Goryō

This article is about the mythological Japanese spirit. For the Korean dynasty, see Goryeo.

Goryō (御霊) are vengeful Japanese ghosts,^{[citation needed]} from the aristocratic classes,^{[citation needed]} especially those who have been martyred.^{[citation needed]}

Description

The name consists of "two kanji, 御 (go) meaning honorable and 霊 (ryō) meaning soul or spirit."^{[citation needed]}

Arising mainly in the Heian period,^{[citation needed]} the belief was that "the spirits of powerful lords who had been wronged were capable of catastrophic vengeance, including destruction of crops and the summoning of a typhoon or an earthquake."^{[citation needed]}

According to tradition, the only way to "quell the wrath of a goryō"^{[citation needed]} was with the help of a yamabushi,^{[citation needed]} who could "perform the necessary rites that would tame the spirit."^{[citation needed]}

An example of a goryō is the Shinto kami known as Tenjin:^{[citation needed]}

Government official Sugawara no Michizane was killed in a plot by a rival member of the Fujiwara clan. In the years after his death, the capital city was struck by heavy rain and lightning, and his chief Fujiwara adversary and Emperor Daigo's crown prince died, while fires caused by lightning and floods destroyed many of residences. The court drew the conclusion that the disturbances were caused by Michizane's angry spirit. In order to placate him, the emperor restored all his offices, burned the official order of exile, and he was promoted to Senior Second Rank. Even this wasn't enough, and 70 years later he was elevated to the post of Prime Minister, and he was deified as Tenjin-sama, which means "sky deity". He became the patron god of calligraphy, of poetry and of those who suffer injustice. A shrine was established at Kitano. With the support of the government, it was immediately raised to the first rank of official shrines.

External links

• The image of the Goryō for Japanese families
• Goryo Shinko - The Religion of Ghosts - An article about the Heian period Goryo religion at hyakumonogatari.com

References

• Iwasaka, Michiko and Toelken, Barre. Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experiences in Japanese Death Legends, Utah State University Press, 1994. ISBN 0874211794

See also

• Yurei
• Bancho Sarayashiki
• Japanese mythology