Shikigami

Kanji: 式神
Kana: しきがみ
Pronunciation: shikigami (shee-kee-gah-mee)

TRANSLATION: Ritual spirit; shiki (式) is the word for ceremony, kami (神) for spirit.
ALTERNATE NAMES: Shiki; Shiki-no-kami; Shikijin
ORIGIN: Heian period (794–1185); onmyoudou folklore, court literature, and emakimono picture scrolls

HABITAT: Wherever the master lives; no fixed home
DIET: None

ABILITIES:

• Invisibility — unseen by ordinary human eyes
• Possession of animals and, for powerful masters, people
• Shapeshifting through a paper vessel or an animal body
• Curse infliction at the master's word
• Practical service — watching rivals, tracking enemies, warding doors, and household work

WEAKNESSES:

• A careless master may lose control of them
• Destroying the paper manikin ends the binding
• A stronger onmyouji can detect and undo them

OVERVIEW: A Shikigami is a servant spirit called by an onmyouji, a Heian-period yin-yang sorcerer. The spirit follows the master's word and acts as an extension of the master's power.

APPEARANCE: A Shikigami has no body of its own and stays invisible most of the time. The onmyouji places it into a small paper doll cut in human shape so that humans can see it and use it. Classical Heian literature and emakimono scrolls show it as a small bird or a child. A skilled master can also place it into a chicken, a dog, a fox, or another animal. The most fearsome shikigami take the form of a human, a ghost, or an oni.

BEHAVIOR: The Shikigami is a tool, not a free creature, and it works only for the master who called it. It does any task the master sets — from cleaning a room to a quiet murder. If the master becomes careless, the Shikigami may get its own will and turn on its summoner.

INTERACTIONS: Ordinary people rarely see a Shikigami unless they are the target of one. The Heian court used them to watch rivals and to send curses. The countermeasure is a stronger onmyouji — Abe no Seimei was famous for detecting enemy spirits and ending the spells that held them. Today most people find shikigami only in films and anime.

OTHER FORMS: The most common form of the Shikigami is the paper manikin. Heian scrolls also show it as a small bird or a child. Powerful masters place it into animals such as foxes and dogs. The Izanagi-ryū folk tradition of Shikoku notes an elite oni-like form called the shikiōji, used to ward off plague demons.