Spirit Servant: Narratives of Shikigami and Onmyodo Developments

Onmyōdō, an indigenous Japanese magic system, which developed from the 10th century, also appeared in the Japanese popular cinema. Responding to the needs of theaudience, the filmmakers combined the historic resources with the aesthetics of the popular culture, creating a successful product and, at the same time, popularized a romantic myth of a great onmyōji - Abe no Seimei. The aim of this article is to present the development of the Japanese magic on the screen, as well as to show the differences and similarities between presentations of the protagonists and rituals in the chosen pictures. In the beginning, the author offers a brief summary of the history of onmyōdō on the Japanese ground and the further development of the phenomenon on the screen. In the next parts of the presented paper the author analyses the images of Abe no Seimei in popular cinema and compares the filmmakers' visions to the descriptions of the wizard provided by the historians. The last part of the article revolves around the rituals presented on the screen, inspired by the processes depicted in the chronicles, as well as in the legends. 1_MA_TitlePage 2_MA_FINAL_Amendments_ContentsPage 3_CHAPTER ONE 4_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Chapter1_Introduction 5_CHAPTER TWO 6_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Chapter2_ScholarCritique 7_CHAPTER THREE 8_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Chapter3_EarlyNarratives_Amorphous 9_CHAPTER FOUR 10_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Chapter4_NarrativeDevelopments_Augury2Assassin 11_CHAPTER FIVE 12_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Chapter5_NarrativeShifts_UnbridledShikigami 13_CHAPTER SIX 14_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Chapter6_Conclusion 15_BIBLIOGRAPHY 16_MA_FINAL_Amendments_Bibliography 17_APPENDIX 18_MA_FINAL_Amendments_ShikigamiTable2 A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS DEPARTMENT OF JAPANESE STUDIES NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2009