Goryo Shinko, Japan's religion of Ghosts
In response to the disturbances caused by ghosts, Japanese culture emerged with its own religion.
In that empire of symbols that is Japan there was once a religion called Goryo Shinko: the belief that the spirits of those who suffered a violent death caused illnesses and all kinds of disasters. This idea, obviously, indicates that the mental state at the time of death was crucial to determining the fate that the spirit would have: the terrible possibility of becoming a goryo (a vengeful ghost) depended on the mental peace that one enjoyed at the moment of death. The number of political and natural disasters, in fact, was a barometer showing that the majority of the population was vengeful ghosts.
From the mid-Heain period (794-1185) until its end, when there were famine, plagues, civil wars and any other kind of social instability, the misery was entirely attributed to the goryo and as a result the so-called “religion of ghosts” (goryo shinko) was created in an attempt to placate them. The political powers deemed it fundamental to resolve these issues through what we might call “inter-dimensional diplomacy,” which led to shamanic rituals and for the imperial court to grant noble titles to some of the goryos. In this way it was hoped that the rancorous ghosts would transform into protective spirits that would delimit certain territories or support certain causes. Introducing them into the law, even under the protocol of flattery, was a way of civilizing them.
Those high ranking in power built temples for the most powerful goryo (warriors and nobles of the court) and their rites of placation included offerings or chants of the “sutra of the heart,” which attempted to transform their angry state into one of peace. Consecrated temples still exist to some of those, such as Shimogoryo and Kamigoryo, both in Kyoto. Although the religion of ghosts fell into decline with the arrival of Buddhism, vestiges of this fascinating belief system are still present in modern Japanese culture.
Related Articles
When ancient rituals became religion
The emergence of religions irreversibly changed the history of humanity. It’s therefore essential to ask when and how did ancient peoples’ rituals become organized systems of thought, each with their
Seven ancient maps of the Americas
A map is not the territory. —Alfred Korzybski Maps are never merely maps. They’re human projections, metaphors in which we find both the geographical and the imaginary. The cases of ghost islands
An artist crochets a perfect skeleton and internal organs
Shanell Papp is a skilled textile and crochet artist. She spent four long months crocheting a life-size skeleton in wool. She then filled it in with the organs of the human body in an act as patient
A musical tribute to maps
A sequence of sounds, rhythms, melodies and silences: music is a most primitive art, the most essential, and the most powerful of all languages. Its capacity is not limited to the (hardly trivial)
The enchantment of 17th-century optics
The sense of sight is perhaps one the imagination’s most prolific masters. That is why humankind has been fascinated and bewitched by optics and their possibilities for centuries. Like the heart, the
Would you found your own micro-nation? These eccentric examples show how easy it can be
Founding a country is, in some ways, a simple task. It is enough to manifest its existence and the motives for creating a new political entity. At least that is what has been demonstrated by the
Wondrous crossings: the galaxy caves of New Zealand
Often, the most extraordinary phenomena are “jealous of themselves” ––and they happen where the human eye cannot enjoy them. However, they can be discovered, and when we do find them we experience a
Think you have strange reading habits? Wait until you've seen how Mcluhan reads
We often forget or neglect to think about the infinite circumstances that are condensed in the acts that we consider habitual. Using a fork to eat, for example, or walking down the street and being
The sky is calling us, a love letter to the cosmos (video)
We once dreamt of open sails and Open seas We once dreamt of new frontiers and New lands Are we still a brave people? We must not forget that the very stars we see nowadays are the same stars and
The sister you always wanted (but made into a crystal chandelier)
Lucas Maassen always wanted to have a sister. And after 36 years he finally procured one, except, as strange as it may sound, in the shape of a chandelier. Maassen, a Dutch designer, asked the