Ghosts in Japan

[Nahoko]

Hi Yair, welcome to our forum!

I don't have so much knowledge about binbogami, but I would not count them as ghosts. Binbogami means "God of the Poor", so you could classifiy them as low-level gods of poverty. They are not part of any religion, just tradition or popular belief.

I just consulted my books. ;) They appear as emaciated persons holding uchiwa (traditional Japanese fans). They were first mentioned during Edo period when large parts of the population became very poor.

Here's an image I found:

[moyashi]

hehe ... picture of "will-o-wisps" included above.

I forgot what they are called in Japanese

[Yair Lahav]

Thanks Nahoko,

It was very kind of you to scan in the image you attached. It is very interesting. Where did you find it? Does your source say who draw it and when? (whose signature is ÒMeMoÓ?) This binbogami looked rather different from the pictures I have seen. They usually show a haggard old man in tattered clothing. I could not clearly see what is written on the top uchiwa. The bottom one looks like ÒkasuÓ but is it O-bon Ð or, perhaps, an older variety of ÒDenÓ (as in kooden, condolence gift) on the top one? Can you help me with this? Similarly interesting are the will-o-wisps (kitsunebi) beside the binbogami which usually signify that the subject of the picture is some sort of o-bake.

But enough of binbogamis. People say if you speak a lot about them, they start liking you and move into your house. And who wants a god of poverty smiling at you across the breakfast table.

Actually, what never ceases to amaze me is how much ghost stories are still part of todayÕs Japan. Almost all of the illustrated children books I have seen have ample references to ghosts. A book for kindergarten kids, for example, shows a family of skeletons where gaikotsu-kun and gaikotsu-chan are waving good-bye to gaikotsu-otoosan who (dressed as a salaryman) is about to depart for the office. Had I had this book when I was a child, I would not have dared to go to the bathroom in the dark for monthsÉ

Another question:

For some reason, centipedes (mukade) seem to be popular in Japanese children stories. Do a lot of those critters (brrrr Ð they give me the willies) scamper around in Japan? If yes, how big are they?

Yair

[thomas]

Hi Yair,

I've split this thread for reasons of consistency and posted a new topic on insects in Japan right here. Hope you don't mind.

[DragonLady]

Wow those are a lot of sites. I am a big supernatural fan especially when it has to deal with ghosts anywhere. I live in Chicago, IL. USA so there is a lot paranormal over where I live and I usually end up visiting those sites and taking pictures and other equipment to see if it's actually haunted or just a rumor

[moyashi]

DragonLady ... hehe don't forget your salt!

[DragonLady]

Thanks moyashi, I won't forget it. ^_^

[samuraitora]

what is the salt for

[Yair Lahav]

For purification. In most cultures the dead is considered impure. Since ghosts are dead people coming back, they also impure. Because of the Shinto belief in the purifying effect of salt, the Japanese throw salt around as a means of purification after encountering with the dead (e.g. when returning home from a soushiki). In addition, salt is thrown around in the sumo ring or when consecrating a new house.

[samuraitora]

cool...learn something new every day

[jus_defy]

the Disney movie about three witches...there is a little segment about using salt as protection.
d

[samuraitora]

hocus pocus???

[Yair Lahav]

Mediaeval non-conformists did not have the opportunity to listen to satanic messages at heavy metal concerts, therefore they had to produce the stuff themselves. A way to do so was saying Black Mass. It was the Latin Mass said backwards, under an upside down cross over the altar (on which usually a goat head and a bat head was placed, a la Ozzy Ozbourne). Some parts of the Black Mass were not said backwards, but were a twisted form of the original Latin text. For example, instead of ÒOremusÓ (letÕs pray) they said ÒbibemusÓ (letÕs drink) or where the original called for an Amen, they said ÒStramenÓ (straw). Hocus Pocus comes from the ÒHoc est corpus meumÓ, meaning ÒThis is my bodyÓ which is said by the priest when instituting the Holy Communion. By today, ÒHocus PocusÓ has become a harmless saying, usually heard from aspiring stage magicians.

[thomas]

That's very intersting, Yair. I wasn't aware of "hocus pocus" deriving from the Latin Mass. While we're at that topic: another interesting word is "abracadabra", another magic invocation.

While being a mystical word used to invoke spirits for protection against disease, its origins are not so clear. It obviously originates with the gnostics and was found on Roman amulets ("abraxas"), but also used by medieval alchemists and in kabbalistic rituals. Nowadays it's also used by stage magicians.

[Yair Lahav]

"in kabbalistic rituals"

???

Which one? (Let's not include the presently fashionable New Age and Neo-Gnostic circles that use the word "Kabbalah" without ever being exposed to the actual stuff - which requires decades of preliminary studies (Torah, Talmud, Midrash, Tosafot, etc.), superb knowledge of both Hebrew and Arameic and a personal instructor who transmits the oral tradition to the student who, by the way, has to be at least age 42).

Did you see any scholarly documentation regarding the actual use of the Gnostic/Basilean concept of Abraxas in Kabbalistic rituals? (The only thing I can think about would be Gershon Sholem's book about the possible Gnostic sources of Kabbalah, but that book is not about liturgy).