Living spirit - Ikiryo

Among the human spirits that possess people, the spirits of living people are called ghosts. In contrast, ghosts of the dead are those that possess people. They are a type of possessive spirit, a phenomenon known as spirit possession.

It was believed that if a person had strong feelings such as jealousy, envy, resentment, or hatred towards a friend, the spirit of that person would leave the body and possess the other person, tormenting and sometimes even killing them. In the Tale of Genji, there is a famous story about how the living spirit of Lady Rokujo took advantage of Aoi's weakness in the final month of pregnancy and tormented her. In the Tale of Konjaku, there is also a story about how the living spirit of a divorced wife visits her ex-husband's house in the middle of the night in normal appearance, and even though the door was locked, she sneaks in through a gap and kills the ex-husband. Those who are possessed will ask a priest or other person to cast a spell to get rid of the spirit. However, it is none other than the priest who judges certain symptoms to be the result of possession by a living spirit, so the prevalence of possession phenomena and the existence of sorcerers often correlate and coexist with each other.

[Shoji Inoguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

人に憑(つ)く人間霊のうち、生きた人の霊。これに対し死霊は、死者の霊が憑くことをいう。憑き物現象の憑依(ひょうい)霊の一種。

　ある人が、友人などに対し、ねたみ、そねみ、恨み、憎しみなどの激しい感情をもっていると、その人の霊は肉体から遊離して相手に取り憑いて苦しめ、ときには殺すこともできると考えられていた。『源氏物語』で、六条の御息所(みやすどころ)の生霊が葵(あおい)の上の臨月の衰弱につけこんで苦しめた話は有名である。『今昔(こんじゃく)物語』にも、離縁した妻の生霊が普通の姿をして深夜に前夫の家を訪れ、戸が締まっているのに、すきまから入り込み、前夫を取り殺した話がみえている。取り憑かれた側では、祈祷師(きとうし)などに頼んで、呪法(じゅほう)でこれを落とそうとする。しかし、ある症状を生霊の憑いたためだと判断するのも、ほかならぬ祈祷師であったから、憑き物現象の盛行と呪者の存在とは、互いに相関、共存の形をとることが多い。

［井之口章次］

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