p.

term

9

kamui ‘deity’

nomi ‘prayer’

onkami ‘worship’

10

ramat ‘soul’

p.

soul

11

"six ordinary strings and an additional six gold strings attached to the heart of a bear kamui".

"when the soul leaves the body ..., the soul first sits on the ceiling".

13

"ramat-chak (literally, "devoid of a soul") ... signifies "foolish" ..., while oramato (literally, "there is a soul") means "precocious"".

14

"the soul is owned by all things in this world, animate and inanimate – even by deities."

p.

travel

12

"The soul of the dead person follows a predetermined route to a certain place along the way ... to the afterworld. This way-station – which is not only for the souls of deceased human beings but also for the souls of animals, plants, and artifacts -- is usually a cave near the settlement to which they belong".

13

"the soul of a person of good nature travels smoothly as ramat to the afterworld, while that of a bad-natured person roams about as tukap in this world and harms living people."

p.

guardian-spirit

14

"the guardian spirit (turen-kamui) is none other than a deity."

"An individual’s guardian spirits are divided into ... innate spirits and acquired spirits. Innate spirits are further subdivided into ... ordinary and shamanic ... . The first group of innate spirits – ordinary guardian spirits – consists of the spirits who ... guard him or her for the whole span of life ... . The number of spirits depends on

15

The second group of innate spirits consists of shamanic guardian spirits. The owner (usually a woman) of such a spirit is forced to become a shaman. This spirit is innate to the shaman; it cannot be acquired through training ... .

The third and fourth groups are made up of spirits malevolent and harmful to their owners. ... Spirits harboring resentment toward a person ... constitute the third group, while those of the fourth group do harm for no obvious reason".

"a personal guardian spirit has its seat in the back of the person’s head {back of the mind} ... . Etymologically, the word sermak ... can be divided into ... ser (part), and mak (behind).

16

"the hero’s guardian spirits (turen-kamui) in heroic epics ... make a thunder-like sound. In one ... of the Ainu heroic epics (yukar), ... the hero hears the roaring of the thunder above his head and wonders which of his guardian spirits are enticing him".

p.

soul

17

"The ramat has more in common with the concepts of the soul held by ... the eastern Tungus tribes such as the Nanai and the Orochi. ... According to the Nanai (formerly called the Goldi) on the Amur, the omi (soul) becomes incarnate in a newborn child, and when the infant reaches the age of one year, it becomes ergeni. When the individual dies, the ergeni becomes fanja. The fanja descends to the world of the dead with a shaman as a guide. Later, the fanja becomes omi again and is reincarnated. If the infant dies before it is one year old, its omi reascends immediately to the "tree of the young birds" {cf. the bird-nest for nurturing of the infant Zal [in the S^ah-Nameh].}

18

"among the Nivkh [Giljak] , an ordinary man has only one soul, and a rich man two, while a shaman may have as many as four. ... It is intriguing to recall that an Ainu shaman can have as many as four guardian spirits."

"Oina Kamui ... has other names such as Ainurakkur, Aeoina Kamui, or Samaye Kur. In the southwest region of Hokkaido, the kamui appears in the sacred oral tradition as Okikurumi. ... the name Ainurakkur means ainu (human), rak (smelled), and kur (honorable person)."

from Niikap, Hidaka

from Oshamanbe, Shiribeshi

from Horobetsu, Hidaka

Ainu-rak-kur was informed by his foster sister, the sun-goddess, thus : "The Deity of Land Creation made the human world. ... Younger Brother Deity loved the Fire Tree Deity ... and she became pregnant. The child born from her was you".

"Lady Chikisani (Elm, or Fire tree, Deity) accompanying the Fire Deity, ... and the Sun Deity, are the parents of Ainurakkur. In this case the Deity of the Sun is a male deity."

"Chikisani, ... in the shape of a girl, and the Deity of Thunder (Kanna Kamui) are the parents of Ainurakkur."

pedigree : "the child of the Younger Brother Deity of the Sky was Ainurakkur, who was raised by the Sun Deity. The Sun Deity is the youngest daughter of Elder Brother Deity of the Sky and has sisters, the deities of the Morning Star, Midnight Star, Sunset Star, and Moon."

{cf. [Maori] sun-god Ra}

{cf. [Maori] Tawhaki the lightning-god; his brother was Karihi}

pp. 25-6 from Piratori

p. 26 from Shiunkot

[p. 25] "the Deity of Land Creation left his plow on the east side of Mt. Oputateshike, the highest peak of the Taisetsu Mountain Range, where it took root; the

"after the creation of land, the Deity of Years (Pakor Kamui), who visited Mt. Oputateshike from the sea offshore ..., rested at the Chikisani, or elm tree on the mountain, and

[p. 26] Deity of Years (Pakor Kamui) ... stayed under the plow, after which Oina Kamui ... was born."

Ainurakkur was born; a sister of the Waterfall Deity raised him." {Marere-o-tona (‘waterfall of the south’ "blocking up a cave" (T&PNZI vol. 34, 1901, p. 38) : cf. the cave of Amaterasu the sun-goddess = foster-mother of Ainu-rak-kur in myth from Niikap}

"Chikisani is a kind of elm tree (Ulmus davisiana ... var. japonica ...) and means chi (we), kisa (rub), and ni (tree) ... . In the myth, the deity of Fire (Ape Huchi) was born by using a fire stand and the fire stick of an elm tree. Concurrently,

from white wood shavings arose

the Deity of Shaved Sticks (Hashinaw uk Kamui), in the version of Nibutani, and

the Deity of Wolves (Horkew Kamui), in the version of Piratori.

From the fire stick arose

the Deity of the Altar for Sacred Shaved Sticks (Nusa kor Kamui), in the version of Piratori, and

the Deity Residing at the Plants’ Roots (Snakes, or Kinasut Kamui), in the version of Nibutani.

From the fire stand arose

the Deity of the Altar for Sacred Shaved Sticks (Nusa kor Kamui), in the Nibutani version, and

the Deity of Bears (Kimun Kamui) in the Piratori version".

the Uppermost Sky (Shinish Kanto)."

p.

myth

26

"the Deity of Land Creation ... blew on the mugwort, which flew like a group of birds, becoming the Deity of Years".

27

The "Deity of land Creation vainly attempted to make a fire with a poplar, and the wood shavings became the Deity of Years".

p.

myth

27

Ainu-rak-kur "rescued a sister of the Deity of Rivers from evil deities and married her.

In different versions ..., she is a sister

of the Deity of Thunder (Kanna Kamui),

of the Deity of Country (Kotan kor Kamui), "Hikagehime",

or of a deity of the sky, etc. ...

The Sakhalin Ainu also have ... Ainurakkur ... called Yai reshu kur (deity who grew on his own). Although he was an orphan, he was raised by male and female hawks which nested on an oleacenous tree. {cf. Zal in the S^ah Nameh} When he grew up, he traveled to the Garden of Deities located on a far-off island, married a deity who had descended from the sky after stealing her divine clothes {a common theme of Philippine & Borneo mythologies}, and brought such oral traditions as yukar, hauki, uchashikuma, oina, and toita (recited by the deities in the Garden of Deities) to the human world. Furthermore, he received a teaching ... deifying the hawks which raised him ... by dedicating sacred shaved sticks to them".

27-8

[Koryak myth] "An orphan whose relatives were killed by demons was saved by hawks who killed the demons, and raised the orphan; the orphan boy married a female bear ..., and their children are the ancestors of the present ... Koryak." {the Koreans likewise claim as their ancestress a garlic-eating she-bear (AK)} {[Eskimo tale :] the wife of Pisiksolik became a she-bear after he died and returned to life (NAI, vol 20, p. 262)

p.

shaman & shamaness

30

"The Ainu have shamans called tusukur. Tusu means "fu-jutsu in Jaopanese, or shamanic practices," and kur is an honorific meaning "person;" ... Most tusukur are women. However, the Sakhalin Ainu differ from the Hokkaido Ainu in that most shamans are men". "The tusukur diagnose and heal diseases through possession."

31

"In the Mu River area, located near the Saru River, tusukur practice fortunetelling by interpreting dreams and tell the future by the stars. ... Furthermore, before sleeping, people may ask tusukur to pray to the Fire Deity for a good dream. ... When reading by the stars, the tusukur forecasts drought, flood, heat, cold, and harvest by reading the colors and positions of the "floating" white portion surrounded by some four stars in the sky".

32

"Shamans – particularly males of the Sakhalin Ainu -- ... heal diseases, protect against epidemics, restore good fortune in hunting, and predict the fortune of a journey. Some shamans can quiet a storm ...; others can make rain fall and cause ... thundershowers. Shamans invite helping spirits by striking a skin-covered drum with a longer than foot-long flat stick whose end is wrapped with a dog skin. They announce the arrival of helping spirits by mimicking the roar of bears, the caw of crows, gabble of wild ducks, the songs of little birds, or the noises of trees in a storm. The praying shaman walks around the fire with rhythmical, quick steps ... . Soon the spirits send a divine message through the shaman’s mouth explaining how to treat the patient. Helping spirits are believed to fly to the deities and return to the human world with suggestions or answers regarding the details of the consultation. ... Some shamans appeal to the deities of the moon, fire, or high mountains for help. In these cases, birds and wolves serve as messengers. When other shamans pray to the Deity of Clouds and the Sun Deity, they use foxes as their messengers".

["se’ance practiced by female shamans of the Sakhalin Ainu" :-] "a female shaman walks around the fireplace striking a drum made of tightly stretched antelope (or musk[deer]} skin on one side with a stick (repni) made of the shin bone on which a tuft of antelope pelt remains. Once in a trance state, she sits down by the fire and sings a divine message song (tusu shinotcha)."

33

[helping spirits] "in ... the Sakhalin Ainu, various animals and birds appear as helping spirits; with the Hokkaido Ainu, the tusukur’s helping spirit – the deity which possessed the tusukur ... – is almost always the snake (the Deity of the Altar for Sacred Shaved Sticks, Nusa kor Kamui)."

34

"tusu is the practice of shamanism itself, in which the shaman in a trance conveys divine messages, performs healing, fortune-telling, and clairvoyance ..., and, if necessary, carries out exorcism (uwepotara)."

35

"the tusukur completely loses consciousness and does not remember what she said". {this is also characteristic of West-African possession by a deity}

"Diseases in people are believed to occur due to possession by evil spirits of the dead or of animals, including snakes, caterpillars, and foxes ... . In this case, the tusukur indicates the name of the evil spirit (wen kamui) and a medical treament."

p.

imu

31

"the person who practices imu appears to be surprised ... and jumps and dances, saying "Ayapo, ayapo ..." ... The belief is that people who practice imu do so and speak thus due to possession by deities."

33

"Imu is ... peculiar to Ainu women ... when thy hear about snakes, mimic the behavior of others, or take perverse actions".

34

"imu only makes people laugh". "imu manifests the phenomenon of temporary possession by the snake (the Deity of the Altar for Sacred Shaved Sticks)".

35

"The person who conducts imu is an imu woman (imuhuchi) or snake-possessed old woman (tokkoni huchi or tokkoni bakko) ... . ... she might mimic a bridal procession or the copulatory behavior ... . When someone is performing imu, there is a lot of uproarious laughter".

In other cases, the elders pray to the Fire Deity to receive imu and confer it on a sick woman ... . This means that ... the Snake Deity is asked to become a guardian spirit for the sick woman. ... He [the elder] dedicates sacred reverse shaved sticks (chehoro kakep inau) of the Japanese Judas-tree to the Chief Snake Deity (Kinashut Kamui) and prays to the deity to ... enter the patient".

"the caretaker deity of the village – Kotan kor Kamui, the Blakiston fish owl – talks to itself; ... a firefly crosses the sea seeking a husband and finally chooses a swordfish ... .

Also performed are the Kamui Chikap (Bird of the Deity) ... titled "Journey of the Deity of Wind (Rera Kamui), ... In the last scene ..., ... the deities who descended from the sky to investigate the status of human, hold a party with songs and dancing."

p.

blind shamanesses

47

"Itako are blind female shamans living in the northern part of Japan. ... The term "itako" as several reputed origins : itaku = to entrust a person with the task of the gods; ichiko = itsuku = consecrate to the gods; ita = a board made of cedar tree that was used to invoke a deity".

48

"There are different kinds of cryptology, special secret terms used ... on specific occasions. They include yama kotoba (mountain language), oki kotoba (language of the open sea), shogatsu kotoba (New Year’s Day language), and engi kotoba (tabooed language on special occasions). Magical words reported by itako ... include words which protect a person from fox tricks, heal burns, draw a thorn out of the throat, and heal a snake bite."

49

Besides the nororious fox, other creatures known to possess people are mujina (racoon dogs), ... frogs, and snakes. Unlike the gomiso shaman, the itako rarely attributes illness to hotoke (spirits of the dead) or ikiryo (spirits of living people)." ["Gomiso is another kind of shaman popular in Tsugaru region. He or she is not blind" (p. 54, n. 7).]

p.

accoutrement

49

"When a person is haunted by an animal spirit, ... He draws, on a wooden board, a picture of the animal, then hangs this picture (called an ema) on the wall or pole of a shrine, or on the Koshin-zuka (a stone monument to the god Koshin)."

"The juzu is a circular string of beads used in the rituals of ... Shugendo. ... The yamabushi, a priest of Shugendo, rubs the beads in order to expel evils. During the ceremony of hyakuman-ben (literally, a million times), the beads of a huge juzu are counted numerous times to expel evils. ... [These "prayer beads" are] of mokugenji, goldenrain tree nuts (a Chinese bladdernut, Koelreuteria paniculata)."

50

"The Ainu have a necklace named tamasai; at present it is used by a woman ... when someone dies."

51

Os^ira "gods dislike chickens and chicken eggs. ... If a man is impious or handles the image disrespectfully, he will ... suffer a deformity of the mouth."

Gohei, a sacred pole with pieces of cut paper attached to it, is used".

nuka-mushi (rice bran insect), etc.

The woodpecker (kitsutsuki, kera-tsutsuki, tera-tsutsuki) is a bird that was disobedient to its parents. Imprisoned in ice, it waits for the spring to come and melt the ice.

A huge snake lives in the Sanzu River, which flows between this world and the after world, as well as another snake in the bloody river in hell; these snakes may swallow men to try to cross rivers."

p.

custom

52

"a female shaman uses a bow; ... augury by the god Oshira is sought before hunting; ... a stingfish is offered to the mountain god."

"the Ainu dwellers in Sakhalin have similar idols – a pair of male and female gods called "shienishte" made of elderberry trees. ... The idol is a guardian god for children."

53

"An itako reported that patients possessed by a fox spirit occasionally behave like the fox itself – ... jumping, eating without using their hands, and howling."

p.

bear-ritual

55

"The Matagi are bear hunters who carry out special rituals to worship the god of the mountains. Their villages are located in the mountains of the Tohoku (Northestern) region". "matagi actually means "hunter" in the Ainu language ... . some "mountain hunters’ words" (yamakotoba) ... were ... Ainu ..., such as matagi (hunter), sanbe (heart), mame (kidney), and setta (dog)."

56

"The heart, meat from the back, and the liver are then cut up into 49 pieces. {cf. 49-day mourning-ritual after a death in China} The pieces of meat are put in skewers (seven pieces of meat on each of seven skewers) and roasted over a fire. {cf. [according to the Puran.a-s] the 7 Marut gods each in 7 categories (HP)} ... The roasted meat is eaten by the hunters, and cannot be taken back to the village."

58

In another ritual, skewered pieces meat were roasted over a fire and offered to the mountain god. ... Various cuts of meat were used depending on the region, such as meat from the back, rump, pancreas, or liver. In Sunagose, ... hunters took the roasted meat back home with them to use as medicine for labor and stomach pains ... . In Kaname, the roasted meat was thrown on a fire."

"The Matagi hunters chanted Shingon incantations".

60

[Ainu] "To say anything bad concerning bears was taboo among the Ainu hunters during their hunting expeditions. If this taboo was not observed, they believed, some mishap would occur."

[Ainu] "The liver and small intestine were chopped up, put on skewers, and placed on the altar as an offering of gratitude to the striped owl and the Hokkaido owl. (The Ainu believed these birds guided them to the location of bears.) The skewered raw meat was then salted and eaten by the hunters."

61

"The Ainu believed that the bear chooses the hunter and offers itself in sacrifice. The Ainu bear festival was a ritual in which the Ainu prayed that bears will again offer themselves to the hunters".

"The Matagi performed hunting rituals only for bears and Japanese serows."