Questioning Image of Japan as a Miko Country: Representation of Shamanism in Ancient Japanese Myths
Questioning Image of Japan as a Miko Country: Representation of Shamanism in Ancient Japanese Myths

Summary/Abstract: Japanese Shamanism, as it was pointed out by Mircea Eliade in his prominent work, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, differs from classical shamanism of North-Asian or Siberian type. It is, first of all, a technique of being possessed by spirits, practiced by women, miko. Along with this traditional perception of Japanese shamanism, Japanese myth shows features of classical shamanism as well. The object of this study is myths of the first book of The Records of Ancient Matters (The Kojiki) (712) which recount of the world of deities up to the birth of the first emperor and texts of The Chronicles of Japan (The Nihon Shoki) (720) which correspond to them. This study is conducted in the analytical frame, addressed to the features of male and female deities in Japanese mythology. A structuralist approach to the texts is adopted. In the process of analysis the range of episodes with repetition of elements which can be interpreted as shamanistic has been revealed. There are episodes where deities perform the role of shaman, depicted as shamans. This role is performed by female deities, which corresponds to the Japanese tradition of female shamanism, tradition of miko. Apart from these images of female shamans, miko, features, attributed to shaman of classical type among some male deities, have been discovered. Such deities prevail in Izumo legends rather than in Yamato ones, where we find female deities with miko features. In the text of Japanese myths we observe male shaman images as well as female ones, and this leads us to trace two different systems of shamanism – the first one being the classical type with the core element of traveling to another world, the world of spirits, and the second one with the core element of possession by spirits, which is recognized as traditional in Japanese culture. Kaip žymiame darbe Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy („Šamanizmas: senovinės ekstazės technikos“) pabrėžia Mircea Eliade, šamanizmas Japonijoje skiriasi nuo klasikinio Šiaurės Azijos ar Sibiro šamanizmo. Pirmiausia tai moterų, vadinamų miko, technika, kai jos apsėdamos dvasių. Greta šio tradicinio Japonijos šamanizmo japonų mituose atsiskleidžia ir klasikinio šamanizmo bruožai. Šios studijos objektas – mitai iš pirmosios The Records of Ancient Matters (The Kojiki) (712) („Senųjų įvykių užrašai (Kojiki)”) knygos, kuriuose pasakojama apie dievybių pasaulį iki pirmojo imperatoriaus gimimo, ir The Chronicles of Japan (The Nihon Shoki) (720) (“Japonijos kronikos (Nihon Shoki)”) tekstai. Taikant analitinį metodą, aptariami vyriškų ir moteriškų dievybių bruožai Japonijos mitologijoje. Struktūralistinė analizė atskleidžia epizodus su pasikartojančiais elementai, kuriuos galima interpretuoti kaip šamanistinius. Pastebima epizodų, kuriuose dievybės atlieka šamano rolę ir vaizduojamos kaip šamanai. Šią rolę atlieka moteriškos dievybės, kas sutampa su japonų tradicija, kad šamanės yra moterys, t.y. miko tradicija.

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