does anyone have an archive of the esoteric touhou bread?

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]

>>48253130
>>/jp/thread/47684824
>>/jp/thread/47586518
>>/jp/thread/47145383
>>/jp/thread/46801995#p46945410

https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/
https://yamayuandadu.tumblr.com/post/740169159591264256/tenma-boss-of-the-tengu-exploring-the

[Anonymous No.]

What is this?

[Anonymous No.]

Did you get the call?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48578834
I am on medication.

Okina is not real. Okina is a fictional character, she can't hurt me. They aren't coming for me, because 'they' do not exist. They are delusions and nothing more, perversions of archaic mythology that I have nothing to do with. I've stopped entertaining them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48579334
Good for you if you need it, but why would she hurt you?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48578802
Retards circlejerking.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48574420
spooky

[Anonymous No.]

>>48578834
Nta, but yes I did. That explains my absence for a long while. Gonna go back over everything again to see what all I've missed.

Also, found a book: The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits-an encyclopedia of Mononoke and Magic, by Mathew Meyer.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591074
What's that book about?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591241

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591241
>>48591319

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591319
>>48591330
Oh cool!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591399
Are you the big4?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591436
Yeah

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591442
https://z-library.sk/book/2839211/df51b5/the-hour-of-meeting-evil-spirits-an-encyclopedia-of-mononoke-and-magic.html

Got it from here. You may be able to use a good bit on your site, if you'd want to.

-E

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591473
Thanks a lot!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591442
Coincidentally, the hour of the Ox has become very acquainted with me these past months. And I saw the back of purple hair and wearing red while rocking back and forth as it overlooked a cliff in my dream the other night, and apparently the 3 like to dance or had a festival? Was synchronized.

.....do you know what the symbols on Ran's tabard mean, by any chance?

[Anonymous No.]

Ah, and back to those ephemeral dreams, we go.....

See you all in the next year.
Until then, have a good one.

[Anonymous No.]

[Anonymous No.]

I assume songs can be from circles as well because I've got a few I still listen to to this day.

[Anonymous No.]

What have been your most supernatural experiences recently?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
Recently I thought that I was spending too much time on /jp/ and tried to quit some threads, and prayed for guidance.
I ended up having one of the worst days of the year and none of the free time I thought I'd have appeared at all. So I just returned to browsing the entire (worthwile parts of the) jay

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
Too many to count. I've been keeping a notebook and writing them all down. I'm on page 11 of a brand new one since December 23rd.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48591501
>.....do you know what the symbols on Ran's tabard mean, by any chance?
NTA but I used to think it might be something like Sanskrit or some other related old language used in or related to Buddhism since it shares that same flowing shape. The tough thing is that her tabard isn't always consistent. PCB vs UDoALG for example changes a lot. To my knowledge there also hasn't been any ZUN art of her with her full tabard on display, so printwork depictions could be off on the details around her chest in more ways than one. There was one theory I saw that it was supposed to mimic the text and design work on ofuda, so that's a direction you could look in, but for the moment I'm inclined to believe it's like Kasen where there's no concrete meaning and it's a design fitting to the character. With how there's a mix of flowing and angular parts it could represent a mix of organic and inorganic or arcane runes and circuits on a computer chip; a representation of how she's a flesh and blood Kitsune running on Gap Linux.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48602870
Thanks for that info, also bumping.
Main reason for asking was a dream right when you fall asleep and get those hyper realistic images that flash in your head-mine was almost like a drone pov that approached her from the side and then zoomed in rapidly to the markings on her tabard before I fell asleep, and I woke up wondering what it meant, then remembering that as far as I'm aware nobody has ever had a concrete answer for hers specifically.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
I saw and picked up Yukari dressed as a damn Dame Blanche. While all I wanted to do was to camp at night under the new moon, near a river and stargazing.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48574420
>>/jp/thread/47967359
>>/jp/thread/48253130
I might be forgetting some other threads.
>>48578834
More like they got my call and they made it known right away.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48580569
If you think we are retarded you should see what's going on in Japan
https://x.com/LW_OG3/status/1874730218348589110
>>48602870
If it's something related to Buddhism, it's most likely Siddham script:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddha%E1%B9%83_script
I remember someone here did some deep dive into the PC-98 games and ZUN used letters from Siddham script in the background art for Konngara's fight, so there is a precedent.

As that one anon in the previous thread dug out, Ran has some kind of tangential connection to esoteric Buddhism, so if it's something existent, it's pretty likely Siddham. If it's not existent, it might very well be inspired by it.

Ofuda and the fulu talismans that inspired them are another possible source of inspiration, but AFAIK ofuda have legible kanji and the fulu talismans use basicaly a system of kangxi that are fused together. They retain the rather angular character of these writing systems. Not a bad theory, but Siddham either as is or as an inspiration seems more likely to me.
>>48597703
Things have been mostly quiet, I did perceive them more strongly than usual around the winter solstice, likely because I finally got the proper kamidana. Last night while trying to asleep I did see the same kind of flashes of light twice that I used to sporadicaly see during the spring and summer. I think it's some kind of an internal thing but I don't quite know what.
>>48604869
This is the complete list:

>>/jp/thread/46801995
>>/jp/thread/47145383
>>/jp/thread/47586518
>>/jp/thread/47967359
>>/jp/thread/48253130
For what's it worth, I always add the latest one to the Archive after the thread gets archived, but maybe I should make an own section for them instead of burying them into the acknowledgements section.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48604753
>white lady
That's some real serious bad shit lad.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48606232
Thanks for that, I'll look into it further when I get time. I'm
>>48603201
>>48600980

Things have been rather hectic lately, and speaking of seeing and interacting with this topic, I fought either a tsuchigumo or jorogumo that ambushed me in the dream world while Yukari acted as a passive observer to see if I passed a test of needing more spiritual power. That ended with me taking a page from Gandalf and smiting its ruin upon the mountainside (which.....may or may not have been youkai mountai after we tumbled out of one of her gaps)....
And this all followed me in the waking world prior to finding that book I linked you to.

So yeah.

(Any idea on those little smokey orbs that may be vaguely white in color, seem to have a mind of their own, and like to dart back and forth around you and then take nest near old Japanese items that have connection to some big names? Asking for a friend)

[Anonymous No.]

>>48604753
New story incoming?!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48606232
>I remember someone here did some deep dive into the PC-98 games and ZUN used letters from Siddham script in the background art for Konngara's fight, so there is a precedent.
this one right?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48606988
>those little smokey orbs that may be vaguely white in color
There's too many options to choose from. Various orbs are an extremely common manifestation of all kinds of spirit entities. Some have said it's closest to their "true form" that we can perceive with open eyes.

More related to specificaly Japan, they had a lot of lore about them. These include at least the kitsunebi, hitodama and shiranui. I believe some kind of orbs of light were also associated with the oni.

But the West has of course the will' o wisp, and in recent times there has been a lot of UFO lore about all kinds of orbs of light. Some smaller ones even like to show up in people's houses.

Do they interact with physical objects? Do they show up in mirrors or video?

I once saw a tiny orb of light zoom through a door and it made a knock when it hit the door. It passed into a storage space I have. I'd been hearing sporadic knocking noises from there, but I had chalked it up to some structural factor. After that, I decided to do a cleansing of my apartement and the knocking noises disappearing.
>>48607432
Yeah, that one. Whoever made that has some real passion. I wonder what the other fun facts are.

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/siddham.htm
Looking closer, Ran's tabard doesn't really look like it's straight up Siddham. But there is some similarity to it.

Since it's not Siddham either, maybe it's just kitsune script.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48607653
>other fun facts
They come from a PC98 english patch pack in the images folder, the translation team added a bunch of trivia
https://www.mediafire.com/file/yxcg7mvg1lj1i6g/TouhouProjectPC-98-CompleteEnglishPatchPack100.rar/file
>kitsune script
Might be onto something since what little fox script we see in FS shows it's like hieroglyphs and it's plausible since we don't know the rest of the alphabet, but whether what we see in FS is artist liberty or not is up for debate.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48607785
>They come from a PC98 english patch pack in the images folder, the translation team added a bunch of trivia
OK, now there are some really fine deep cuts in there. Thanks a lot for this.
>what little fox script we see in FS
I haven't actually gotten into FS yet, I had no idea there is in-canon kitsune script in Touhou.

Another idea that occured to me is that maybe the swirls and orbs are supposed to be a representation of the kitsunebi? Not sure about the other stuff on Ran's tabard though.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48607653
>>48607785
>>48607915
Good info, thanks. Yes, they appear to be sentient and can interact with things, though as to how intelligent they are, I can't say, but they definitely have flight paths and can avoid obstacles. It's almost a guarantee of appearing between 1-3am my time when everyone (including myself) should be asleep (but I've become nocturnal and have a habit of it). There's been plenty of knocking noises, no bugs or streetlights or any outside interference that one would check for, and they are almost guaranteed of the "spirit" variety, whatever that may entail. Bugs aren't amorphous blobs of smokey white the size of a fist that float to specific points in your room and only your room. Plus the feelings of cold spots and the dreams and synchronicities everywhere leads me to believe something is going on, though aside from the splattered dream youkai encounter, I've felt no malevolence or had any abnormal luck. As a matter of fact, I've gone down a path of getting my life together after hearing "you need to get your act together" out of nowhere, plus the hexagram readings...

Getting a lot of "hang tight and focus on yourself with a deep dive and training, big and great things are coming, but so help me Gods, if you deviate from the path!" and such.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48607984
The knocking is most likely curious locals who wish to prank you. The orbs are basicaly completely unknowable, they could be locals, they could be something else.

As for getting told you need to get your life together and getting the message of not deviating the path, yeah, you have the attention of something that is benevolent but not 100% love and light. You probably know what it is yourself, and if not, you may have caught one of the deities from us.

All I can really say is that do take the messages seriously, and that the more prosocial, kinder, generous, patient, constructive etc. you are, the easier it will be. I know it's very, very hard especially if you are starting from a difficult position. I am very, very, far away from being perfect at one of those. It's all about incremental and sustainable changes and not giving up when things get difficult.

A lot of things are going to change and in ways you can't imagine yet, and a lot of will be extremely mundane. But it's going to be worth it, and a lot of the ways it will be worth it are also going to be extremely mundane.

I don't know what your circumstances are and you don't have to tell me, but even if you'd feel like a complete mess, there is a reason why they don't contact random middle class parents whose lives are in perfect order. The fact that there is a mess, a chaos, maybe something broken just means that it can be cleaned, reordered and put back together. I think they genuinely enjoy it when they can be a part of that process of change. The value of any deity is ultimately in how much they can change the lives of their devoted for the better. You will have to do a lot of work yourself and you will not get everything you (think) you want, but they will be there for you if you stick with them.

Good luck and do study the I Ching. It seems to be really great tool for communicating with them. If you are the reading type, Benebell Wen's translation and commentary is excellent.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48608268
I'm happy to share a large majority of what I'm dealing/working with, since I've kinda helped with all this in the beginning of these threads. Just now seeing some kind of action again after....lots of upheaval and health evaluations. But I guess that's what happens when you wish for change, huh?

I've got books for learning all that site building stuff, too, just haven't sat down and done anything.

-Eclipse

[Anonymous No.]

>>48608348
......damn you, phone posting.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48608352

[Anonymous No.]

>>48608625

[Anonymous No.]

>>48608348
>I'm happy to share a large majority of what I'm dealing/working with
Do share, then.

Also, is that one on the left (right?) on Chinese astrology?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48612152
>astrology
Yeah, it is. Though it's more like babby's first intro into the ba zi (four pillars) and doesn't actually teach much. A good thing to have, but more of a 101 book.

>sharing is caring
Where to start? Heavy synchronicity, odd occurrences like the wisps, mental imagery or voices clear as day right when I wake up, the odd dreams, phantom smells of some kind of floral perfume, electrical issues with everything directly around me, health issues with my heart that came out of nowhere to only then get full tests done and it be perfectly fine and I have a full-blown clean bill of health for my entire system (except for vitamin d, that ones almost completely absent in me even though I go outside a lot during the day despite the nocturnal sleep schedule), and on and on.

Last night's "dream" was the first real problem I had with things that actually got to me and I'm not going into detail on that until after I've eaten something this morning (superstition).

I'm basically on the same level as >>48604753 some nights with what I'm experiencing. One night, I had weird fractal visuals and a heat rush while "kamikakushi" repeated over and over in my head as I was trying to sleep about a month ago. And I know what it means, but had no inside or outside cause for it to be on my mind/soul(?) except for listening to a YouTube video about Kisaragi station, then the dreams again were very in depth. And New Year Eve, coming back from the bookstore with the astrology book in pic, I had songs set to shuffle and this came on:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YgKGREZZj5I
Never heard or watched before, but it felt like I had slipped into "focus mode" as I drove home and had to literally dodge bad drivers that came very close to causing major wrecks for myself and/or others.

Like some here, I try to take a step back and "take a break", but cosmic forces seem to have other ideas. (Also had no dreams at all that night. Compete blank)

[Anonymous No.]

>>48606485
They have many meanings if you're familiar with european esoteric stuff. But they're indeed often referred as figure of doom out here.
>>48607352
Hell yeah, here you go! https://pastebin.com/YEzThDtq
>>48613334
I think than you might be superior than me in that case, because you don't have to resonate with the moon to have super awesome dreams. Also, I feel than I'm losing myself over my dream-self sometimes.

Oh, By the way. Here your astronomical calandar for the month;
Jan 4; Saturn near moon, Aquarius on sunset.
Jan 10; Jupiter near moon, Taurus on evening.
Jan 12; Mars at the closet form Earth, Gemini.
Jan 13; Full moon.
Jan 18; Venus near Saturn, Aquarius on evening.
Jan 19; Meteor shower near Ursa Minor.
Jan 21; Large planetary alignment.
Jan 29; New moon.
Jan 31; Jupiter near Aldebaran, Taurus.

[Anonymous No.]

Hey anons, nice to see one of these again
Time to put on some Cross Current and Diverse System on the background and ponder the orb that is Touhou

[Anonymous No.]

Why does it always feel like I can almost talk to touhous, but they're just barely out of reach. They are not just regular images of fictional characters, they are definitely (neo)platonic forms.
I am a christian however and I will always be mindful not to start worshipping any of them, and I definitely won't be making deals with them, but I do want to understand them as well as I can and gather wisdom that I can apply to my own life.
The book posted by the other anon above looks very interesting inded.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48615974
>I am a christian however and I will always be mindful not to start worshipping any of them, and I definitely won't be making deals with them
Consider taking a cue from Buddhists and start praying for spirits' salvation. If 2hus are some sort of angels, whether disgraced or not, then praying for either possibility of repentance or for providence for them, respectively, would still be a nice gesture to signalise peaceful intentions.

[Anonymous No.]

I fully accept that what we call "angels" and "demons" exist. And I also think that these manifest differently depending on the culture and the person. What the heck is ZUN up to? Is he doing this intentionally or not? Is he deliberately giving these entities bodies in the form of egregores (and humans, in some very extreme cases)? Or is his creation of Touhou just a side effect of a very intuitive understanding of the spiritual world?
It struck me today that very most likely ZUN will pass away quite some time before I do, and even if it's still far away off (hopefully), I won't be ready for it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48616155
That sounds good actually. I always wondered about "neutral" spirits. My christian peers are very firmly in the belief that "it's either good or evil", but that just doesn't seem right to me. I still want everything to turn towards to good though. Praying for spirits sounds like an interesting exercise

[Anonymous No.]

>>48614753
I'm not so sure about calling it superiority, just a different frequency we're on. As for losing oneself, as long as you don't pull a zoomie Sumi, I think it'll be okay.

Thanks for the dates, I've been meaning to track those for exactly all this.

>>48615769
>>48615974
Irony that these two have been frequent visitors (or rather, I was a visitor to their house. Still no clue on the details of that contract stuff. Had a good idea the months it happened, but then almost all contract with the SDM stopped for a while until just recently within dreams. They explained how they get stuff from the outside and Remi asked me to join them permanently but it felt like a test and I "feel I'm not ready for that yet").

>>48615974
>"why does it feel they're real but out of reach?"
Because that's essentially what's going on, I feel.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48614753
I've never encountered a white lady when doing some tourism in france, all I know is the urban legends about them. But the lady on a wheelchair with dementia with the overall sass displayed really cracked me up! Sorry Okina, but that was too goddamn funny.
I like the implications than there is some fantastic version of the planets, just like the moon. Because back in the days before Verena we used to think than Venus was a paradise world.
And then there is this poor Ran who see a overpowered man spawning out of absolutely nowhere, do the livesey walk to the room of her master. Then literally manhandle her and come back to you satisfied to have asserted his dominance, then disappear out of thin air to where he came for.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48614753
Turnabout is fair play, and poor Ran.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48613334
>A good thing to have, but more of a 101 book.
You gotta start somewhere. I found a book on Chinese astrology in my native language around August last year. I did the analysis process in the early fall and it was pretty interesting, but also kinda difficult and laborous. The book has also really weird romanization in places that made it very hard for me to look further info into some stuff.
>health issues with my heart that came out of nowhere
>vitamin d, that ones almost completely absent in me
OK that does sound kinda worrisome. What kind of heart issues?
>One night, I had weird fractal visuals and a heat rush while "kamikakushi" repeated over and over in my head as I was trying to sleep about a month ago.
Uhhhh...
>>48614753
>But they're indeed often referred as figure of doom out here.
Damn, what the heck have you people gotten involved with?
>>48615769
These types of posts seem to be occuring with an increasing frequency, that one thread about going to Gensokyo turned into this stuff too and it's been only a week or two since it archived...
>Why does it always feel like I can almost talk to touhous, but they're just barely out of reach.
That's probably because they are just barely out of reach for most haha.
>>48616155
Not sure if they would apreciate the Christian idea of salvation. Buddhism's idea of these things is very, very different to begin with. At times, particularly when it comes to the Japanese side of things, the syncretization seems to have gone both ways. Even the Zen master Dogen said something along the lines of "the mountains and trees are my Buddha".
>>48616213
>"angels" and "demons"
There's a lot of stuff out there that does not fit into those categories, I would argue that most of the spirits don't sit into those archetypes. Even for some of the hostile entities "demon" is a bit too grandiose for a spirit equivalent of a rat in the wall.
>Is he doing this intentionally or not?
Very hard to say, but what I have gathered so far leans towards him not doing it intentionally. The afterword to SoPM seems relevant here:
https://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Symposium_of_Post-mysticism/Afterword_by_ZUN
Maybe he is joking, but being surprised at the background of his own characters and feeling like "some troublesome ones started to move on their own" is a pretty baffling statement to make.
>and humans, in some very extreme cases
What do you mean by this?
>>48616250
While I think there are some spirits that are unambiguously hostile and/or parasitic to humans, I think the vast majority of the things out there either just are. If some of them are hostile or suspicious towards humanity, they have good reasons.

There's certainly also "good" entities that are aligned with the best of human interests, but it's not usually 100% love and light either. It's a very parental relationship, they do love us but we are mostly like smelly, really noisy and stupid children to them. Some of them are substantially less tolerant to human foibles than others. There are also "good" entities which are very selective and kind of harsh and will happily put you through the pear wiggler to sort you out.

Even in the Bible the angels had to tell people not to fear them.

It's also a two-way relationship, you might not just vibe as well with some beings as you would with others. And there's a kind of reason why religious practice not only brings people closer to the deities, but also establishes a protocol and kind of limits and filters to it. It's probably not good if everyone could have the full attention of some storm god or some deity that's specialized in very aggressively wrangling out small-s self, small-h human behaviours.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48614753
>be this man
>just want to camp and see stars in peace
>probably got cursed by a dame blanche (this is serious business mate)
>got messed on by Yukari to the absolute limit
>got hagged
>pull out a Yu-Gi-Oh
>Poor Ran did not even get a greeting by a trespasser, at least he respect her work and take off his shoes
>phonk walk his way to Yukari livesey style
>conquer her like a real frenchie would
>leave without elaborating further
>Poor Ran have to stop her work because Yukari's on a shock state
ABSOLUTE. POWER. FANTASY.
But next time try be nicer to this poor Ran... She's having it rough with Yukari.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48617700
You're welcome. I'll try to not put a Sumireko.
>>48618454
Well, if you want to encounter a white lady next time to go in France? You should try Bretagne and Aquitaine, there is a huge load of country roads and religious stuff. I know very well the area. As for Venus, it was indeed believed to be a paradise world full of dinosaurs in a tropical environnement and it is believed by some xenologists to actually possess silicon-based life on its clouds.
>>48618563
Maybe she wanted it to be that way or her mysterious masterminded plan of doom did fall apart and got the consequances. In all cases, I totally won!
>>48620783
Too many things... My recklessness and foul mouth often get me in dire situations. But the Dame Blanche, can be also a symbol of happiness and stuff like that. https://godsandmonsters.info/dames-blanches/ This contain useful stuff about them.
>>48621234
Alright, alright. I get it, I'll try to be nicer with Ran...

[Anonymous No.]

>>48624108
>But the Dame Blanche, can be also a symbol of happiness and stuff like that.
I suppose you're lucky you didn't get the attention of another blonde older woman from Touhou.

[Anonymous No.]

I'd like these threads to remain serious and not be diverted in the direction of writefagging/fanfiction. Lucid dreaming being just that - lucid.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48620783
>Not sure if they would apreciate the Christian idea of salvation.
Well, there was Anon in the previous thread that said he was interested in Christian theology, among other things, perhaps if he is still around he could chime in.
But from a position of a Christian there are three things one can do, I think: either ignore spiritual beings, pray for their well-being (whatever it may entail), or use exorcisms on them (or ask professional exorcist for intervention). I'm sure the middle one is the most friendly option, if it comes from sincere agape and concern for spirits.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48616155
>>48624272
>salvation
God is a king, and salvation means citizenship in His kingdom. Like any government, He offers comfort and peace in exchange for loyalty and conformity. Each will make of this offer what they will.

[Anonymous No.]

Quick reminder to /x/ posters that our experiences here so far have been overwhelmingly uplifting and positive. Whether by spirits or egregores/memeplexes, fear begets fearsomeness, and likewise love begets loveliness. So don't try to sow fear without understanding, nor let the unknown frighten you.
We're united here from our many separate worlds in the name of love and good vibes, which are the result and cause of our good experiences so far. Let them shine.

[Anonymous No.]

>be sentient egregore on the brink of snuffing out of existence
>one last gamble
>bombard this poor japanese guy fucking around on his pc with intense mythological symbolism
>he creates memetic bodies for you to inhabit
>you have secured immortality and considerable influence over humanity
huh, nothin personnel kid

[Anonymous No.]

>>48625675
Frankly, if they're really the way ZUN describes them, they deserve oblivion.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48624221
I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, but it's not easy to set a clear standard for what is ontopic and what isn't. Altered states of mind (all variants of dreaming included) definitely have spiritual relevance, and this has been documented throughout history. What people refer to as LD also varies from person to person. Do they call it "lucid" because, when they were on the verge of losing consciousness in bed, they consciously directed where the brain's switchboard was heading (active imagination)? Or because the dream induced by their subconscious became so realistic that they began to feel external influence, as well as the same stimuli as when they are awake? The latter obviously holds more value to me. It's also important to acknowledge that many of these experiences have some degree of projection to them, so as to avoid presenting them as hard proof that entities always behave in a certain way. These may be difficult nuances for the more creatively inclined, but it is unwise not to attempt to address them. Lastly, I most definitely don't want to see personal experiences being openly downplayed as mere entertainment.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48624221
>I'd like those threads to remain serious
>SERIOUS
Hold on mate, you really think than this kayfabe is serious business? You really think than a autistic Japanese hack who made a game in his basement for a basket weaving school project and had raging boners for shrine maidens, made a kind of nu-Asian bible of secret Illuminati's or some shit?! You really think than a franchise, only know in the west because of the porn and memes in the early 2000 by some weebs who lulzed at ran ran ruu and jammed to nights of nights remixes, have serious /x/ business?! You really think than even ZUN took Touhou seriously? Are you really taking anything seriously on this Bhutanese yodeling forum?! Hell, even taking anything seriously on the Arabian phone that is the internet?! Matey, you're on fucking /jp/ and talking /x/ shit and you pretend it is serious business like those lunatics, wailing the good word on the goddamn metro stations, while some of the regulars here doesn't even leave their basement. The garden-variety here just like talking about their favorite touhou or vtumor or another Japanese related stuff because the board is called; "/jp/ - Otaku Culture." Those threads stay because janitors and meidos must think it is a writefagging/fanfiction thread, should they deviate a little too much and the meidos will clean them without a second thought. So, yeah, if you want serious /x/ posts, then lurk on /x/. But for now, you're in /jp/ so the posts gotta be, you guessed it. Otaku Culture related. Hey, maybe it is serious. Maybe it's a goddamn egregore or whatever /x/ them that you can pull out of your ass. Maybe some of those John Dreams here are getting some serious shit. Maybe even they're going to get culled because an eldritch abomination took a liking to them. Maybe they're so much gone than even the paranoid, schizos with personality of identity disorders would call them batshit insane. Maybe they're so socially fucked by autism or loneliness than just seeing a soul in their dreams that is willing to interact with them despite their quirks, make them genuinely happy instead of being spooked to shit themselves. Hell, those Jimmy Dreams or lurkers that/or are/would be willing to share their dream stories or /x/ experiences as silly they may seem, knowing than some lads here appreciate them, must make them happy and would attract others, knowing than it is not just a giant circlejerk that take everything seriously. For now, I'll give you some advice from a 4chan user; Read all of this and reply when you had thought more than twice of what I said or don't, the choice is yours to make.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48620783
>vitamin d lack
It apparently runs in the family, though relatively unknown, and I just happened to find out it was my turn to spontaneously discover I had it.
>heart issues
Seems to have stopped, though testing is still on the future, but then this would turn into a personal blog and I don't want to do that. But to keep it short, my ticker is ticking like normal but then ticks too many ticks too fast when it shouldn't, but all looks perfectly fine.
>vitamin d lack, bad constitution, nocturnal, reading lots of weird books
Am I a Magician, yet? I rarely get hungry.
>kamikakushi
The Gods are responsible for it (in this case, Yukari, according to her own mouth). I've never done drugs but it was the closest thing to a trip I'd ever felt. No dreams I can remember and wasn't sick. Best way to describe it was like looking through a kaleidoscope with your eyes closed, but mix in a ton of overlapping and rotating geometric shapes that faded in and out at the same time. If they wanted me, they're either delayed or taking their time.

Anyways.

>dreams: the good, the bad, and the larpy
Last night found me very tired and going to bed at an hour a normal person would. Had chinese and the fortune mentioned finally making an important personal choice that was long overdue. That night, my dream involved speaking to someone I've never had any contact or connection to (minus the theme song- it's a banger, imo)-Byakuren Hijiri. We were outside near what I can only assume was the temple, and we talked about things while she did something with some symbol that turned out to be the hamsa. We spoke of how things had been in Gensokyo since I was last there and that it had been a while, then she spoke of it either having been 4 years since I was there or that I was under similar circumstances to what had happened 4 years ago, though I'm unsure of either scenario. To wrap it up, she gave me some writing that was a sort of checklist of self-help that she said I should go through, but whether it was for this side of things or for that side is beyond me, maybe it was both. Then we ended up going to this side of the world somehow and, after I was able to get her over the panic attack, we grabbed some food at a nearby place. She commented on how everything here felt wrong and even specifically pointed out our trees as having sad energy. The food, she struggled with (it was in English) and didn't want to eat anything because it all had meat. I helped her with the menu, showed her the salads, and told her they could take the chicken and such off. We sat there for a little bit like friends or on friendly terms and spoke a bit, then a hand came from behind us and placed itself on both of our shoulders, then a female voice said something and I woke up. And that's how Yukari found us both and pulled her back to where she belonged while waking me up. Didn't seem mad, just speaking matter-of-factly about something and poof-I'm staring at my ceiling.

>>basket wieving forum, arguments cropping up potentially, dissatisfaction from people intentionally coming in that didn't have to, shifting in topics and trying to define a topic to begin with, potential cleanup crew, and so forth:

X won't take it and is pure turbo cancer itself.

Jp is taking it because it IS on topic, moreso than some others, but it's all being walked as a tightrope and everyone here taking it seriously acknowledges that and are keeping it contained.

No one here wants a general, and we've kept it from becoming one. Any moments it picks up outside of "us" is because people are curious or are finding some kind of common ground and doing it themselves.

Even those writing huge "stories" have kept it to a minimum and are linking it elsewhere to be polite.

We all are a peaceful folk and would like to keep it that way and discuss the both on-topic and relevant, and take anything else to another place anyways.

If 4chins wanted to, they could make an x-themed jp board and we'd happily go there. And nobody wants to take away the little traffic this place has left by starting our own secret little club with no girls allowed like discord or whatever. Though the webring idea is still a good one (I'm behind, but working on it, I swear)


Have a good day/night, everybody.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48626766
They're not. Just like I can't base your entire existence off of this post, you can't base what you see off of what little he does manage to show (or contradict). Jerk or not, they're all playing a part to stay alive (good or bad, besides), and many people lie or intentionally omit things. Just like I could build an entire personality of you off of here, you could've manufactured the entire thing and the real you is complete opposite. Besides, we saw people like Kyouko as a little cinnamon roll, and she turned out to be a short-statured full grown woman that plays in a rock band.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48631075
>Besides, we saw people like Kyouko as a little cinnamon roll, and she turned out to be a short-statured full grown woman that plays in a rock band.
It doesn't change the fact that she's still a cute little cinnamon roll.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48631135
Yeah, that's true. So are a good many others when they're not trying to bite you or blow you up.

[Anonymous No.]

Well this place dropped off fast. Have a bump.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48613334
>>48631038
I also go through these dreamless periods every now and then, without being sick. In fact, I don't remember dreaming anything from the last week of December to January's first weekend. Some people mention melatonin when this comes up online, but from my experience, I don't think this is caused by the presence or lack of it. NREM sleep has to do with memory sorting and repairing the body, so chances are we were just in need of a break, whether we were aware of it or not.

[Anonymous No.]

Why was the anon's post responding to me with the picture of Doremy deleted or removed? It was here earlier and now it's gone.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48637729
I don't know what happened either.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48637753
I suspect the youkai are at fault for this.

[Anonymous No.]

Are we back? Is this the thread?

Some very nice (and interesting!) things have happened so far, so good timing, hope the new year has been pleasant for all the anons here.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638404
Kind of?
Somebody had a post get deleted or removed it themselves that had nothing bad, derogatory, or off topic a few hours ago but that's about it for odd stuff. Everything else in here, see above, but I share your sentiment. And same to you, as well! Nice picture-where's it from?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48637862
Never mind. Now I know why, but y'know... we should probably keep discussing Otaku Culture instead.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638404
Devious little Sanaesukusuku.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638465
Ah, but this most certainly is Otaku culture. And since you've got it like that, could you maybe straighten it out some? I've been sitting too long and need a good stretch.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638459
I’ve become more active in certain websites, and befriended some 2hu fans that live in Suwa, one offered to show me around when I visit, which apparently is a surprisingly common occurrence.

That image in particular is from a Fumo/SukuSuku poster, which speaking of which, I found some really nice diagrams on the JP side talking about a few character genealogies and their IRL equivalents, I’ll post it here once I’m done translating.

[Anonymous No.]

I finally got around reading that "Japanese Shamanism" book I bought a couple of threads ago.
https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/japanese_shamanism
It turned out not be what it was advertised, but nevertheless on the topic and by the stated author. A weird artefact for sure.

Anyway, it was a very interested, if quite dated, read. It depicts various religious-shamanistic-magical rituals and practices in middle Meiji era Japan. These include rituals involving boiling water, walking on live coals and climbing a ladder of blades. Much attention is given to the practices of spirit possession/channeling.

It's a really interesting picture of the time. Buddhism and Shinto were forcibly separated, Shugendo was banned, yet Lowell describes a syncretic sect calling itself "Ryobu", likely at that point a cover name for Shugendo. Spirit channeling and various demonstrations of supernatural feats seemed very commonplace. Whether this was historical norm or anomaly is unclear. Meiji restoration was after all precedented by a kind of wave of spiritually tinted mania and rebelion known as Ee Ja Naika.

The time of writing, the 1880s, was a time of spiritual mania in the form of spiritism in the West too, and Lowell has this kind of attidute of debunking some of the phenomena. While there might be reasonable materialistic explanations for some of the phenomena, I don't think such necessarily would lessen the spiritual impact and meaning of the acts.

The possessions Lowell regards real in the terms that he observes some very drastic psychological and physiological changes in those who undergo it. Lack of reaction to pain, eyeballs rolled up, rigor mortis like tightness, marked abnormalities of the heart rate...

I found it interesting how the method of spirit channeling appears to have been simply exhausting oneself to the point of trance while gripping a gohei. Lowell points out that all the sects - Shinto, "Ryobu" and even Buddhists - doing the channeling use the gohei, akin to a "lightning rod" This analogy might be quite apt, as a Shinto priest described to him how there are "spirit channels" all around the world through which they can move.

Lowell comes to some rather...interesting conclusions, stating that the Japanese are getting "possessed by the spirit of their race", and doesn't really elaborate on that.

It's a very lively and interesting description of Japanese spiritual life in a time when "superstition" had not yet been so completely stamped out. The Mt. Ontake mentioned frequently in the book also just happens to sit on the border of Nagano and Gifu...

>>48624934
I don't think we've ever had much of an issue with x-posting in these threads...or do they post about this stuff on /x/ too? I don't go there anymore, it's too negative.
>>48625675
I don't think it's quite so dramatic, but it's a classic case of become interested in mythology and mythology becomes interested in you, plus nothing preserves traditions like the urgent sense that they are about to disappear.
>>48631038
>my ticker is ticking like normal but then ticks too many ticks too fast when it shouldn't
Could be from disturbed sleep or abnormal sleeping patterns or anxiety or stress if it's just sporadic bouts of tachycardia without any malign signs. I'm not a doctor but I used to have that stuff, sometimes my resting heart rate would be at 90-100 range. And yeah I was alarmed as all hell at first.
>pointed out our trees as having sad energy
She's probably right about it.
>didn't want to eat anything because it all had meat
Speaking of meat, has Yukari done the it's ok for youkai to eat humans because humans eat animals thing to you yet?
>>48637729
There threads have had posts gone inexplicably missing couple of times before. Janitors or youkai? Who knows...
>>48638404
It would appear so.

I've been extremely absorbed with planning my future trip to Japan. Bought the plane tickets so there is no backing away into wishy washy land with that anymore.

I did my firs traditional, yarrow stalk I Ching reading on the 1st, the subject of inquiry was advce for the coming year. It was a mixed bag. The first hexagram was 14, which is extremely positive, but it's transformed hexagram was 54, which is considerably less so. I took it as an encouraging sign with a really harsh reminder that if I become too arrogant or have too high hopes I'm gonna get burned very badly.
>>48638624
>befriended some 2hu fans that live in Suwa
>one offered to show me around when I visit
Oh, that's really cool!
>which apparently is a surprisingly common occurrence
Yeah I can imagine it's an appealing destination to Touhou fans in the know. Apparently there's an onigiri shop run by a Touhou fan somewhere in the city, and there's a cafe near one of the shrines run by someone who got so much Touhou merch as a gift that they turned into a fan over time haha.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638624
That is really awesome and I'm happy for you. Curious on the sites, though. My Japanese is basic level so I haven't really delved into that side of the net too deep without a translation app.
Patiently waiting if you do drop the info.

>>48638905
Will have to read the book, myself, just because-had an interest in Shugendo for a good little while.
>mah hart
Mine sits about 110 when it kicks off. Could be stress, could be related to something above in your post here about heart rate.....no clue. I just take aspirin for it and try to go at my own pace. One thing I loved about Japan was how free I felt, able to wander anywhere I pleased and at my own schedule. Was liberating.

>The food pyramid situation
No, but I've always been of the opinion that nature does what nature does, and that we're just a part of it. Humans eat thing's and animals eat things and Youkai eat things and Kami eat things-one big circle. I have a problem with mass slaughter like humans do pigs and such, just like I'd have a problem with Youkai treating humans as like that. If I'm in my home and a group kicks in the door and gets me and my family(or lack thereof), then there's a problem. Same as if I go into the deep forest and take an AK to a herd of deer. But if I go wandering into the brush in known Youkai territory with my head in the clouds or even just underestimating them, then good game; that's on me.
And with them being collectively the type to want a danmaku match, I have a chance to either take them up on the offer or really them into sharing a drink or two. Or something like that.

Speaking of, as so far as I Ching goes, last night had me drawing the 45th with no changes. So there's that in my own question to going to Japan and/or Gensokyo this time this year.

When do you plan on going on your end?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638905
> I've been extremely absorbed with planning my future trip to Japan. Bought the plane tickets so there is no backing away into wishy washy land with that anymore

Funnily enough, i've been doing my best right now to see if i'm able to go to japan in May, for this year's reisaitai, obviously a trip to Nagano \ Suwa is mandatory as part of it.

>Yeah I can imagine it's an appealing destination to Touhou fans in the know. Apparently there's an onigiri shop run by a Touhou fan somewhere in the city, and there's a cafe near one of the shrines run by someone who got so much Touhou merch as a gift that they turned into a fan over time haha.

@suwamusubi ?

We're actually mutuals on twitter, i'll definitely pay them a visit as well, and i'll squeeze in a little anecdote, on the first day after new years, i went out to buy the materials to both work on the ofuda (right paper, ink, etc) as well as the offering bowls and such in a specialized local store, right as i was about to pay, at the front desk i spotted some tiny snake and frog charms right next to each other for sale, which needless to say, i bought as well.

Saw image related while working on the translation.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48639099
>That is really awesome and I'm happy for you. Curious on the sites, though. My Japanese is basic level so I haven't really delved into that side of the net too deep without a translation app.
Patiently waiting if you do drop the info.

Been mostly the japanese side of twitter which has some pretty interesting things, 2chan and this one - https://gensoukoudan.net, which i forgot if found here in one of these threads or over there, little JP forum that kinda talks about the same things we do.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48639099
>Will have to read the book, myself
You are in luck because you can find it for free online haha.
That Noto book also seems worth a read for the history value alone.
>Mine sits about 110 when it kicks off.
Yeah that's too much for resting heart rate for sure. Did they get an EKG when you where having that?
>I've always been of the opinion that nature does what nature does
She might have been specificaly bullying me and/or trying to drive the youkai pov home.
>the 45th with no changes
Isn't that the one Yukari has one her tabard?
>When do you plan on going on your end?
Early June to mid to July. Not the optimal season, but work won't allow for anything else. There's still a few things I have to work out, like what would be the best Haniyasushin shrine around Fukuoka to visit, and what would be a good Matarajin-associated destination to visit.
>>48639103
>i've been doing my best right now to see if i'm able to go to japan in May, for this year's reisaitai
Best of luck with that! May is apparently a fairly popular tourist season so make sure to get accomodations in time!
>@suwamusubi ?
Yeah, exactly them.
>twitter
I've been contemplating on becoming active there again. I hate social media these days but on the other hand a lot of the Japanese Touhou fandom seems very active there and there's some people posting things very relevant to my interests. Plus the exposure would probably help with my language learning too...
>tiny snake and frog charms
That was a really fortunate find!
>Saw image related while working on the translation.
So true...

[Anonymous No.]

>>48638905
NTA, but I don't think Yukari would be straightforward as this. She almost speaks on oxymorons, secrets, enigmas or twisted senses. Even in the way she acts, there is always something off about her. If she acts mellow or weak, it is to drop one's guard. Been thinking about her lately to the point that I can't focus on a damn novel! And I can only be sure of one thing clear about her. Her goal is to protect Gensokyo and she'll try her best to protect Gensokyo even if it is on her ways; Manipulations, schemes, et cetera. Even if she has to be the big bad arsehole and be hated by everyone, she'll do it. And this, this is something I deeply respect.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48639196
>I've been contemplating on becoming active there again. I hate social media these days but on the other hand a lot of the Japanese Touhou fandom seems very active there and there's some people posting things very relevant to my interests. Plus the exposure would probably help with my language learning too...

You really have to curate your timeline to avoid getting too much trash, but it is definitely a nice way to practice the language, plus if someone posts something that catches your eye, you can just talk to them, it costs nothing and you might gain a friend.

And as i was writing this, i've been informed my Kanako fumo is almost done, what great timing for all of this to happen.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48639099
>No, but I've always been of the opinion that nature does what nature does
That's a good way to think about it. Animals sometimes eat people and it reminds us that nature is just one big circle and we're apart of it as any other. It's arrogance to say we're somehow above it or outside of it, which makes it sting all the more when 'something' does come along to remind us of our place, and if that 'something' has equivalent or superior intelligence to ourselves then it's quite humbling. Hubris is a dangerous thing.
I wonder when we collectively saw ourselves separate from nature, I don't recall the ancient peoples having as much of a god complex as we do now.
>>48639216
Actual rope on her, the craftsmanship is really good. A shame her shimenawa can't be made the same, but rope can't exactly support itself in that nice pretty ring, and I imagine it would make her way too cumbersome.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48640150
Not sure. I can be the king of my own castle, but a few hours out in the winter snow with no jacket will lay anyone low. And humans can and have eaten youkai, too.

>rope
Make it a velcro or tie on option since she can and does remove her own from time to time?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48580569
It's actually fun to read in the morning while enjoying toast and coffee

[Anonymous No.]

>>48642255
I do agree with that statement. Some of this stuff are even good /tg/ or /qst/ material.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48642402
>....
I read, as I sit down to eat my own breakfast and contemplate whether to update on my latest dream where I had a run in with the Moriya crew to even out the rest of my dream encounters here.

[Anonymous No.]

To the big 4 Anon, if you haven’t already posted the ofuda you’ve made and you don’t mind doing so, do you mind sharing it? I’d love to see how you structured it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48639197
I don't think I can generalize how she is from my very limited interactions with her. But it's the most legible thing she said to me.

The full context being I asked all the known Sages for permission to release the Archive. Kasen-sama did not pick up the phone, Okina-sama gave the thumbs up in her own way and Yukari-sama decided to enlighten me on the youkai POV with methods that verged on bullying for three days. It was very illuminating on how they see us, but very little of it was any kind of a "discussion", let alone a dialogue, more like someone pushing ideas into your head. At some point she tried to convince me that getting eaten by youkai isn't so bad after all. I don't think it was a very serious attempt. I don't think I'd be here if it was.

>>48639216
That fumo looks really good! Very nice craftsmanship.

I'm curious as to how open to others you are about your beliefs and experiences?

I also forgot to ask, but when you said that the gensoukoudan forum discusses kinda the same things we do, what exactly did you mean? Also, is it true that there are people on 2chan posting something similar? When the Archive got posted into reddit someone there said that there were people talking about similar topics on 2ch. I have a lot of work to do when it comes to getting anywhere near being able to really read Japanese, so I can't exactly go just check it out myself.
>>48642255
The human zoo is always fun untill you find yourself going native.
>>48645275
I still have the old one which is really bad and just has the name of the four kami in kanji written with a black ballpoint pen and the kanji for "kamidana" with red. I'm gonna make something more proper for the Lunar New Year and burn the old one.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48644279
So I am, sitting down near my cogitator, drinking some whiskey and smoking a cigar. I humbly ask you mister, to share your adventures with the Moriya folks, so I may have something to tingle my muses and have something creative for a campaign.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48645536
>I'm curious as to how open to others you are about your beliefs and experiences

If i know they're somewhat receptive to these sort of things, i give them a small prod, see how they react before opening up, since there is no point in spending energy trying to convince someone if they don't already care in some way.

>I have a lot of work to do when it comes to getting anywhere near being able to really read Japanese, so I can't exactly go just check it out myself.

Honestly, a mixture of google translate + LLM's works really well, ChatGPT in particular offers pretty good translations as far as i can tell, while google translate, while faster, is shittier, use GPT or Claude to refine a specific text if google is outputting obviously wrong things, it's "good enough" to browse around in those sites if you also do a bit of work by hand to double check.


I'd love to see that reddit link if you have it, gensoukoudan is a general 2hu lore discussion forum, so it's only natural that sometimes things lean towards this way.

>>48645594
Not that poster but i had a pretty nice dream on the new year night, very festive space, table with a lot of food, Suwako was the only one that i could recognize there, and she gave me some kind of small red and green charm, quite pleasant!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48645720
>If i know they're somewhat receptive to these sort of things, i give them a small prod
That seems like a good way to go about it.
>Honestly, a mixture of google translate + LLM's works really well
I keep forgetting how good LLMs apparently are these days. I tried ChatGPT a couple of iterations ago and wasn't that impressed by it nor found it all that useful back then.
>I'd love to see that reddit link if you have it
Here you go:
https://www.reddit.com/r/touhou/comments/1gtv8a7/the_channers_are_beginning_to_find_out_the_truth/
>so it's only natural that sometimes things lean towards this way
I understand. In general, I am really curious about the kind of intersection of Touhou and religion that seems to be going on in Japan. We have things like the list of Haniyasushin shrines, this list of somehow Touhou relevant sacred sites https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1dS9HRsk-T0JaSF-vVjl0BsFDxOQKoxY&ll=36.557018242051875%2C137.49946486832957&z=7 and people doing pilgrimmages to places like Suwa Taisha and the Moriya Jinja, but...
what exactly do they mean with "sacred"? I've been trying to puzzle out what exactly is the Japanese attidute towards and ideas about these things. I've heard things like that the Japanese are very irreligious in Western sense and it's mostly some kind of cultural/traditional thing, but also that they have something like the Western "spiritual but not religious" thing going on?

And since it's a big country, I'm sure there are millions of people who are religious in ways more familiar to us. Only 3% might self-identify as "Shinto", but it's still 3,72 million people. With Buddhism too there's probably many earnest believers. If you mix this with the fact that the Japanese don't apparently really like to talk about religion, particularly to outsiders, it probably is a very difficult subject to really, truly research.

A good example of this is the classic, often quoted line from a Shinto priest "we don't have theology, we dance". But I ran into something that made me recontextualize it. There's this woman whose name I don't remember who makes this kind of...lifestyle-oriented content for YouTube, but she is a Japanese Shinto & Zen practitioner and she makes videos about those topics in English. She didn't address that quote directly, but recounted in one of her videos how the kannushi of her community behaved in very upstanding and dignified ways when he carried out the rituals. She said that people were expected to learn from the example without explicit teaching, expected to carry out a similar attidute to all tasks, all things.

So if you have a spiritual tradition based on implicit learning and wordless teaching, you don't have a theology. You dance.

This of course leaves us in a somewhat difficult position when it comes to trying to figure out what this weird intersection of Touhou and religion in Japan that seems to exist really is.

But it's also an exciting position. There are genuine mysteries in the world waiting to be unraveled, in a mundane sense too. Things that can only be experienced by going there and being there. And in some way...isn't this some kind of Otaku culture too? Can you be an otaku about Japanese religion? Is it some kind of final frontier of it, when everything else has been brought online, made accessible, supplanted by Chinese and Korean gacha creations, when there is no longer any point in going to Akihabara or Comiket as the ancient ones grumble...there still exists an "otaku culture" that really, truly, honestly depends on you going to Japan and trying to really, really understand it.

Maybe I got a bit carried away with this.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48646190
The reply about Okina Matara's identities cracked me up.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48646223
If they only knew!!!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48645720
Ho, ho, ho! Very nice of her! Too bad there wasn't any booze, you could have a even more fun time, toho style. Suwako for me always look like the jolly grandma that give some cakes to youngsters and that nobody want to mess with. Next time you see her, be a gentleman for me and give her some sweet potato shōchū if you can, would you? I'm sure she would love it! Alongside listening of a few stories of her. By the way, tell us some of her stories if she share some of it.
>>48645536
>>48639197
Yukari's not the easy lady to understand, young men. The more you'll think about her, the less you'll know about her. She must hold secrets, big secrets that she doesn't want to share. But hey, maybe the whiskey striking my brain, but maybe that miss doesn't want to be alone and there some Maribel's spirit left in her, so she wouldn't want the company of a beast or a computer but someone who can think with what she lost. Common sense, because there's none in Gensokyo. Or I just should stop drinking.

[Anonymous No.]

Autismo translation side project almost done, i'll post it in a bit once it's ready!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48646190
That reddit thread has an interesting idea brought from the 2ch threads that the barrier would fall if the 'truth' became more known. The gut reaction is how disastrous that would be for Gensokyo, but if they were well known and understood by the outside then they could survive even in modernity as Touhou itself becomes a spiritual backbone and genuine believers become their lifeblood. On the otherhand that's a lot more trouble and unknown risk than it's worth and staying secluded from the outside and maintaining the status quo would be the safe option. The barrier after all, is for their survival.
>>48647126
warmly waiting

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
since I moved back in with my family, whatever's been stomping at night and scaring the cat's stopped
thought I imagined everything I've seen, but when I was gone it was a lot more active but in what sounded like an aggressive sense
A little scared to go into the kitchen at night still, hearing her breathe was weird

sorry if this is for Japanese spirits only though, I really don't know what's in this house
I'm usually on /x/, but this seems the most genuine and interesting paranormal thread I've seen in a bit

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
Not really personal but the most "recent" was a friend inquiring to me about shinto and some problems he was facing, i directed him towards Okami Inari which seemed like the most appropiate Kami i had familiarity with, and some spooky (but positive) things happened quite quickly for him afterwards, the most important being called for a job interview (and getting the job!) on the day after he set up a little shrine.

[Anonymous No.]

Phew, finally done, the last one apparently was already translated, while theses, being very recent aren't.

The information are just things we already know, but i thought they were cute enough to translate anyway.

Credits to the artist - https://x.com/nantara3080

Jank ass text edits.

[Anonymous No.]

second one, even jankier.

[Anonymous No.]

This last one is already translated, due to being older, so if you care enough, check it here through the danbooru overlay.

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/7227224

[Anonymous No.]

Synchronicities that seemed to happen to lately seem just to orient me back into the road I chose when I fall into doubt. Mainly, Bishamonten as my honzon and Tendai as my school. I don't know which one causes what, but I have been seeing Okina and Shou sometimes. Mostly Okina...
I've been considering switching to Shingon, and in a moment of doubt, I decided to read the translation of my daily gongyo (puja) and got really moved by the contents. I then opened Twitter and immediatly got an ad with a symbol that looks very eerily similar to the Tendai crest.
For Bishamonten, in a period of doubt, a sutra I have been looking forward to get translated (I even asked for help in these threads in the past) randomly gets dropped by Rev. Jikai (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoEXCmqSBQQ).). There are tens of thousands of sutras in the Taisho and he chose specifically that one to translate...
The rest are minor, such as a Bishamonten statue behind Rev. Monshin in a video I watched after another moment of doubt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0YRd0F8jRA)) and the shingon.org website being last updated on Bishamonten's year (http://shingon.org/home.html).).
Either by pure karmic affinity or something out there wanting me to be on this path, I keep being oriented a certain way. I will persevere!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48637729
One time I made a post of skepticism in one of these threads, and my post got removed for "offtopic." I've been feeling nothing but disdain over /jp/ ever since.

[Anonymous No.]

Hey, what happened to that anon that said he was going to Gensokyo on New Years?


Did he perhaps get gapped...

[Anonymous No.]

>>48647176
>the barrier would fall if the 'truth' became more known
If we look at this from a kind of Touhou canon way I can see it happening. But I think that rather than the barrier collapsing like it's the glass of an aquarium break, it would mean that our notion of common sense would collapse. Fantasy and reality would switch places. Gods and monsters would walk among us.

But IRL I don't think there is a way that this would become such a commonly accepted, self-evident truth that anything like such could happen. Maybe it's weirdly pessimistic of me, but the world is too polarized for that. Literal aliens could land in front of the White House (Mar-a-Lago?) and substantial chunk of the world population would think it's some psyop. We are too divided and cynical. Unless literally every single person in the world would experience an unambigous miracle, a substantial chunk of people would simply think they've gone insane. Kanako-sama could manifest above Suwa in a towering column of thunder flanked by two dragons and 95% of people outside of those who saw it would think it's CGI and move on the next trending topic.

I think it's this because they seem to be putting so much effort into reaching out directly to people with even the faintest potential of reaching out to others.
>>48648012
>>48648020
>>48648028
These are really nice, thank you. I've seen the last one floating around every now and then, but I never thought there'd be a danbooru translation overlay for it.

The Suwa mythology IRL is extremely complicated. Mishaguji is nevertheless a name I don't remember stumbling upon before. The potential connection of the IRL Moriyas to Mononobes is really fascinating, I recently finally 1CC'd Ten Desires as Sanae and her ending mentioned something to that effect too.

There's some very unusual Suwa lore outside of what is refered to in Touhou, like idea from the era of Buddhist dominance that Takeminakata was an Indian Buddhist king who had manifested into Japan. I have wondered if the way Kanako-sama is depicted with the hoop of shimenawa is a double reference to the oharae ritual but also Buddhist iconography utilizing all sorts of halos. There's also legends of the Suwa kami really being Koga Saburo (IIRC), samurai who turned into a snake/dragon after going to the underworld. That myth kind of myth is of course enormously symbolicaly loaded.

Thanks for these!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48652501
> The Suwa mythology IRL is extremely complicated. Mishaguji is nevertheless a name I don't remember stumbling upon before

From the top of my head if I remember, the Mishaguji is / are curse / boundary god(s) (Unsure if its singular or many), which Suwako has control over, while Kanako can’t , so it’s part of their deal together that Suwako keeps them in check while still having part of the shrine for herself.

I’m currently at work but I’ll double check later

[Anonymous No.]

Okay my niggas I realize now that this IS actually the Touhou esoteric thread, I accidentally made another, sorry.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48649159
Stay strong anon, I hope you'll find the time to work on new content.
>>48652434
Good question...
>>48652868
Right! I wonder how they mesh with IRL Suwa/Nagano lore
>>48653758
But anon...I'm not an African-American..?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48653791
>But anon...I'm not an African-American..?
I am sorry anon is just that since I started hearing people call each other like that right here I started using it. But the point is that I made another touhou esoteric thread not knowing that this one already existed and I want you to check it out, you can post what you see here, in this very thread, I just hope what I say does not go forgotten.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48653850
Don't worry anon.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48653791
>Right! I wonder how they mesh with IRL Suwa/Nagano lore

Currently writing a post talking about that, and holy shit decent information is hard to find, i have to dig into the japanese sources because so far the english ones are kinda shit.

Also

>Get distracted from drawing to write a long effort post about an obscure chtonic suwa native god
>dig up information
>as i currently write these things down someone posts something, i reply with a meme video i'm already aware of as a response

> notice the uploader has the same first name as the god i'm researching AFTER i post it.

It just works

[Anonymous No.]

>>48654426
Broke: Synchronicity acted to bring you to a person that shared the name of a Kami.

Woke: The person was acting knowingly or unknowingly as an intermediary for the Kami.

Bespoke: the Kami are addicted to the internet and use personas, have their own pr firms, and directly interact with their followers when they feel like it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48654426
I took a break and went to sleep, I wake up and check my Twitter, and someone I followed reposted a Japanese tweet thread talking about snake gods in Nagano, which INCLUDES Mishaguji and others of relevancy to our interests, the thread in question was posted YESTERDAY while I was researching these things.

What the fuck is this timing, holy shit

https://x.com/north_ern2/status/1876962964219077082?s=46

[Anonymous No.]

>>48648012
>Mishaguji
>native deity of industry
>>48652868
>the Mishaguji is / are curse / boundary god(s) (Unsure if its singular or many), which Suwako has control over, while Kanako can’t , so it’s part of their deal together that Suwako keeps them in check while still having part of the shrine for herself.
Wasn't Kanako trying to change herself into kami of industry? If so, maybe it's not only about having a more faith-gathering front, but also about internal situation?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48658015
Very likely, i'm getting a ton of interesting insights out of this research, this is quite the rabbit hole

[Anonymous No.]

>>48658015
>Wasn't Kanako trying to change herself into kami of industry?

Adding to this, considering that Suwako in the 2hu lore is also a Kami of steel production, while the IRL Moriya dealt with iron, which also requires a significant degree of industrial capacity to be able to reliably be produced.

>>48652501
>The Suwa mythology IRL is extremely complicated. Mishaguji is nevertheless a name I don't remember stumbling upon before. The potential connection of the IRL Moriyas to Mononobes is really fascinating, I recently finally 1CC'd Ten Desires as Sanae and her ending mentioned something to that effect too.

Looking into this as well

>Local historians have long interpreted the story of the conflict between the two deities as the mythicization of a historical event in which a powerful local clan that ruled the Lake Suwa region and its vicinity (identified with the Moriya) was defeated by invaders who wrested control of the area (identified in turn with the Suwa clan, the high priestly lineage of the Upper Suwa Shrine that claimed to be Takeminakata's descendants), although a number of scholars have recently argued that it may actually be of later origin, heavily influenced by or outright based on medieval legends concerning the conflict between Prince Shōtoku and the anti-Buddhist ōmuraji Mononobe no Moriya, who may have been the inspiration for the god's name.

>Following the death of Emperor Yōmei in 587, Mononobe's party and Soga's each sought to influence the succession. The dispute quickly erupted into outright battle, in which Mononobe no Moriya is credited with setting fire to the first Buddhist temples in Japan, and tossing the first images of the Buddha, imported from Baekje, into the canals of the city of Naniwa (now Osaka).

Hmmmm...
The plot thickens, every branch of this story i look into just massively increases the amount of information i have to process.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48658071
Wait till you realize that Moriya shrine wants to become more related to technology and its advancement, and that they are piggybacking off of the Pepe/Kek mythos to take up a foothold here and spread the word easier.

[Anonymous No.]

>>>48658242

we live in truly strange times

[Anonymous No.]

>>48658239
Correction, Mononobe was the clan, Moriya was just the guy’s name

[Anonymous No.]

>>48654426
>Currently writing a post talking about that, and holy shit decent information is hard to find, i have to dig into the japanese sources because so far the english ones are kinda shit.
Talked about this with someone else a while ago but it's kinda funny how people these days assume everything is on the net but nope, especially not in English. For example, the 1958 translation of Kojiki seems to exist only in a handful of US university library collections...
>>48655251
I strongly deny any claims that I am part of some sort of PR agency for the kami!
>>48657667
>What the fuck is this timing, holy shit
Kanako-sama is a real kami and she's making it very clear to everyone!
Also, the email of that guy has "polaris" in it.
>>48658239
If that part of Suwa mythology would be based on the Buddhist/anti-Buddhist struggles, it seems pretty obvious that is the likely source for the whole religious conflict narrative arc.

Nagano has some other potential sources of inspiration for that too. So far I've stumbled upon that the hidden Buddha statue in Zenkoji temple was apparently saved from the haibutsu campaign. There was also intra-Buddhist strife in Nagano, where Tendai and Shingon sects struggled for control.
>>48658242
MUCH to think about.

[Anonymous No.]

Also, there's a couple of interesting things near the Suwa Taisha Kamisha Honmiya & Maemia.

There's a shrine called Hokuto Jinja between the two. Hokuto is the Big Dipper in Japanese. I have no idea what this is about.

There's also two kofun burial mounds nearby - not the big keyhole shaped ones, but perhaps enough to put the concept into ZUN's mind.

There's also a landmark called karakasumatsu nearby, which appears to mean "umbrella pine". Maybe it's unrelated, but there is a fan-favorite karakasa-obake in Touhou.

While there is no road leading up there if Google maps is to be believed, the IRL Moriya Shrine is fairly close up the hill on which the kofun and karakasamatsu are. So it's very close to those two shrines.

Outside of the screenshot, there's a hot spring called miya no yu onsen very close by. I remember there being some lore about Yasakatome creating hot springs by dropping a cotton swab doused in water. This is of course reflected in Touhou with the whole underground nuclear power hot spring arc. Closer to the lakes of Lake Suwa, there's some kind of hot spring center with a more geysir-like hot spring if I've understood it correctly.

No idea what the flying boat is about. Maybe also too much of a stretch, but a flying boat is like a tiny flying ship, isn't it?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48659157
The flying mud boat is an art project by some local famous guy who used it as a tea house. It's since become too dangerous to use and is now an outdoor museum of sorts, along with the rest of his surviving artwork.

>>pr work
Hey, just cause I brought it up doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Okinawa has WFH benefits for the Zashiki Warashi, after all.

>>MUCH to think about
It occurred to me about a month ago and I've just been sitting on the idea since then until putting it here.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48659286
The work/life balance of Okinawa aside, I typed "Okina" you worthless slab of technology. I'm gonna have to Pavlov myself into not phone posting before I throw it out the damn window in a fit of rage one day.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48659046
>For example, the 1958 translation of Kojiki seems to exist only in a handful of US university library collections...
Is that something you want? I think my university library has it. Definitely the 2014 translation, but there's other versions too that only have physical copies.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48659286
>mud boat
Oh, that's some interesting local history!
>It occurred to me about a month ago and I've just been sitting on the idea since then until putting it here.
It's a fun idea for sure and something I haven't really thought of myself. At the very least the internet seems to have enabled them the spirit world to reach out to humanity more directly. It wouldn't be surprising if they'd be learning from each other. ZUN perceiving them as deities that wan't to kind of change their essence into something more modern is probably part of it all.
>>48659758
Yeah, I'm interested in it because it was written by someone who is both Japanese and a true believer, so I think it would be an interesting perspective. It's not the best English translation from English point of view, or so I've heard, but I can always just read another translation for that.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48659878
Do you have the name of the author/translator? They have translations mixed with native japanese copies and don't differentiate so it's hard to search through it.

[Anonymous No.]

So apparently they released a movie called “Deer Country” just a few days ago that talks about the Suwa / Nagano region, the Mishaguji and surrounding rituals / lore and other related things,
Someone posted about it in my time line as a random recommendation.

ABSURDLY well timed

https://shikanokuni.vfo.co.jp

> Why does this place evoke so much emotion?
Located in the Suwa Basin, the navel of the Japanese archipelago, Suwa Taisha is one of the oldest shrines in Japan. Its festivals, which are held more than 200 times a year, are full of mystery. Mishaguji, an ancient god, is summoned in important rituals. And the deer sacrifices that were considered indispensable to the rituals... Director Hiroko, who has followed the culture of life and death in Nepal and Tibet, notices the original prayers for the cycle of life in the festivals of the four seasons. And she attempts to recreate the medieval "Mimuro Shinji," which has long been shrouded in awe and mystery. What was the entertainment that unfolded in front of the living god, the young Ohoori, who was confined in a cave in the sacred area for three months in the harsh winter? And what is the meaning of the 75 deer heads that were offered to the Ohoori, who appears in April with makeup on? From winter to spring, from death to rebirth. This image of original prayer, which we who live in modern society have almost forgotten, was depicted over the course of three years along with the beautiful four seasons.
The film is produced by Kitamura Minao, who has worked on numerous folklore film productions. The narration will be done by voice actors Noto Mamiko and Ito Seiko. The music will be handled by Hara Marihiko, a musician highly acclaimed by artists both in Japan and abroad.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48661500
>00
Thank you Kanako, Very Cool!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48661500
>>48661548

[Anonymous No.]

>>48660352
Shunji Inoe would be the name, there's apparently multiple later revisions of it.
>>48661500
Wow, that's really cool!
>Director Hiroko, who has followed the culture of life and death in Nepal and Tibet
>notices the original prayers for the cycle of life in the festivals of the four seasons
Oh.
>she attempts to recreate the medieval "Mimuro Shinji"
Haha what if we attempt to recreate a medieval ritual for the sake of preservation of history haha.

Honestly that sounds really, really cool and the process of making that just might explain some things. Maybe Kanako-sama just wants everyone to see her movie!!

>CAPTCH: MANAV

[Anonymous No.]

Live!
Liiiiiiivvvee!!!!!

[Anonymous No.]

Should be finishing my post tonight, been kinda busy and tired, but hopefully it will be worth it

[Anonymous No.]

>>48661500
Okay I came back to this with more thought and there is some VERY intresting stuff if you translated page.

Firstly, according to the site, the performed a ritual that was "interrupted for 600 years" called "Omuro". It apparently involved young boys and was done over a period of three months.

To quote the site:
>They stayed in a semi-underground cellar, ate deer sacrifices, and offered performances to pray for a good harvest.

It also says
>Using a few historical documents as clues, we will reveal the existence and identity of the
living god Ohori, who presided over Shinto affairs, and the boys who were considered to be messengers of the gods.
So...they went and performed a Shinto ritual, possibly not done for 600 years, intended to make some boys into messengers for the Suwa kami. And they documented it all.

Since the film was made over three years, I don't know when exactly this happened, but man, going and doing some ancient Shinto ritual for making people into a messenger of the Suwa kami could explain some stuff. It's not just me, not just the other anons, not even the guy who "caught it" from the Archive. The IRL Moriya Shrine has been having issues with Touhou fans leaving stuff there and it's been bothering the locals, and it all apparently quite suddenly began in the summer of 2024.

The Suwa associated deities in Touhou seem to have quite a lot of power behind them. Maybe they've always had, but having something done that would presumably strenghten their connection to this world would no doubt make their presence more known.

I also think it's extremely interesting that someone who had previous exposure to Tibet and Nepal would choose to do this. Both are enormously spiritually charged areas, and since her documentaries there were on the theme of "nature and prayer", she might have become sensitized to these things while there.

Other bits of note:
The autotranslation of the page describes Suwa Taisha as having "spring shrines" and "autumn shrines". Whether this is an artefact of translation or something real, I don't know, but it would be fascinating that the autumn-themed Touhou game would have a connection to something that has "autumn shrines".

There's some very interesting quotes from people involved with the project. The voice actors seem to have been quite moved by this, we got a historian of religion calling the Suwa myth "unfathomably deep", another historian refering to the ritual/process as "Suwa Konoshiki"...

and just to rub it in, we get a comment from the IRL Sanae Moriya, 78th head of the Moriya Shrine that includes
>I met Mr. Kitamura about 50 years ago. We have known each other since we both learned "What is Mishaguji" from Kiku Imaino and started researching.

So yeah, add this all to the fact that it's coming out just as we are about to enter the year of the snake...which might of course be an intentional decision too, but still...someone I know stumbled upon this documentary on their own too. There certainly seems to be some kind of synchronicity cyclone surrounding this documentary. I really want to see it and I do feel like the Suwa kami want us to see it too, haha.

Imagine witnessing old deities reconnecting with the world. I'm so happy to be here to witness it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48666844
Absolutely insane timeline we exist in

>The IRL Moriya Shrine has been having issues with Touhou fans leaving stuff there and it's been bothering the locals, and it all apparently quite suddenly began in the summer of 2024.

Funny, i had my first initial experience around that time as well.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48666844
>living god Ohori
Is it 'living god' as in arahitogami? Because that's what Sanae supposed to be, if I recall correctly.
First time I'm hearing about such kami, too.
>Suwa Taisha as having "spring shrines" and "autumn shrines"
Those are Yasakatome's two shrines, mirroring two shrines of Takeminakata.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48667079
>Absolutely insane timeline we exist in
Yeah getting involved in some return of the gods was not in my life plans but here we are and I am very glad for it. Even on the most banal, materialistic interpretation of the events they have given so much to me, really helped me get my act back together. So if we are able to align ourselves with them, allow us to help them bring out the best in us, we won't be just passive observers of it all either.
>Funny, i had my first initial experience around that time as well.
Yeah my most intense experiences so far also peaked in the summer of 2024, two weeks around midsummer really was the peak. It did begin earlier in the spring with the eclipse, but Kanako-sama was involved pretty much from the start. I think there are multiple things involved with how well one can "hear" them and when, but she has been one of the most loudest and consistent ones for sure. The Suwa Grand Shrine is a very old establishment and has 10 000 branch shrines. If they really are new versions of old kami, it would make sense that the Suwa kami would have quite a lot of power behind them. And with Deer Country coming out, I think a lot more people will have the opportunity to understand what the Suwa kami is trying to communicate.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48667133
Someone made a reddit thread related to that around 8 years ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/touhou/comments/6q30ul/on_kanako_suwako_mishaguji_and_other_suwarelated/

>Before the Meiji period put an end to the tradition of hereditary priesthood, the head priest of the Upper Shrine was the ōhōri (大祝, aka ōhafuri). The ōhōri, who was usually a young boy, was considered to be a living god (arahitogami), the very incarnation of Suwa Daimyōjin, during his term of office. In fact, the clan this boy belonged to - the Suwa clan (諏訪氏 or 諏方氏) - claimed to be the descendants of the god of Suwa (although historically it’s probably more of a different story - more on this later).

>Below the ōhōri was a group of five priests, whose positions were also passed down hereditarily within their respective clans. The chief of these five high priests was the jinchō (神長) or jinchōkan (神長官) who hailed from the Moriya clan (守矢氏), who were supposed to be the descendants of the god Moreya. The ōhōri was officially the chief priest of the Kamisha, but in reality, the Moriya jinchōkan (his right-hand man, pretty much) was the one in charge: he was the one in charge of overseeing the religious ceremonies, and he was the only one who could summon (and dismiss) Mishaguji, who was actually the god who figures in many of the Kamisha’s (esp. the Maemiya’s) ceremonies.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48667133
>Is it 'living god' as in arahitogami
I think so, yes.
>First time I'm hearing about such kami, too.
Not sure if it is a kami or perhaps some kind of rank or term for this particular arahitogami, context loss with this type of machine translation is always a thing.
>Those are Yasakatome's two shrines, mirroring two shrines of Takeminakata.
Right, for some reason it never clicked to me that the "haru" and "aki" in those names refers to the seasons. I guess it shows how much I still have to study when it comes to Japanese...

[Anonymous No.]

>>48666844
>enter the year of the snake
what significance is the year of the snake?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48667787
It's the year of the Sanaeke (and Zun's birth zodiac)

[Anonymous No.]

>>48667157
That was a really great source, thanks for sharing that.

Of particular interest was the description of the mimuro ritual that is also document in Deer Country, and the lore about Mishaguji. I had no idea that they are also in the Megami Tensei games, and that they were some kind of, uh, penis creatures in there. Them being fertility deities does make a lot of sense, such would of course be very important for early human societies. It also...may explain certain things like that kundalini-type of experience one anon ahd and why there are so many rather fertile depictions of Kanako-sama floating around. The latent energies of fertility deities rubbing off into Touhou would also help explain why people are so unbelievably horny for characters who tend to have very un-horny designs and personalities...
>>48667787
Mostly the possibly association of mishaguji with snakes, certainly in Touhou they are associated with such.
>>48667802
Damn, I didn't even realize it's his birth zodiac...

[Anonymous No.]

Yo I just had this dream.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48572548
Here you go OP!
>>48652434
I remember saying I might mysteriously vanish around Christmas but I can’t remember if I said anything about New Year’s, or if that might’ve been another anon. My memory of the previous thread is not perfect. Evidently I have not yet disappeared. I have not been posting much since I have unexpectedly had to temporarily move in with a close relative due to mold damage, which has disrupted my custom of midnight walks where I sometimes experience unusual things.

Last night though I had a dream related to specifically Touhou esotericism, though.

I remember being in a building that I feel the urge to call a hotel even though I am not sure it actually was one. The layout of the building was bizarre and mazelike, like depictions of the backrooms. I remember seeing a lot of woodgrain stuff in it. I also remember a lot of strange bathrooms. I remember entering a room with many white western-style toilets arranged in a grid of wood cubicles, but the cubicles were only waist high or so making them pointless for privacy so long as you stood up. I am reminded of how some accounts of alien abductions feature strange bathrooms, which have been suggested to be a consequence of aliens not really understanding the human need for toilets or privacy. I remember entering a different bathroom and seeing a bizarre new style of toilet never before seen in the world: not an eastern-style squat toilet; not a western-style sit toilet; but a leaning, hovering or “sking” toilet in which you would put your back against the wall with your knees slightly squat, supported by grooves in the toilet, and then pee/poop. I remember seeing a few of these toilets, and they were made of pebble-dash with turquoise stone. Thinking about this I see a potential connection with the Aztec god Tlazolteotl, known for eating literal and figurative feces (figurative meaning people’s sins, namely adultery which she also caused. I’d also expect her to be the god of urophilia and scat fetishes) Turquoise had significance as the color of the quetzal feathers many gods were depicted wearing and the stone was associated with Xiuhtecuhtli, though I believe jade and obsidian were considered to be more divine stones in general. I am aware that toilet gods are surprisingly common in mythology generally.

I remember seeing a young-ish (like between 20 and 30 I think, she might’ve told me she was 26) woman who I spoke with. She was the rich owner of this building and apparently bought it for cheap as it was part of a ship, which also explained its bizarre layout. I remember seeing a jacket and other work clothes left on a stair landing, and told the woman something about wanting to return them to their rightful owner but I also having to be ready to go somewhere else soon.

The next details of the dream are fuzzy. I remember a modern ship, called The Black Moon. I remember seeing a modern ship “sail” (I specifically remember finding it peculiar how we still use that term for non-sailing ships) with a sailor swimming up to the ship to either deliver or retrieve something, I’m 90% certain the clothes. I remember seeing an image, I think pixel art, of Yukari, and wondering if perhaps I was headed to see her on my journey, headed to Gensokyo. However, I was and am confused as to which ship I was on,The Black Moon or some other, and if that ship was the same one with the sailor who lost his clothes (if there were multiple ships at all). The ship name The Black Moon reminds me of Evangelion. As to its meaning the only black moon I can think of is perhaps a new moon which would be dark, and roughly remembering how in a previous thread someone thought Yukari’s appearances in their dreams had to due with the moon’s phases, perhaps this dream is prophetic and I am to see Yukari on the ‘black moon’.

[Anonymous No.]

Looking through my Pixiv bookmarks, I finally realized why the Japanese fandom celebrates October 12 as Okina Day. As some of you might already know, this is the original date when Ushi Matsuri (牛祭), the festival in which a priest wearing a Matarajin mask rides an ox, was held in Kōryū-ji (the oldest temple in Kyōto, built by Hata no Kawakatsu when he received a Buddhist statue from Prince Shoutoku). This celebration was later brought forward to October 10, and from what I could gather online, has also been suspended since 2003. Quite unfortunate.

For those who are curious, here is a recording of the Ushi Matsuri that took place in October 1998: https://youtu.be/A3zV7gJq8jI

However, this doesn't appear to be the only day where Matarajin is openly honored at present (I really stumbled upon this knowledge by mere chance, as it somehow isn't mentioned in the Wikipedia article). From January 14 to 20, Hatsukayasai Matsuri is held at Mōtsū-ji, a Buddhist temple of the Tendai sect in the Iwate prefecture. Various rituals honoring Matarajin are performed, from torchlit processions to offerings and prayer for good harvests, household safety, as well as warding off disease and disaster. People of all ages take part.

...Now all that's left is to get in touch with the admin of Touhou Calendar and ask them to get 10/12 added.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48669430
I ought to have mentioned that this was not I
>>48669312
>and that they were some kind of, uh, penis creatures in there.
A lot of mythologies have weird sexual stuff. According to Bella Coola legend (Pacific Northwest American) there’s these bigfoot creatures called Boq(s?) that have prehensile penises so long they have to keep them coiled like ropes in their arms. Some people report knocking sounds in bigfoot encounters, according to the Bella Coola this is actually the sound of them slapping their massive schlongs against tree branches and trunks. They also like to rape women. Literally something out of /d/

In Aztec mythology Quetzalcoatl once jerked off and a bat came out, which flew off and impregnated (IIRC) Xochiquetzal who proceeded to give birth to flowers. The Tzitzimimeh, skeletal giantesses who are protectors of women but also destined to devour mankind at the end of the world, have snake penises.

On the same topic, sometimes Yukari’s gaps look kinda yonic to me, it’s weird.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48669731
>sometimes Yukari’s gaps look kinda yonic to me, it’s weird.
You're far from the first to think so.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48669701
Would you tell me how you found about the second one? I read everything I could find about Matarajin in English but never heard of it

[Anonymous No.]

>>48671568
It's on the Hiraizumi Cultural Heritage center, a grouping of five different landmarks part of UNESCO's World Heritage List:
https://www.town.hiraizumi.iwate.jp/heritage/en/property/kenzou.html
>Mōtsū-ji’s Jōgyō-dō
>The Hatsukayasai Festival held each January 20 to pray to Matarajin. After the monks give prayer and austerities during “Jōgyō Zanmaiku,” “Ennen” (Longevity) is presented.
Many others outright refer to Hatsukayasai Matsuri as the "Matarajin festival":
https://www.hey-japan.com/event/motsu-ji-temple-hatsukayasai-festival
https://hiraizumi.or.jp/en/event/hatsuka.html (This might be the official website of the grouping)
https://www.tohoku-golden-route.com/event/motsuji-20th-night-festival/
https://www.fun-japan.jp/en/articles/10998

[Anonymous No.]

Hopefully I can find a stream of the movie or something, but it’s doubtful, considering how recent it is + it currently being on the theaters

[Anonymous No.]

>>48669547
Wasn't you, but thats still interesting. The funny thing is, we wont be able to confirm if he was actually gapped lol, unless he can find a way back (should have livestreamed lol)

[Anonymous No.]

>>48672018
Thank you lots anon.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48669430
Many such cases.
>>48669547
>I have unexpectedly had to temporarily move in with a close relative due to mold damage
Well that sucks!
>I am reminded of how some accounts of alien abductions feature strange bathrooms
I haven't actually heard that one myself, very curious detail for sure.
>The Black Moon
I've been informed that there is apparently a space station type thing named like this in Sailor Moon. Why is that relevant? Apparently Sailor Moon references some of the same mythologies and ideas as Touhou. Something to maybe think about.
>>48669701
That is a really nice find, thanks for sharing this.
>Hata no Kawakatsu
syncretized_into.jpg
>has also been suspended since 2003
That sucks. I do wonder why?

Since you know so much Okina-sama lore, I wonder if you could recommend some places to visit when I go to Japan? Mt. Hiei is already on my agenda, Kōryū-ji is doable since I will be staying in Kyoto for a while. Iwate is sadly quite far from the planned destinations so far. I would love to acquire an ofuda of Matarajin.
>>48669731
Yeah it's very common for mythologies to have sexual and reproductive themes. That's not surprising, but it is interesting that the Mishaguji are such. I did post something about the kundalini thing and how it's often portrayed as two coiling snakes kinda like DNA. How it's associated with femininity (despite snakes being kinda phallic) and sexuality and this some kind of energy. All humans have separate DNA in their mitochondria which is inherited only from the mothers. So all human beings have something in them that is by some definition "feminine", related to biological energy production and inherited via sexual production. Much to think about.
>>48670246
I mean, all kinds of gaps, crevices and caves are associated with women for obvious reasons, it makes sense for people to perceive Yukari like this. Maybe it's just this place, but she does feel like one of the most sexualized Touhou characters. I mean, I get it, she has quite the archetype going on - mysterious older (therefore more powerful) lady that's spooky and scary but still alluring, she has mysterious "gap(s)" which are weird and make you feel seen and therefore self-conscious, but which nevetheless hold promise of access to some otherworldly feminine paradise if you can just endure how weird and scary she is.
>>48672124
Thye can apparently send DVDs for private screenings, but I don't think that's gonna extend to private individuals necessarily. They do have a form for that in the site.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
In the last 2 - 3 years, while I met many people

I had met like 3 people total in that time period who had suspiciously similar past experiences or thought processes to me and there would be many other coincidences past that, that were strange to me. I had randomly befriended those 3 people without knowing how similar they actually were to me, just something drew me to them. I also could not pinpoint why I decided to talk to them in the 1st place remotely.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48673900
You're welcome!
>>48674041
>Since you know so much Okina-sama lore, I wonder if you could recommend some places to visit when I go to Japan? Mt. Hiei is already on my agenda, Kōryū-ji is doable since I will be staying in Kyoto for a while. Iwate is sadly quite far from the planned destinations so far. I would love to acquire an ofuda of Matarajin.
To be frank, I'm far from an expert when it comes to Matarajin or any other deity. I've never been to Japan, and although I'm actively trying to learn the language, my knowledge is still very lacking. I also don't typically dedicate much time to engage in such research, but this was a nice finding nonetheless. It's heartwarming to know that, despite all, Okina-sama is still worshipped by some regular folks out there (and no, we are most certainly not normal!)
Joking aside, I do that Matarajin's secret statue is enshrined at the aforementioned Mōtsū-ji, and that it will be displayed once more in 2033 (if basic math doesn't fail me). I would assume that's where one would request a Matarajin ofuda, but I cannot say for sure, or whether there is a specific timeframe to do so. Even getting an omamori can be extremely challenging for a tourist that doesn't exactly know where to look...

[Anonymous No.]

>>48674195
Like attracts like really is true.
>>48675601
>and no, we are most certainly not normal!
I'll have you know that I am extremely normal!
>Even getting an omamori can be extremely challenging for a tourist that doesn't exactly know where to look...
I know, which is why I've been really trying my best to learn the language and the customs, but some of the pressing questions I have are...uncommon to say the least. "Can foreigners get an shinshatsu-ofuda without problems" and "what's the best Haniyasushin shrine to visit in Fukuoka" and such are not exactly the most common tourist questions...

[Anonymous No.]

>>48597703
I have not had any in recent memory. I think I am just too open to having them and they seem to only happen to people who don't think about them or want them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48677083
Here's hoping that someone reading this can give you better pointers! That being said, it's unlikely that you'll be able to cram everything you want to see/do into one single trip. So even if you don't get any ofuda this time around or can't meet all of your expectations, you can use this first experience to get a feel for the way things are done over there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48677171
>it's unlikely that you'll be able to cram everything you want to see/do into one single trip
That's true, but with the way things are going in the world, I don't know if a second trip will be possible. There is a reason why I am going for such a long time, and why I wish to get the essentials done while I'm there...

[Anonymous No.]

Seems like i'll be able to visit Suwa in May if nothing drastic occurs, i'll be sure to take plenty of notes of interesting things!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48680873
That's great! How long do you think you'll be there? There's a lot of very interesting Touhou-related stuff in Nagano beyond Suwa.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48681118
The plan is to stay in Japan for 15 days, with Reisaitai being the first event, and later visiting the Suwa / Nagano region, I’m still planning out the exact locations I’d like to visit

[Anonymous No.]

>>48681408
*Reitaisai

[Anonymous No.]

Heh

[Anonymous No.]

>>48681408
That's a nice chunk of time. You could even have time to check out places like Tengu-dake, Mt. Iizuna and Hakuba too.
>>48683879
Many such cases, but this is the first time I hear that there is a "Futatsuiwa Daimyojin Shrine" in Sado. I guess that's the dot on the Touhou holy sites map that someone made that's on the island.

[Anonymous No.]

Bumping this bread

[Anonymous No.]

https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/submissions/touhouesotericbuddhism/touhouesotericbuddhism
Wrote a thing about the links to Esoteric Buddhism in Touhou, especially Shingon.
I didn't mention Okina and the Tereidas being based on the Genshi Kimyodan esoteric ritual (taimitsu) since I already kind of treaded on that before (https://shichisei.info/articles/matarajin.html)) and I felt like it was out of place with the Shingon conclusion. Enjoy!

[Anonymous No.]

>>48689369
Nice. Speaking of Mai and Satono, I recently went through a very interesting article that delves deeply into the historical significance of dōji. You might have already seen it, but I'll post it anyway, just in case:
https://yamayuandadu.tumblr.com/post/735098001264099328/mai-satono-and-their-peers-a-look-into-the-world
Did you know that Okina-sama was said to have a taste for human liver? And the funniest part is that those on the receiving end seemingly benefit from it.

[Anonymous No.]

Reimu is going to eat the esoteric Touhou bread.

I had an interesting dream the other night. I was somewhere with a forest but also a large, mostly wood, building. I remember at one point my father gave me a shotgun as a present which only had one shot. At first it was black metal and realistic but later it turned into a foam toy gun that I dream-knew was somehow still deadly. At first (or at one point) I thought the shotgun simply had to be reloaded every time you wanted to fire another shot, but later I thought it was a disposable gun that could only be shot once ever. At the time I thought such a gun was worthless and pondered its use, though now in the real world I have thought of but one grim use for such a weapon: suicide. The former gun reminds me of how indigenous people in the Amazon used single shot weapons against “strange creatures” that looked like the Green Goblin from Spider Man.

In the dream people were under attack by UFOs. I think I saw the UFOs then went into the building. I remember seeing a flying saucer like the width of a house lifting someone into it with a wide beam of light. I remember wondering how to defeat this things. I knew I couldn’t let myself get touched by the beam for I would get paralyzed, I think I was remembering having read this about the Colares attacks in the dream. I think that is when I went in the building and received the gun, I was also looking for a lighter, though it’s possible I made two trips. I remember the way I defeated the flying saucers: I had some torn letters, like bills with the plastic window, that were “contaminated” (I remember an emphasis on that word) with *something* though I know not what that something is. I approached the edge of a light beam that was fixed on something else, I took the bits of paper, set them on fire, and threw them into the beam. I accidentally got parts of myself paralyzed for brief periods of time due to standing so close to the beam. The paper bits floated up into the saucer, got sucked in, the saucer flew a bit aways, and then yellow sparks flew as the saucer exploded. The dream ended soon after.

I find it weird how burning paper defeated the UFO. My first thought was a connection to ofuda which are used to dispel evil, but the whole point of a lot of Shinto stuff is that it’s NOT contaminated and I don’t know if kami would like you burning their ofuda and reward you for it by destroying your enemies. I do know fire is thought to be purifying in a lot of cultures so maybe that’s something to do with it. Or maybe aliens need to breathe a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen so their ships are highly explosive.
>>48692469
>Did you know that Okina-sama was said to have a taste for human liver? And the funniest part is that those on the receiving end seemingly benefit from it.
I find the seeming benefits part very interesting. Maybe she only eats the bad parts? I know in Aztec (or perhaps Mexican) thought the liver, or ihiyotl, was considered to be like part of the soul (along with yollotl which is the heart and tonalli which is like the heat and forehead) and IIRC it had something to do with breath as well, and the ihiyotl was associated with magic. Do you have more information on this?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48689369
I know I'm the one who uploaded it and already gave thanks for it, but thanks again, it was a good article.
>>48692469
As suspected, the connection to liver-eating seems to have come from the connection to dakinis. More specificaly, I remember them getting to eat the "human yellow" of the liver after death was part of some deal to tame the dakinis. I think this might have been related to mythology surrounding Mahakala.

I'm not sure if such idea is of purely Buddhist/Indian origin or if it has some Chinese cultural elements in it. I don't know if the Indians had quite similar ideas about particular "spirits" or "deities" or quite the same kind of "energies" dwelling in internal organs, but if there is Chinese influence to it, it opens some interesting interpretations. The Chinese certainly believed all sorts of spirits and energies were in the human body, and for example someone could get possessed by "internal demons" originating from particular organs. The positive interpretation is of course that they eat all the negative energies and/or demons dwelling in your liver.

Also, funny to learn that ZUN intentionally decided to drop some things he planned because it would have made HSiFS too "vulgar".

>>48693059
>Reimu is going to eat the esoteric Touhou bread.
Itadakimasu!
>the whole point of a lot of Shinto stuff is that it’s NOT contaminated and I don’t know if kami would like you burning their ofuda and reward you for it by destroying your enemies
While that is true, do consider that it's thought to be best that the various ofuda are renewed yearly. The old ones are ritually burned. I don't think they consider that the ofuda get "impure" per say, but it's more about keeping the cycle of rebirth going by renewing things.

The less literal interpretation of the situation is that you were being pursued by something associated with some kind of contamination that you are carrying, and that by letting go off it, you were able to destroy this pursuer.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48693059
Sure thing. This is the explanation provided by the author:
>[...] the dance and song of the dōji was understood as a representation of endless transmigration during the cycle of samsara. When sex does come up in related sources, it is presented negatively, in association with ignorance. [...] The goal was seemingly to guarantee Matarajin will help the faithful be reborn in the pure land of Amida. However, the method he was believed to utilize to that end can be at best described as unconventional.
>To unburden the soul from bad karma, Matarajin had to devour the liver of a dying person. This is essentially a positive twist on a habit attributed in Buddhism to certain classes of demons, especially dakinis, said to hunger for so-called “human yellow” (人黄, ninnō), to be understood as something like vital essence, or for specific body parts. In this highly esoteric context, Matarajin was at once himself a sort of dakini, and a tamer of them (usually the role of Mahakala), and thus capable of utilizing their normally dreadful behavior to positive ends.
>The true understanding of these actions was knowledge apparently reserved for a small audience, though. Keiran shūyōshū (溪嵐拾葉集), a medieval compendium of orally transmitted Tendai knowledge, asserts that even monks actively involved in the worship of Matarajin were unfamiliar with it.
>The ambivalence present in the aforementioned liver-related belief was a fundamental component of the character of many deities once popular in esoteric Buddhism, and by extension of their attendants too.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48693775
To be honest, there is this kind of countercultural streak in non-esoteric Buddhism too, or at least Mahayana, I'm not as familiar with Theravada and hardly an expert on Buddhism anyway.

But there is stuff like the story of Sariputra getting gender-swapped by a goddess in order for him to learn a lessons about how "male" and "female" aren't some essential categories.

There's all sorts of rather unconventional humans too. Zen in particular seems to have attracted these types. That might be because according to legends Boddhidharma went and boldly denied that Emperor Wu had accrued any merit for the deeds he had done for the Buddhist cause.

The Mahayana & Vajrayana idea that all (living) beings have an inherent capacity for enlightenment probably contributes to this, enlightenment can come in all kinds of sizes, shapes and dispositions. While all forms of Buddhism consider the skillful means, or tailoring the teaching to the audience, I think the non-Theravada schools have an even greater focus on that. Such would leave room for all kinds of rather unconventional figures and aproaches. Maybe the lay people need to hear the message in different form than monks, and maybe drunkards, cripples and prostitutes need to hear it in a different form than the other laity. Maybe attachment to trying to be non-attached can become an obstacle. Maybe you need to be put through the pear wiggler. Maybe you need to be afraid of the big bad Matarajin of the Demon Gate. Maybe you need to let Matarajin eat all the bad vibes from your liver. The possibilities are many. Maybe people who find your legacy 1500 years later need to hear the message in a different way, different form, shaken to be awake in their own way.

Of course, this idea of being very flexible with the message and methods can become very dangerous in the hands of bad actors too, and radical experiences are not the point. There is an appeal to such methods, but I don't think a lot of people really are ready for the pear wiggler. The medicine must always be tailored for the disease, after all. What we consider radical and cool will not set us free from our preconceptions, because we are already missing the point with them by seeing them as radical and cool. Cavorting in some sex ritual will not violently shake us awake, if we actually even desire to be violently shaken awake. It's quite scary when you get a taste of what it could be like.

[Anonymous No.]

I am working on a very long overdue update on the Taoism section of the Archive. Okina-sama has a lot more connections to Taoism than just having a spellcard named after a type of Taoist ritual swords.

There's too much to unpack into a single post (and she is more than deserving of a whole article of her own...), but something I found personally really notable is that the Chinese believe that the Big Dipper also has a female deity associated with it. The male deity is of course no-one else than the supreme (ultimate, hidden, secret, etc too because he was thought traditionally too transcendent to be pictured). Shangdi himself is commonly associated with the North Star (a trinary system, though the Chinese would have lacked the telescopes to see the two "douji"...), but the Big Dipper is seen as his throne. Beyond that, it's associated with the creation of the world, control over lifeforce, a gateway to heaven, banishment of demons, and as a kind of timekeeper and compass. By the way, that "gate of life" mingmen, because the Chinese too thought as above, as below, is also in the human body as an acupuncture point and a very important one. It's located in the back, between the kidneys - a kind of backdoor, if you will.

Anyway, there is a female deity known as Doumu who is the "Mother of the Big Dipper" and the female personification of the supreme deity. She is believed to have two sons which are the two invisible stars of the Big Dipper - the Chinese believed it actually had nine stars, but two of them were somehow invisible. Beyond just being herself, she is associated with several very powerful figures from Chinese mythology. One of these is Jiutian Xuannu, the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens. She has quite the resume, being a goddess of war, longevity, magic, I Ching (if Benebell Wen is to be believed) and interestingly enough, sex, as in for pleasure, none of that procreation stuff here.

That I Ching connection means nothing you (probably), but it means a lot to me. Jiutian Xuannu is something like Wen's patron deity, and things started happening as soon as I had merely ordered the book. A man had a jacket with the hexagram 30, same as the book's cover, on a train the day I ordered it. I drew numerous combinations of Lake, Mountain, Heaven, as a wink, not only to convey a message, but to tell me yes, we really are here. (There is a shrine called Hokuto Jinja after all between two Suwa shrines haha...) I have dreamed of the hexagrams. Had them appear in meditation. It really feels like the questline has resumed ever since I got it.

I thought it was a thing of it's own. It just might really be
>Her
whoever she really is (this idea might not even apply to them) all the way down.

[Anonymous No.]

So, to every Anon on here, the Chinese New Year is on the 19th. Will you eat soba noodles while looking for Venus, in true Gensokyo fashion this year?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48703004
Isn't the lunar new year on the 29th?
Eating sob and looking for Venus sounds nice though. I'm making new ofuda and burning the old one. I think the Japanese do it around the Western new year these days, but I couldn't manage it then. It doesn't really feel like a "new year", it's barely over the darkest part of the year. End of January feels much more like it's a new year.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48706097
Ah, yeah it is the 29th. Was typing too fast and didn't catch that. Was re-reading the fairy Manga for inspiration on the Ibuki gourd and the sake bug (always wanted one even before I knew of her. Now want to make a mock version). First page I opened was the New Year part with the soba noodles. I'm from the Southern part of the US, but won't say where of course, but I've already done the New Year thing for here where you eat the greens and beans for money symbolism in the year. Figured extending my life with the soba wouldn't hurt. *shrug*

[Anonymous No.]

Found something interesting:
https://x.com/HupelyotFront/status/1879753116071219430
Someone has been digging into what books ZUN has been reading. If I only was fluent in Japanese...who knows what's in there...

>>48706374
I've actually heard of that eating greens and beans for money thing before myself. No traditions like that here, though. Weirdly enough, I found a packet of soba noodles in my pantry when I was going through it today. I don't think they were apported there or anything, but I had forgotten about them, and the timing is a bit funny.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48701945
As always, Matarajin lore is the gift that keeps on giving. Not so much of a surprise anymore, though. That's what being such a multifaceted deity inevitably entails. To some extent, this also explains how much power Okina-sama still exerts on this side of reality. She isn't just some obscure sixteenth century god, but more than we'll probably ever realize.
About Benebell Wen's I Ching book, I should really check it out... but I don't have the time and energy to go through 1K pages right now.
>>48703004
Funnily enough, the 31st falls on a Friday, which is one of the few days of the week I still have carbs. Don't know about looking for Venus, though. My place isn't great for that sort of thing.
...But do you know what actually happens on the 19-20th? That's right. Okina-sama's festival!

[Anonymous No.]

What are your opinions on Ouija boards?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48707186
It's all fun and games until ZUN gets exposed for drawing inspiration from the ネクロノミコン.
>>48710080
Something I don't feel like messing around with.
I strongly believe that certain tools and components used throughout history have accrued a great deal of occult power over time. The Ouija has a lot of oomph going for it, and not the good kind. People with no respect for spirits commonly use it as a funny sleepover game, after all. These recurring intentions have lasting effects with the potential to rub spirits the wrong way. For what it's worth, I don't doubt that an experienced medium might be able to use the Ouija without drawbacks. But that is the exception, not the rule. And I already have more than enough with the physical phenomena that follow occasional rituals like letter burning. I'm more than fine with those because I trust the spirits I'm working with and appreciate their feedback, but I really don't intend to call out to some random stranger who died centuries ago.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48710080
They're pretty loud and obnixius and disturb the rest of the dead who would like to sleep in peace, without a ugly teenager that want some spooky experiences for the lulz to post on some obscure esoteric forum, telegram or /x/. But it is funny to see those morons summoning a demon or a spirit that woken up the wrong way of the bed and getting their arses handed to them. Overall, I like those things far form me. No, I won't take my damned meds.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48710080
They are a board game made by a toy company, which lowers the users perspective of what it is capable of, as well as being tied to necromancy and divination that ultimately draws in base spirits looking for attention or mischief. However, due to the public image being warped thanks to horror movies, any number of middle level malevolent entity looking for a name for itself or an easy mark could be enticed to use it under the pretense of being the next Casper and therefore striking the user when guard is down. And if not treated without sealing or ending (movies got that right, at least) then it can act as a revolving door for whatever if not properly closed, including spirits or just any kind of miasma that leaks through.

Best used as a cutting board you take your frustrations out on and then tossed in the trash, if anything. Sticking with more assured methods of divination will be better results, if so inclined.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48708182
>She isn't just some obscure sixteenth century god, but more than we'll probably ever realize
Yeah. To be honest, I have become a bit desensitized to some of this stuff, but that bit of research jolted me a bit. Having her loop straight back to the I Ching is so weird.
>but I don't have the time and energy to go through 1K pages right now
I haven't gone through all the 1k pages either, there's too much to digest to just blast through it. Honestly, you could probably just devote your whole life to I Ching. But I think the main body of Theory rounds out to couple hundred pages and really makes it much easier to understand all kinds of stuff coming from the Chinese tradition. It's still a lot, but it's all there. Yin-yang, the five phases, the eight trigrams and how they all come together. Even if you would take 5 years to get through it, I think it's still great to have as a reference.
>>48710080
I don't think it's necessarily a good idea to reach out to all the random spirits floating around. The others here basicaly elaborated why. I understand the curiosity factor and there was a time I would have done, but they can be really troublesome and there are spirits out there that basicaly live to harass people. There are also of course a lot of those who just basicaly are, and some who can very much be aligned with human interests. It's much better to try to reach out to such ones, as selective and demanding they may at times be.
>>48711801
>ネクロノミコン
He does not strike me as the type, unless SMT did it first.

[Anonymous No.]

I started doing a Fudo Myo-o gongyo and among the effects is his mantra randomly coming in my thoughts and Yellow Fudo (attached) flashing visually throughout the entire day. I'm not conciously thinking of him so he embedded himself in my subconcious quite deeply just from 2 days of practice. Really powerful deity.
"He is the markless Dharmakaya, Identical with [all-encompassing] space itself, Thus he has no dwelling.
His only dwelling is in the minds and thoughts of living beings."
Well, then I welcome him.
>>48710080
From my experience, it did nothing. No one serious uses it as a tool nowadays; Spirits CAN use it to play "pranks" (they can be really bad ^^) as they communicate through many physical means. Their reach of physical influence seems to be limited as otherwise they can just make a pen levitate and write their message or something? Actually, scratch that. I believe it's all mental. There's a reason their most common way of communication is through thoughts and imagery. Sounds like knocking or visions that seem material like balls of light can also be mentally produced. In the case of an ouija, it's just mentally inducing small motor functions instead of like pushing your hand. This is not to say it's all in your head bro, but that spirits seem to operate in a, mental layer. I remember this word being used (and that's why I used it) so apologies if the conclusion has already been discussed.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48713126
>His only dwelling is in the minds and thoughts of living beings
Buddhism was so ahead of it's time for this...
>Actually, scratch that. I believe it's all mental.
Well, records of spirits doing physical stuff is far from unheard of. I mean, I had the experience of my friend having their ipods getting apported into my slippers while they were staying over here. They also messed with the cables on my TV. One a more positive note, there was the rain snake. Elsewhere, there's reports of all the poltergeists and such. But they seem to prefer to hang around in the mental realm.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48718554
Yeah, I think I was too focused on the example of the ouija which I was trying to explain in my head and trying to relate it all to my personal experience and came to a hasty conclusion (evidenced by the fact that I came up with it mid reply....)
Oh well, I tried!
At least, today, I have been told I have been improving a lot mentally from an external opinion, I am very grateful to the anons who opened this door for me.
On that note, how has your practice helped you? Or not?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48719015
(meant as a general question to everyone)

[Anonymous No.]

My dear friend has been very, mysteriously to me, sick and in the past month she has gotten significantly worse. She is tired and keeps getting more tired. I fear she has some wasting disease like cancer that will only be noticed once it becomes terminal, or has developed chronic fatigue disorder, and hope she just has severe anemia. Do /jp/‘s sorcerers and witches happen to know any healing magic? Are there witch-doctors or medicine men among you? I’m at a loss of what to do for my friend; when men cannot control the material world they must resort to magic.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48719459
turn off your computer and see a doctor

[Anonymous No.]

>>48719459
I don't know if anyone of them have some kind of healing powers. My best bet would be the lad who can talk to Okina, there are another anons, but they're probably too chaotic for your quest.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48719459
"Sorcerer" here. You might not like this answer, but there are certain things in life that work the way they do for a reason. Much like your friend and many others here, I have had my fair share of health problems, and still haven't solved them all. Turns out the best way to get your life in order is to use your judgement (a divine blessing bestowed upon us all, if you will) and take action. I'm not saying that spirituality is useless when it comes to tackling these issues, far from it. In fact, I found it to be very effective at easing physical and psychological pain. I have been able to soothe areas of localized pain in my own body by shifting my focus to them and forcing their relaxation. But this isn't some sort of definitive way to heal what medicine cannot. Meditation and other practices have mostly helped me sharpen my senses and see the different faces of life through a new lens. No, I'm not able to cast Lay on Hands on anyone yet. However, these insights have made me, a man who prided himself on being stone cold, weep my heart out at the sheer wrongness of my past life choices, which inevitably set me in motion.
But let's get back to matter at hand. If there's something broken within your friend's body, it won't just magically fix itself overnight. While there might be a shamanic healer out there with the power to work a real miracle, you *really* don't want to risk wasting her time and money. Let's be real here: you speak to people who were largely ignorant about these matters less than a year ago, and have only begun to scratch the surface of what could be. Your friend needs to come around and employ every single tool she has at her disposal. If she has anemia, then she should start taking supplements and eat three meals a day that cover all the bases. If what ails her is purely psychological, she should evaluate her lifestyle by writing down what she does throughout the day and see what she can do to improve it - and if she lacks the capacity/impartiality to do so, then she should consult a friend, relative or doctor. Maybe she needs to do both. And if she has something more serious, well... the most effective way to deal with it is to see an expert and get treatment. There's no way around it.
I hope your friend recovers as soon as possible.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48721256
>>48721876
I’m well aware that magic is not the ideal place to start but I’ve raised the alarm for months and to my knowledge almost nothing has come of it. Magic is my only real option. I don’t live near her so I can’t see her in person.
>While there might be a shamanic healer out there with the power to work a real miracle,
I am left with no choice but to figure out how to become one. I seem to have worked one before, though not related to healing; perhaps I can do it again. If my concern about the possibility of chronic fatigue syndrome is correct she’d need a miracle anyway because that disorder is poorly understood by science and does not have a true “cure”.

I have only a couple ideas of how to go about this. One is to attempt to replicate objects wielded by gods in ancient books to see if that somehow increases magic potency.

[Anonymous No.]

I have made a very long overdue, very needed update to the Taoism section of the Archive:
https://archive-of-the-sealed-gods.neocities.org/taoism
Highlights are:
- elaborated on the Taoist view of how the various energies and their patterning makes the world
- there's a lot more references to the Bagua system of symbols in Touhou than expected
- lots of lore about the Big Dipper
- the concept of shikigami from onmyodo is extremely similar to tulpas
>>48719015
>On that note, how has your practice helped you?
I think the single biggest thing is this sense of living in a world that is souled. This has lead to a greater apreciation of the world and people around me. Things just have an inherent "worthiness" to them that should be treasured. "Things" also includes myself, and it's a very healthy and grounded sense of self-worth too, I think.

Beyond that, I feel things like meditation have sort of flipped around the relationship between the capital S-self and the small s self. I used to have rather bad executive function problems and was generaly speaking rather impulse and beholden to bad mood swings. This has evened out to a remarkable degree and it feels like I am actually doing constructive things (studying a language I've wanted to study for years, actually doing my work more than not doing it, etc) instead of just floating downstream.

Tai Chi has helped a lot with body awareness and all kinds of weird embodied tension that I used to have a lot of.

Things are not perfect and there are still things I struggle with like sleeping enough and being empathetic towards people who have upset me but it's been a really wild improvement within a single year.
>>48719459
Your friend really needs professional medical attention. But I understand that living in the United States of Animal Hell, such might not be an option. Still, you should find a way to at least eliminate some of the possibilities. Anemia shows up in a blood test, as do many cancers (AFAIK). Just be there for her and support her. Pray to whatever you are comfortable praying to.

There's all sorts of medical qigong type of things which might or might not be able to help, but you would need a competent diagnosis and they are things she would have to do herself.

If she's open to the idea of supernatural assistance, you can try. As long as it is done with good intention I don't think anything bad will come out of it at least.

[Anonymous No.]

Bump

[Anonymous No.]

>>48672018
Looping back to this, this really seems to be more or less the Matarajin temple these days. Spotted at least two Touhou fans posting about going for the festival there, haha.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48730142
Yeah, this definitely didn't go unnoticed on the Japanese side of the fandom.
By the way, it appears that you can only get the Matarajin goshuin on January 20: https://x.com/shinmeitorii1/status/1616447397483413505

[Anonymous No.]

>>48732733
Oh well, maybe January 2026 I will go there. Let's hope the big boys can refrain from starting a nuclear war untill then. Might give the place a visit in the summer nevertheless.

[Anonymous No.]

Hey quick question what did they mean that a river named "Heavenly Dragon River" flows from lake Suwa?

[Anonymous No.]

>the real /x/ was on /jp/ all along
huh

[Anonymous No.]

>>48734396
/x/ is a mixture of being “mainstream” (considering it’s an easily accessible board) while not really having much gatekeeping which greatly lowers quality.

Threads like this one are extremely niche within an already niche community, and that alone already filters the grand majority of people and only those with some degree of interest will meaningfully interact with it

[Anonymous No.]

>>48734396
You're not the only one who's made this observation.
>>48736600
It also helps that somehow these threads seem to make people generaly be on their best behavior while /x/ has the opposite going on.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48730142
wait QRD on this
I was born in the 20th January
does that mean I'm a fertility God?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48737105
It doesn't mean anything in particular but you can view it as a personal sign
If you're interested in basic Buddhist astrology and want to see what deity you're linked to: https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/12-zodiac.shtml
Since you're born so early note that your year of birth probably doesn't get you the correct zodiac and you need to check with a proper website.

[Lightning Network No.]

>>48737491
that's fine and all, Tiger is the zodiac I knew already
>Say you were born on Jan. 19, 1987
also kudos for example nearly being my actual date of birth

[Anonymous No.]

>>48737105
It's a sign. You should worship Okina-sama now.

[Anonymous No.]

I had a bad day today :(
Do /jp/‘s wizards know any kind of hug magic?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48742238
acquire cat

[Anonymous No.]

Is it alright for me as christian(Orthodox to be more exact) to like 2hu?
Do I get in contact with any negative energies?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48722518
I’ve tried using magic to help my friend out recently. Before I made this post I tried calling upon my usual favored gods, though it didn’t seem to work immediately. In the twilight of dusk on the 19th or 20th I gathered four vines from a thorny bush with a reddish bark which is common in my area and attempted (poorly) to strip off the thorns so that I might later fashion it into a wand based off a particular staff. On the 20th she had energy to message me back a little (after being unable to do so for nearly a week straight, and a few days before then, when she once eagerly did so daily) and she did so even more tonight, which is an improvement! It’s far from a full recovery and she should definitely still seek medical attention but now she’s a little better. Yay magic!!
>>48737491
Here’s a site like that but for Aztec deities if anyone’s interested https://www.azteccalendar.com/
>>48732814
>Let's hope the big boys can refrain from starting a nuclear war untill then.
We need to awaken the thunderbirds so they will cast down the nuclear warheads and save the world from devastation (if you look at some reports of UFOs some allege they have interfered with nuclear weapons so perhaps something like this has already happened, though I would caution against seeing UFOs as benevolent saviors, as there are also reports of UFOs doing very evil things)
>>48607653
On the topic of orbs in Mexican folklore it’s believed that witches or sorcerers can learn to transform themselves into orbs and do so for fast travel. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how to do this.
https://artesmuertos.com/blogs/scary-stories/huasteca-bruja-stories-part-1
https://culturacolectiva.com/en/lifestyle/travel/naica-witch-capital-of-the-world-legend-chihuahua-mexico/
https://www.espookytales.com/blog/witches-in-mexico/

[Anonymous No.]

>>48742401
I'm asking this coz in the last two months I've been dealing with some quite severe anxiety issues and I'm questioning things in my life
I also grew a bit attached to the characters

[Anonymous No.]

>>48742238
No, but I know the magic words "this too shall pass". Any advice beyond that really depends on the type of bad day.
>>48742257
This one would probably also work.
>>48742401
You should probably be asking other Orthodox Christians about that.
>>48742952
It's good to hear that she has been doing better. Let's hope your friend makes a fully recovery.
>if you look at some reports of UFOs some
allege they have interfered with nuclear weapons
Yeah there are a lot of reports about that. Various nucler sites appear to be their favorite hangouts. I don't fully trust anything the said but Luis Elizondo said the US government considered a plan of trying to deliberately bait UFOs to appear by stockpiling a lot of nukes at one place.
>as there are also reports of UFOs doing very evil things
I think UFO is just the latest in the continuum of "weird balls of light that can take a lot of different shapes".
>it’s believed that witches or sorcerers can learn to transform themselves into orbs and do so for fast travel
That's really interesting, first time I hear of humans potentially doing that stuff.
>>48745859
Are you concerned that you are getting yooked?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48742401
>>48745859
It's safe to assume that anyone who is strongly aligned with religious dogma will respond negatively to your question. (If they're aware of the kind of beings that are depicted in Touhou, that is.)
The question is: will you let that get in the way of your appreciation for the characters? Who's to say they won't help you deal with your anxiety in one way or another? Are you even rejecting what you currently believe in by chasing what your heart wants?
For what it's worth, some of us have been invested in this for almost a year and have benefited immensely from it. It's all about being honest to yourself and not biting off more than you can chew.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48742401
>>48742401
As entertainment? Likely not an issue, but messing around with actual gods and magic and such? Incompatible, some more mystical branches of Christianity have some more leeway, but in general, hard no.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48746903
That's really well said. I didn't want to prod into it, but I did wonder if "question things in my life" include the religion part too.

It really depends what kind of "characters" he has gotten attached to and why.

As for if it's possible to come into contact with negative energies, in Japanese thought, all the kami have multiple sides to them. Some of these sides are wrathful. Most would see this as "negative", but I don't, it just is what it is. Various nature-adjanced spirit entities have a lot of very legitimate reasons to be upset with humans.

Anyway, I have personally found them enormously helpful and contact with them has greatly improved the quality of my life. Researching their origins has led me to great wisdom. I do the standard Shinto norito daily and it alone helps me re-orient me towards life.

But if you are drawn and attached to something that advertises itself as "I eat humans", then yeah, maybe you are orienting yourself towards something that won't be the best for you. Even that might vary from one person to another. The idea of something being purely evil is kind of alien to Japanese thought. Youkai are just a type of spirit that has been inconsolably scorned. Maybe the ones who have nested into Touhou are ready to move on from that, to change with the times. That's a very big idea in Japanese thought too - tradition is reborn and stays alive by adapting.

We're already immersed in unbelievable amounts of negative influences in our daily lives. The question is what you do to keep your head above that and what kind of relationships you build and why, both with humans and other things.
>>48747034
>As entertainment? Likely not an issue, but messing around with actual gods and magic and such?
I think the line between these two is a lot thinner than many people think. It does lead into kind of goofy alarmist territories at times, but I've for example considerably toned down the amount of violent and horror media that I consume. My tastes in music have also shifted. Certain forms of "entertainment" genuinely have pretty rancid energies that rub off onto you. Now, Touhou isn't among those, but strict monotheistic dogma would of course prefer people not to come in contact with anything else than what they have sanctioned.

[Anonymous No.]

Which do you think came first?

[Anonymous No.]

Alright, so I spoke with some family members who are more faithfull than me and they said as long as it doesn't influences my christian beliefs and I take the positive things out of it it's fine

[Anonymous No.]

>>48752442
You have to give us more details than that.

[Anonymous No.]

While I don't exactly consider myself a Buddhist, I still found this channel to be quite fascinating: https://www.youtube.com/@DDMTV05
To be honest, I'd never heard of Master Sheng-yen before, but he seemed remarkably wise and sensible from the little I've seen of him. I enjoyed listening to his thoughts on Western religion, rebirth, demons, and such topics.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48751920
the chicken

[Anonymous No.]

I have noticed that there was quite a number of Touhou omikuji animations this year, those that allow you to draw a fortune by stopping at one of frames. I sadly can't tell if most of them were created before or after ZUN mentioned omikuji book.
In an unrelated subject, those who played through DS, can remember to come across this:
>Wow, my head is spinning... the radiant light of gold can drive a youkai mad.
>So, maybe the reason those gathering faith put on such flashy outfits is because they're going for a smoke-and-mirrors effect like this?
It's Aya's comment for Shou's Treasure Sign "Dazzling Gold". The first sentence is far more interesting one. It's almost somewhat strange, because in Nazrin's spellcard just before Aya says, seemingly much less bothered:
>Since I praised her for digging up coins, this time she dug up gold!
>I have to change my opinion of mice.
>I hope she digs up a scoop next!
So at first I didn't think much of it. But!
As probably many know, in western alchemy tradition gold is tied with Sun, while silver is tied with Moon.
Youkai, as creatures of night, would certainly have little affinity with sun, not to mention Kojiki's retelling of Amaterasu hiding in the cave (Basil Hall Chamberlain translation, in parentheses names as we are used to them added by me):
>So thereupon the Heaven-Shining-Great-August-Deity (Amaterasu), terrified at the sight, closed [behind her] the door of the Heavenly Rock-Dwelling (Amanoiwato), made it fast, and retired. Then the whole Plain of High Heaven (Takamagahara) was obscured and all the Central Land of Reed-Plains (Ashihara no Nakatsukuni) darkened. Owing to this, eternal night prevailed. Hereupon the voices of the myriad Deities were like unto the flies in the fifth moon as they swarmed, and a myriad portents of woe all arose.
The last sentence from the above is sometimes used to point towards existence or even birthplace of evil spirits, since 'the myriad Deities' are distinct from Yaoyorozu no Kami and believed by some scholars, Motoori Norinaga included, as copyist's error, where 'myriad' should be instead 'evil'.
Ties between Moon and youkai are directly stated, if not necessarily elaborated upon, in Touhou itself. Furthermore, and here it starts to get strange, this is kanji for gold: 金 , used in the spellcard comment mentioned earlier. Kanji for silver: 銀 is a compound of 金 and 艮 , latter being an alternate writing for zodiacal northeast. And this direction is, as some here already know, tied with misfortune, apparitions and demons.
So, what I wanted to ask, does anybody know more about metaphysical properties of gold and silver in Japanese/Eastern thought? I do wonder from where that Aya's comment my stem, too. I know Bishamoten is tied to both wealth and combating evil forces, so it could be merely linking those two and curvy projectiles of the spellcard all together, but maybe there might be more to it.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48756057
>does anybody know more about metaphysical properties of gold and silver in Japanese/Eastern thought?

Gold & Silver: West vs. East

Western Alchemy/Occultism:

Gold = Sun, masculine, perfection, immortality.

Silver = Moon, feminine, intuition, reflection.

Alchemy = transforming base metals into gold = spiritual enlightenment (Philosopher’s Stone).

Focus: Individual transformation, celestial symbolism, secret knowledge.

Japanese/Eastern Thought:

Gold = Sun, purity, divine energy, enlightenment (Buddhism), wealth (Feng Shui).

Silver = Moon, water, Yin energy, healing, intuition.

Focus: Harmony (Yin-Yang), balance with nature, communal spirituality (Shinto, Taoism).

Key Differences:

West: Planetary symbolism, personal transcendence, Hermetic/Gnostic roots.

East: Natural elements, collective harmony, Taoist/Buddhist/Shinto influences.

TL;DR: West = gold/silver as tools for personal enlightenment; East = gold/silver as symbols of cosmic balance and communal spirituality.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48758753
I'm sorry, don't take it personally, maybe it's my lack of proper experience, but for me it reads much like a generated text. Are you sure about those things?
That's said, you mention that gold is associated with enlightenment in Buddhism and with wealth in Feng Shui, but don't mention anything for them in regards to silver. Does it mean that in those traditions there is no particular symbolism and/or ritual association for silver? Or did you simply not mention it? For the rest of mentioned things, like healing and intuition for silver, are those shared across many traditions, or did you omit to which belief system those belong to? Is there a reason for why silver is associated with yin, but gold not with yang?
And frankly, you don't need a summary for something that amounts to a couple of sentences at best. I would rather you explained things further, especially in regards to how the gold/silver thing stands for each influential religion in Touhou, if you know and can.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48753867
There's a lot in Buddhism that I think just makes sense & is helpful. A general feature of East Asian religions that I like is that they are more oriented towards doing something than just believing in something.

I guess for me big part of the appeal of teachings are the ideas on interconnectedness of things. I had a long time ago came to conclusions somewhat along those lines, but never really crossed the threshold where it really "clicked". I think this video is a good explanation of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CdXex_0ObU

If someone is interested from learning the most Touhou-adjanced sect of Buddhism, Foundation for Shingon Buddhism's (rather long) introductionary videos are good:
https://www.youtube.com/@foundationforshingonbuddhi3723/videos
>>48756057
>zodiacal northeast. And this direction is, as some here already know, tied with misfortune, apparitions and demons
That's actually a really good catch.
>So, what I wanted to ask, does anybody know more about metaphysical properties of gold and silver in Japanese/Eastern thought?
That's a great question. I actually don't know much about this. Googling about "Gold in Buddhism" revealed several sources stating that gold is indeed associated with the Sun and fire in Buddhism, but they are perhaps not the most spiritually-oriented sources. There are a lot of Buddhist iconography and statues and places of worship with lots of gold, that's for certain.

[Anonymous No.]

I do not want to interrupt the discussion but if anyone remembers this, please keep the message alive or make a resume of this one and >>48653894 for the next thread. I like this dynamic of talking about the conspiracy in this way. Altogether with what we know in this thread.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48756057
>>48758753
Now that you have brought this up, do you know of any examples of metal-based sorcery in our world? (Bonus points if it doesn't rely on any other agents.) I couldn't find anything worthwhile the last time I looked into it. All I can infer from Touhou is that Patchouli uses mercury to produce poisonous water and some kind of metal to create fire pillars.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48759742
>>>/x/39689740
>>>/x/39689746
>>>/x/39689753
>>>/x/39690560
>>>/x/39690566

[Anonymous No.]

Well, here is a bump hoping to get some answers.
As yet another question, I heard that Chinese had a divination system based of ravens' behavior, alongside others. Does anyone knows some more about this?

[Anonymous No.]

>>48759742
You really should look into the Shika no Kuni documentary and the situation surrounding it.
>>48759924
Both Western and Chinese alchemy worked with metals, but I don't know that much about either. Outside of gold and silver, iron is seen as having a kind of anti-spiritual quality almost. It's thought in West to be harmful to spirits. Interestingly enough, Japanese shrines and kamidana are also built without metal nails.

I've seen some modern takes and wands and kind of materially crafted spells use copper. Whether this is traditional or not or if that matters at all, I don't know.
>>48762203
Many such cases. Kitsune myths in Japan are very similar to Western faerie lore. A really fascinating aspect is how in West the spirit children were seen as undesirable, but in Japan childless couples would sometimes petition the Kitsune to give one of their children for them to raise.
>>48762225
I have sadly not stumbled upon this, so no idea. I do have however read about a divination method based on the direction and strenght of wind. I can check it more in detail, but I think it was based on the Bagua. Perhaps the raven system is based on that too.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48759924
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdomancy

[Anonymous No.]

>>48661500
That's fascinating. If I still were In Japan, I would probably do anything to watch that film. Maybe I should actually send an e-mail to some of my uni professors just in case. Maybe.
>>48707186
OK, let's see, first image, from left to right:
>The steps/stairs of Tokyo
>People who have watched Youkai
>Chinese Classics
>Hybrid Work (probably) Subtitle: How to do creative work while working at a company
>Masaki Hagiwara's July Dam
>The naming of things you thought you know but not quite
>The mathematics of snow, moon and flowers: The secrets of the geometrical objects and the 2 (sth.) that lie in the beauty and heart of Japan
>World's Top 500 Beers (lmfao)
>Map of Yokai Tokyo
>Amorphous planets/The amorphous planet (impossible to know which one)
>The star of life: Europa(90% sure, it's just something is blocking the view of what should be Europa)

Second image (again, from left to right):
>Something about beautiful equations (again, hard to read, this time because the image cuts in the middle of that book)
>The dream that happened twice (I think)
>Discrete Mathematics: the theory of enumeration
>Topological Universe
>World's strangest mathematical puzzles
>Is it possible to solve Riemann hypothesis?
>Great route map of weird [buddhist] temples
>World's ghosts and spirits (written as youkai) you should know
>Picture Book of Japan's Gods

Third picture
>The first book I can't quite tell... "World's ____"
>Mathematics are alive
>Fun Insect recipes (wtf)
>Picture book of ingredients

Calligraphy says: Once again, unable to refrain, I leave it to alcohol

I love ZUN.
Anyway, I am sorry, I didn't read the thread until now, but I am glad this is kept alive. I have been having fun reading The Archive of the Sealed Gods, so thank you to the anon who authors it. I can help translating anything anyone may need help with, although it obviously depends on the length of the text.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48767037
>If I still were In Japan, I would probably do anything to watch that film.
It appears that the same company has produced several films dealing with similar topics, and they have envetually wound up in Vimeo for renting. There is hope.
>Fun Insect recipes (wtf)
ZUN is from Nagano, where they traditionally ate insects sometimes. No access to the sea, despite Suwa Taisha granting the hunting licences there was not enough meat for everybody, so they had to make do.

That list is unbelievably ZUN-like, I have to say. Thanks for this.
>thank you to the anon who authors it
I'm glad you've enjoyed it!
>I can help translating anything anyone may need help with
Well, I have some stuff, but it might be a bit of a hassle. There's a list of Haniyasu shrines. I don't need the whole thing translated, but figuring out a couple of ones around the Fukuoka area would be nice. I'd also like to figure out what exactly are the existing Matarajin temples/shrines. I have images of goshuin/ofuda someone has been collecting from them, and it'd be great if the names of the institutions could be derived from them.

From the previous threads, I got the impression that you are pretty versed in Japanese culture and mythology, and I have a question related to that. Do you have any insight into Kamuo Ichihime? There have been some claims that she is the real identity of Chimata-sama, but I've been having hard time figuring out if it's just because this deity is worshipped as a market deity in a single shrine. Related to that, do you have any insight in the whole Lunar Rainbow thing and if it's based on some Japanese myth?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48762861
https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/sce/sce14.htm

[Anonymous No.]

>>48769381
Faƒcinating.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48762861
>iron is seen as having a kind of anti-spiritual quality almost. It's thought in West to be harmful to spirits

From what i understand, it's because of what iron represents - Iron is industry, iron is human civilization, you need a considerable industrial capacity to process iron, and in doing so, you already have achieved some control over the natural world, iron is a symbol of that, and thus is able to harm fey, spirits and other things that are embodiments of nature.

[Anonymous No.]

>>48774621
I wonder if it might also have something to do with the different magnetic properties of iron when compared to something like copper.

[Anonymous No.]

Could anyone drop any recommendations about phenomenology? I've enjoyed I And Thou and The Poetics Of Space and I ate those up. You should check those out too. Everything around us shapes our perception, from the place we grow up to the place we find ourselves spending a majority of our life (either waging or NEETing), to our view of retirement and old age: peace and traveling the open road, as many Americans do, or in holy ascetic poverty as the Indians do?

The choice is yours to choose how to respond to your thrownness!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7Zo3guNJs