[Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen] Lore: Origins of the Youkai

((Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Mage: The Awakening

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Authored by Alanna Keith))

Kitsume

Lore: Origins of the Youkai

By Talon Indra

The very first written document that ever mentioned the island of Japan also contained the first recorded mention of the word ‘youkai’.  Coincidence? 

The word ‘youkai’ did not appear in Japanese print until just before 800 AD.  It referred to a world of mysterious, unseen phenomena.  Something invisible, without form or identity, a mysterious energy that pervades deep forests, oceans, and mountains.

The word appears with increasing frequency over time, and was sometimes paired with the pronunciation ‘bakemono’ (monster) during the Edo period.

The word eventually evolved in the 20^th century to become a catchall term for anything supernatural.  But as with all myths, there is a hidden truth…

In ancient Japan, the people more commonly used the word ‘mononoke’ (lit.  suspicious/mysterious thing or spirit) to describe this mysterious, invisible energy.  This concept of ‘mononoke’ was something to fear, a mysterious, natural force that could appear at any time and kill you, like a lightning strike or tidal wave.  (Princess Mononoke actually illustrates this concept and sentiment very well.)

According to the ancient ideas of animism, a spirit-like being called a ‘mononoke’ was thought to reside in all things. These spirits possessed various kinds of emotions.  If it was good and peaceful, it was a ‘nigi-mitama’ that brought about good fortune.  If it was violent, it was an ‘ara-mitama’ that brought about natural disasters and illness.  One’s ancestors, nature, and animals could all be considered ‘nigi-mitama’ that could be deified and become protective gods (kami) and receive worship.  There is a ritual for turning evil ‘ara-mitama’ into good ‘nigi-mitama’ to quell misfortune.  These ‘ara-mitama’ that weren’t deified, failed to be deified, or stopped being deified, can be said to be ‘youkai’.  (Shintoism eventually evolved from these concepts of animism.)

This raises the core point of the concept of youkai ((And, this is the very theory that I’ve had for years, now proven)).  Youkai, humans, and kami (gods) have a very special relationship:  Youkai can become kami, and vice versa, depending solely on the attention, or lack thereof, of normal humans.

Let me distinguish this from what we know about WoD Spirits.  Without pulling out the book and reading it, Spirits on a basic level, can also be said to reside in objects and represent concepts.  Unless they ‘manifest’, they are generally bodiless embodiments of concepts, emotions, and living or unliving items.  They can become stronger or weaker based upon a thriving, appropriate environment, and upon the attentions of humans (ex. mages) and Werewolves.  They can gain ‘ranks’, which generally denote their power level, and they can become so powerful as to be called minor ‘gods’.

‘Kami’ are also gods; what’s the difference?  If you took a Spirit and gave it a body of its own, and a will of its own, and a soul of its own, that can be said to be a youkai or kami in a nutshell.  ‘Kami’ unlike Spirits, have physical bodies that they usually reside in.  They have a true identity, rather than just being solely associated with a concept.  Granted, they are usually associated as a kami of this or that (war, harvest, etc), but they are also individuals, with a personality, much like a human.  They can reason and make choices in accordance with or against their ‘association’.  They can choose to redefine themselves, although it’s not easy.  A given kami can choose to be fickle, or kind, or violent.  Kami, unlike Spirits, do not need to consume other Spirits to gain sustenance and power.  They can eat food just fine.  No, in order gain power, a kami must have the active attention and worship of humans.  They do not need Mages or Werewolves to dedicate them Essence.  They do not even need elaborate rituals at shrines.  They just need at least one human who acknowledges and believes in them.  (Although the more widespread the shrines are, and the more people who worship, the much more secure the kami will be throughout the centuries in its position.) 

It is true that usually, the more well known a kami is, the more resources it has, and the more power it has, at least among the pseudo hierarchical organization of its fellow kami.  But even kami that do not own a single shrine can be as physically powerful (at least one on one) as a well-established kami.

(Examples of kami: all of the Buddhist gods).

(Extra info about kami: Kami generally have a host of other youkai or other souls (called shinki, or ‘sacred treasure’ or ‘sacred vessel’) working for them.  These souls (nothing to do with youkai) are those of deceased humans, who have died in accidents or from being murdered, but who have remained on earth because they still want to live.   Additionally, these souls must be uncorrupted – they must not have been tainted with evil or possessed by some other entity.  To create a shinki, the kami names the soul, who forgets all memories of their previous life.  The shinki has an additional form (a weapon, a piece of jewelry, an animal form, etc) through which it can lend power to the kami, with varied abilities.  The named shinki is an extension of the life force of the kami, and if the shinki becomes tainted by evil through committing sins or by strong negative emotions (because, when all is said and done, it is still human) the kami can become tainted as well.  A shinki that has risked its own life force to protect that of the god and survives may become a blessed vessel, with greater powers.  A kami who has no shinki is a particularly low ranking kami, and can be vulnerable to evil spirits, as shinki are one of a kami’s greatest powers.)

So, where does this put youkai?  Youkai can be considered to be unworshipped kami, and kami can be considered worshipped youkai.  Youkai do not have shrines or human followers.  (It is practically unheard of for youkai to have a shinki).  The existence of youkai is entirely dependent on the existence of humans (as are the existence of kami).  They did not come into this world before humans.

So, how are Youkai distinguished from everything else that goes bump in the night?  Youkai aren’t, as a whole, simply monsters.  Unlike other myths, youkai and humans have a very special relationship.  Through the attention of humans, youkai can become kami.  Few monsters in other cultures can claim this relationship.  Youkai also tend to change with the times, as the humans change around them – well, those who live in close proximity with them anyway.  Those who live in the wilderness far from prying eyes often either find themselves forgotten and bitter, or relish in the peacefulness.  But the youkai who live (secretly) among humans often delight in the fast paced environment in which they live and in the energy of humans.

Youkai are as varied and as numerous as the humans on this planet. No one document could hope to describe the variety.

Youkai are capable of influencing the environment with their habitation in an area.  A youkai with a deadly miasma can slowly poison an area, pollute a river, kill off plants, drive animals away, and sicken humans.  On the other hand, youkai who appreciate life can purify a lake, cause a forest to grow tall and lush, and keep illness at bay.  At the same time, a youkai who is extremely attached to its environment (not all are) can become deeply affected by negative changes, such as pollution.  There is a subtle dynamic between the pressures of human change and the youkai’s own miasmic influence on an environment, especially in an inhabited area.  Depending on the relative pressures, for example, an antisocial youkai’s aura may encourage people to stay away from an area, or the pressures of progression and buildup may eventually drive such a youkai away.

Humans can become youkai both before or after death.  Youkai (and kami) have souls, just like humans, and something about them seems connected.  Perhaps it’s the eternal fascination humans have with the mysterious and the unknown and the scary, and the fact that youkai are those very mysteries personified.  Regardless, there are many ways a human can be cursed (or blessed) to become a youkai.  Those disturbed or frightened enough by a youkai’s terrifying true form, or adversely affected enough by its power become Youkai-tainted, doomed to encroaching strangeness and possible ostracizing from the community, until such time as he or she fully turns into a youkai, however long that takes, and at which time the transformation is permanent.  Purification rituals can halt or reverse transformation, but only before it occurs, after which, said rituals only cause harm to the individual.

It is worth noting that religious rituals are capable of hurting any youkai, although the extent depends on the belief and strength of the ritualist in question and on the power level of the youkai being targeted.  There seems to be no discrimination toward religion in this instance.

However, purification rituals DO NOT WORK on kami, who are basically purified, worshiped youkai anyway.  Not unless the kami becomes tainted or corrupted by something, which is entirely possible, and even then, rituals exist to purify kami back to their original state.

On the same token, youkai can ALSO become corrupted or tainted.  The proper rituals can remove this taint if it hasn’t progressed too far.  A fully corrupted youkai basically becomes something like a colloquial ‘demon’ or monster and must then be killed.

Back on the topic of human transformation into youkai, other methods include various rituals that might merge a youkai’s soul into a human (as happened to Ikiyouyou), or possible other magic.

Kodama

A deceased human can also become a youkai of its own volition – the human’s soul (or ghost) is wrought with anger or hatred or bitterness toward one or many humans and comes back as a ghostly youkai intent on wreaking havoc.  This is not merely some poltergeist, as the powers of a ghostly youkai can far exceed that of a normal poltergeist.  True story, the human Sugawara, who was a poet, scholar, and politician, fell victim to the political plots of a rival of the Fujiwara family, and was demoted and exiled to a faraway post.  He died in exile, and became a vengeful ghostly youkai.  He created heavy rain and lightning, causing many of the Fujiwara family to die, and the fires and floods destroyed their residences.  To stop the destruction, the court of the emperor decreed that the exile order be burned, and that the poet be worshipped under the name Tenjin (sky deity), immediately erecting a shrine.  The ritual pacified the angry youkai and turned him into a kami who is now worshipped quite often during school entrance exams.

Anyway, if you follow the thought that a human can, through various methods, become a youkai, than the reverse of that logic seems like it should also be true, that a youkai can, through various methods, become human…

Youkai powers and abilities are as varied as there are youkai (compare this with mages, who also have a whole host of powers they can do).  Commonalities include true forms, a youkai miasma that manifests automatically when a youkai reveals their true form and willingly otherwise, a hardiness to physical attacks, and an ability to perceive and communicate with spirits (perhaps something to do with their origins).

Youkai DO interact with other youkai, but it tends to happen more often in towns and cities and places populated by humans.  Outside of towns, and outside of those few youkai communities, youkai tend to be loners and don’t interact much outside of their family groups or personal friendships.