![]() Nevertheless, in certain cases, if the user of the shiki-no-kami is powerful enough, the spirit can posses or even kill people. Most stories refer to onmyoji using the shikigami in this form to perform covert acts such as spying or stealing. In the form of a paper person, the spirits are relatively harmless. Depending on the power of their master, they can also possess other physical objects, animals and occasionally, people. However, shiki-no-kami usually possess paper manikins (delicately folded paper that resembles a small person) to obtain a physical form. Shikigami are spirits, controlled by the spiritual power of their masters. My idea of what a paper manikin of a shikigami might look like, based on the ones from the film Spirited Away As an adult, he is famous for having twelve shikigami, one for each branch of the zodiac. In the legends, the greatest of all onmyoji, Abe no Seimei, was able to summon shiki-no-kami the precocious age of six years old. However, over time the shiki-no-kami became the servant spirits of the onmyoji, taking on a greater role as part of the onmyoji’s mysterious and magical powers. Originally, they might have been a tool for divination, as the kanji for shiki, is the same a that used in the word shikisen (a complex form of augury performed by onmyoji in the Heian Era). They serve a role similar to that of a witch’s familiar in western folklore. Onmoyoji practiced a form of magic and divination, which involved the summoning and control of spirits: the shikianegami. Shikigami are traditionally thought of as spirits used by onmyoji, users of the art of onymodo. They are also known as 式 人 (shiki-jin), where the kanji 人 (jin) means person, so a person related to a ceremony. The shiki (式) in 式神 means ceremony, while the kami (神) translates to god, so the meaning can be interpreted as a form of god summoned by, or used in a ceremony. Kanji: 式神 (shikigami) or 式の神 (Shiki-no-kami) ![]() The Stones of Five Colors and the Empress Jokwa, an Old Chinese StoryĪbe no Seimei and his shikigami (bottom right) before an assembly of god-like demon spirits By Fudo-Rieki-Engi (不動利益縁起) Public Domain The Legend of the Shikigami The Meaning Behind the Name.The Story of the Old Man Who Made Withered Trees to Flower.The Story Of Urashima Taro, The Fisher Lad.The Story Of Princess Hase, A Story Of Old Japan.The Shinansha, or The South Pointing Carriage.Momotaro, or the Story of the Son of a Peach.The Story of The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die.The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy.The Happy Hunter and the Skillful Fisher.The Mirror of Matsuyama, a Story of Old Japan.Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki.Shikigami: the Servant Spirits of Onmyoji.Gashadokuro: The Giant Skeleton That Wants to Eat You.Hyakki Yagyo: The Night Parade of One Hundred Yokai.
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