Possession of the Shamaness Tajihi no Ayako by the Spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, from Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine
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The ancient Shinto belief that forces of nature are animated by human spirits underlies the legendary origins of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine in Kyoto. The scholar-statesman-poet Sugawara no Michizane (845–903) died in exile following slander by his enemies at court. When natural disasters caused the deaths of his detractors, he was posthumously promoted to high office, and soon thereafter his spirit was deified as Tenjin, patron of the falsely accused. In this scene, from what was originally a set of handscrolls painted in the hakubyō (white drawing) style of narrative illustration, a shamaness called Tajihi no Ayako receives an oracle in the form of a possession by the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane, telling her to worship the deceased statesman as a god. The scene shows the disheveled, partially unclothed shamaness performing an ecstatic dance on the veranda of a building while a male courtier and monk look on. According to legend, Tajihi no Ayako received the oracle in 942 and began worshipping Tenjin. Several years later the delivery of another oracle is said to have led to the construction of the shrine proper.
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