the goddess of the sun.

The mythical record of the goddess of the sun

In Japanese mythology, Nagi, the god of creation, and Isobo, the goddess, descended from the sky through the Rainbow Bridge. Nagi dipped his sword into the water, and when he raised it, the water drop on the sword became the first island. By observing birds, they learned to make love, and their descendants are all islands. Since then, there have been Japan, tree gods, mountain gods and nature gods. However, the birth of Vulcan took away the beautiful life of Xie Yi. Before going to hell to find Isobo, Xie Yi Xian Liang beheaded their deadly son Vulcan, and as a result, more gods and mountains were created.

In order to avoid regional pollution, Xie Yi Nagi bathed in the river, created an evil god, and then created a god to compete with it; Then, he bathed in the sea and created an outstanding sea god; Finally, he created three highest gods, namely the three noble sons mentioned above: the goddess who washed his left eye to give birth to the sun and the goddess who washed his right eye to give birth to Sukhumi. Then, he washed his nose and gave birth to Susanu, the god of storms and earthquakes in charge of the marine world. The confrontation and hostility between the gods reached a truce through marriage. Susan Nuo combined with the goddess of the sun to create offspring in a strange way. SUSANOO gave his sword to the goddess of the sun, who broke it into three pieces, put it in her mouth and chewed it, then exhaled three goddesses. The goddess of the sun broke her necklace into five pieces (this is her kingship as a diva) and gave it to Susanu. SUSANOO also put it in her mouth and chewed it up, spitting five such as male gods. The goddess of the sun called these eight gods her descendants. They are the ancestors of Japanese emperors and nobles.

Once, the storm god threw a skinned horse on the shaking roof of the sun goddess, scaring her into a cave, thus taking away the light of the universe (and bringing winter). Finally, the gods lured the goddess of the sun with a mirror and expelled Susan from heaven as punishment.

After being expelled from heaven, Susan Nuo, the god of the storm, became the god of abundance again. He rescued a girl from the dragon, married her, and established the Xu He Dynasty. They gave birth to a child, his name is Okuninushi, and Okuninushi is the god of miracles and medicine. However, Onuchi betrayed his father. After stealing SUSANOO's weapon, he imprisoned SUSANOO in the underworld. Then Austria established a non-celestial country with the help of a dwarf. However, the Sun Goddess sent her grandson Niniji to overthrow the Susanu Dynasty and establish the Yamato Empire.

Modern witch

"Witch" is a traditional occupation of Japanese religious circles. To this day, witches in white and trousers can still be seen in large shrines and traditional celebrations. The duties of helping others to eliminate disasters, relieving Eritrea and serving God cast a mysterious color on them. !

Witches can be divided into two types, one belongs to the palace shrine and the other is the folk witch. The former made wine, played musical instruments, explained the divine will and so on in the court. In ancient times, the witch's Oracle influenced politics to some extent.

On the other hand, there are witches among the people. After the Middle Ages, the witch layer began to enter the people and spread everywhere. Although witchcraft was strictly prohibited during the Meiji government, it was still prohibited for the sake of faith.

Now all the witches in the shrine come to the shrine to help, and are responsible for visiting, cleaning and tidying up the shrine.

The witch goddess is happy.

Witch music: This is a kind of music played by witches who serve God. Witches dance with bells, fans or paulownia branches. Witchcraft music is actually a form of spiritual possession left over from ancient times, and later it gradually evolved into prayer dance. Today, many Japanese shrines still perform witchcraft music. At the Bao Mei Shrine in Meibaoguan Town, Babao County, Shimane Prefecture, witches hold Yang Tongzhi in the main hall every morning and evening to perform morning and evening music. During the August Festival (65438+1October 8) held at Izu Miyake Island Imperial Shrine, the witch performed witch's music in Yamamoto sushi hall in front of the shrine. The witch with the bell stood on the drum and walked around the field for several weeks. During the outdoor performance, the witch danced with white paper wrapped in bells. Witchcraft dance in Nara Haruki Shrine has a long history. In addition, the witch dance in Yidian, Osaka, and the Frost Moon Festival (165438+1October 7) in Hiroshi Shibei Shrine, Kuromachi, Akita Prefecture are all representative witch dances. Witch dances can be performed by young witches, young witches and old witches. Sometimes wizards will join witches, and the first thing people think of is the "Igong" in the Ise Shrine, which serves the gods. But "Yi Gong" does not represent all classes and types of witches. To understand the question about witches, we should start from its roots.

First, let's look at Japanese myths. In Japanese mythology, there are several very important female images, such as "Isobo's fate", "Heaven shines on God" and "Tian Yue's fate". "Isobo Destiny" is the goddess of creation in Japanese mythology. She cultivated a lot of land and created everything on the ground. She is the mother of the gods in charge of mountains, seas, winds and fires. She died when she gave birth to Vulcan Fire is regarded as a symbol of "consciousness", and it is precisely because of mastering the fire that mankind has made great progress. It is worth noting that in Greek mythology, fire was brought to mankind by the male god Prometheus, while in Japanese mythology, fire was brought to the world by the primitive goddess.

The "god of celestial lighting" occupies a very important position in Japanese mythology, and she is still regarded as the ancestor of the celestial royal family until now. "God of the skylight" has the dual character of warrior and witch. When the exiled Su Sannuoming came to Gao Tianyuan to meet her sister Tianzhao Shen, Tianzhao Shen was shocked to hear that he was coming to take Gao Tianyuan away from her, so he was fully armed and prepared to fight to the death with Su Sannuoming. At this time, the "shining god" embodies its combative and good-fighting side as a soldier. At the same time, as the sun god, "God" is closely linked with "Harvest" and "Abundance", which are the expressions of women. The character of "the god who shines in the sky" is also reflected in the "demon queen" of later generations. Whether attacking Xiong or Silla, the witch king always fights in uniform, and before the war, he has to conduct some religious ceremonies to invite God, listen to God's will and act according to God's will. So it can be said that the magic queen, like the "God", is both a warrior and a witch.

When the "God of Heaven" was dissatisfied with his younger brother's "Su Sannuo's life" and hid in the cave of "Tian Yan's House" and refused to come out, the light between heaven and earth was lost and disasters occurred everywhere. In order to get the "God" out of the cave, the gods thought many ways, and finally the "God" succeeded in getting the "God" out of the cave. "Tiannv" performed a crazy striptease in front of the cave in the present words. She danced wildly as if possessed by a god, which can be said to be an out-of-body experience and a dance in which man and god are one. The gods laughed heartily when they saw her dancing. "God" was attracted by the lively scene outside, opened the door of "Tian Yan's House" and was pulled back to the outside world. Later, the grandson of the "God of Heaven" came to the world, and the "God of Heaven" once again exerted his special abilities, clearing the way for the arrival of the God of Heaven. In order to express her gratitude to Tian Ming, You Er gave her the surname "Ape Tian", and from then on, all the women in the "Tian Ming" clan were called "Ape Nvjun". In the early days of Japanese history, the "Dongnu" clan played a very important role in the sacrificial activities of the royal family. The "ape girl" clan is a matriarchal descendant from generation to generation and is regarded as a witch with special magic by the world. They danced for God, prayed for a bumper harvest, and built a bridge between man and God.

With the continuous strengthening of patriarchy, the ape female clan gradually declined, and the nature of witches also changed. The women in the royal family took turns to serve the "gods". They are called "Tiangong", and "Tiangong" must be a virgin. In this respect, she is completely opposite to "destiny". This change is consistent with the historical fact that the shrine dedicated to the "God of Heaven" moved to Yi Shi. From then on, because the virgin witch served the "God in heaven", the witch began to have a "woman". So did the original witch's characteristics represented in The Destiny of the Heavenly Woman disappear? Yanagita Kunio pointed out that a Japanese witch originated from The Life of a Woman in Paradise. They used dance to soothe the gods and pray for their wishes. This kind of witch is called "the witch of the county". The nature of a "county witch" is completely different from that of a witch who serves a "god". Yanagita Kunio believes that the white card is also a kind of "county witch". They are not limited to selling their bodies, but more importantly, they are sacred women who serve the gods. From this point of view, the psychic nature of Tian Ming has been gradually expelled from the center of culture to the edge, from the upper class to the folk.