| relig. |
"Metal-spirit'. In onmyo (yin-yang) cosmology metal is the element associated with the west and corresponds to the number seven. Traditionally regarded as a dangerous Taoist deity, Konjin the 'killer of seven" occupies certain directions once every five years (i.e. twelve times in the 60-year cycle of 'stems and branches'). A Chinese text declared that if Konjin were offended he would kill seven people. If the members of one's own family were not sufficiently numerous, he would make up the number with the people next door. Directional taboos (kata-imi) associated with Konjin and other directional deities were a preoccupation of the Heian nobility, and beliefs about dangerous directions and the wisdom of circumventing danger by travelling in auspicious directions (e.g. at hatsu-mode) remain in Japan today. In spite of his fearsome reputation Konjin revealed himself through Deguchi, Nao of Omoto-kyo and through Kawate, Bunjiro, founder of Konko-kyo to be the benevolent parent-deity A Popular Dictionary of Shinto (Brian Bocking) |
