Hitodama
Hitodama (japanese 人魂; meaning “human soul”) is the term for a fictitious being from japanese folklore. It is thought to be the wandering soul of a newly deceased and therefore to be some sort of a ghost.
Description
Hitodama are commonly described as floating, bluish to greenish fireballs with a long, hair-thin tail. It is said that they morph into countless tiny black beetles or scatter in pieces of black coal if they touch the ground.
Folklore
Folklore has it that hitodama can be seen in dark, cool woods or near cemeteries. It is said that they are normally harmless, but sometimes playing pranks on travellers or seem to be attracted to people with strong karma. But there are also hitodama that can get evil and aggressive, especially when the person was accidentally killed or murdered. Generally hitodama are thought to be the souls of unlucky humans which could not find peace after passing away.
Origin
The legends about hitodama are possibly based on fireflies, of which three species are common in Japan: Luciola cruciata (源氏 ホタル, Genji hotaru; meaning „Genji´s firefly“), Luciola lateralis (平家 ホタル, Heike hotaru; meaning "firefly from Heike"), and Colophotia praeusta. All these snail-eating beetles and their larvae are famous for their ability to make special body parts glow (bioluminescence) and make them blink rhythmically. Every year at the Fusa-park in Tokyo the legendary feast Hotarugari (蛍狩り; meaning "firefly catching") is celebrated.
Hitodama are often confused with similar phenomena, such as the “foxfire hex” (狐火, Kitsunebi; meaning "foxfire"), the “will-o'-the-wisp” (鬼火, Onibi; meaning "demon´s fire“) and ball lightning (火の玉, Hinotama; meaning "fireball“ or “ball lightning”).
Modern cultural references
Hitodama are popular motifs in modern manga and anime-series such as Inuyasha and Shaman King. In the Inuyasha-series they are shown as bluish clouds of light, which are collected by the “soul catchers” of the miko Kikyo and then fed to the priestess in an attempt to keep her alive. In Shaman King all protagonists are shamans who can conjure hitodama for protection or to use their spiritual power.
Sources
- Karen Ann Smyers: The fox and the jewel: shared and private meanings in contemporary Japanese inari worship. University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1999, ISBN 0-8248-2102-5, page 117 & 118.
- Stephen Addiss, Helen Foresman: Japanese ghosts & demons: art of the supernatural. G. Braziller, Illinois 1985, ISBN 978-0-486-99052-1
- Kazuhisa Fujie, Martin Foster: The Inu-yasha Experience: Fiction, Fantasy And Facts (= Band 5 von: Mysteries and Secrets Revealed!.) DH Publishing, Tokio 2004, ISBN 1-932897-08-9, page 82 & 83.
- Hiroyuki Takei: Shaman King, Band 1–32. VIZ Media, San Francisco 2003–2011, ISBN 1-59116-366-8 – ISBN 1-4215-2185-7
- Lloyd Vernon Knutson, Jean-Claude Vala: Biology of Snail-Killing Sciomyzidae Flies. Cambridge University Press, Camebridge (UK) 2011, ISBN 0-521-86785-1, page 24.
- Chris Philo, Chris Wilbert: Animal spaces, beastly places: new geographies of human-animal relations (= Band 10 von Critical geographies). Routledge, London/New York 2000, ISBN 0-415-19847-X, page 172–173.