When it comes to Japanese folklore, one of the more familiar characters is the kitsune (狐), the fox demon. Kitsune are capable of possessing humans, but they are most well-known for being shapeshifters. Foxes are known to be tricksters, fooling humans, stealing food, all kinds of petty crime. One aspect they are most well-known for is taking …
Category: Research
Inugami and Shikigami
Onmyouji and Shikigami go hand-in-hand, and not just because they're both hard to pronounce. Although Onmyouji by and large, practiced a form of divination arts, many believed that the truly powerful ones were capable of controlling spirits and demons. Shikigami (she-ki-ga-mi) 式神, are such spirits that Onmyouji could have do their bidding. Depending on how good the practitioner was, shikigami could …
Onmyouji
When I first started writing this book, I ran into a snag of what exactly was an Onmyouji (pronounced on-myo-gee) 陰陽師. There's a lot of beliefs and religion mixed into the concept, but basically, an Onmyouji is a practitioner of magic and divination. During the Heian era, they were government officials meant to protect the Emperor and citizens …
MJ Lin 