#killing stone

[thefluffmother]

girlboss

[unexplained-events]

Killing Stone (Sessho-seki)

Japan’s “Killing Stone” has a really interesting story behind it. It is located in Tochigi prefecture, near Tokyo and is said to kill anyone who comes into contact with it because it releases poison gas. 

The stone was used to seal the spirit of a Nine-Tailed Fox demon Tamamo-no-Mae. Tamamo-no-Mae was a beautiful woman who was part of a plot to overthrow and kill Emperor Toba, who reigned from 1107-1123.

At some point in the first week of March this year, people noticed that the stone had split in half into roughly two equal parts. 

SOURCE

[canary3d-obsessed]

Killing Stone Costume Appreciation 2 of 2 (The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity)

(masterpost)

[obscurecharactershowdown]

Group F Round 1

Turnip (Chicory: A Colorful Tale) vs Sha Sheng Shi (or "Killing Stone") (Qing Ya Ji) ("Yin Yang Master"))

Turnip

Sha Sheng Shi

Voting ended onJun 12, 2023

[image ID: the first image is of Turnip, a teal mouse. it looks like they're wearing little shorts. the second image is of Sha Sheng Shi, a Chinese man with long, black hair, pulled back into a bun. he has metal armor over his jaw and chin, and a mark that looks to be made of the same material on his forehead. there is another metal piece that sits across his shoulders, upper chest, and neck. a red honeycomb pattern is on his left arm. end ID]

Turnip

Little guy!!! Littlest dude!! Best mouse in the world. They’re so scared of the dark and nervous about messing things up but they do their best!! They go through the dark tunnel to meet you and deliver an important message!! And while they may have gotten lost on the way back, you’re able to help and together you escape! (Also canonically they sent a birthday card like months too late and also got lost going from the donut shop to their house which is like two blocks) luv them my favorite little guy <3

Sha Sheng Shi

He is a demon. He has a sword made of stone and during the movie he rides on the sword like on a skateboard and he creates fire/ magma underneath the blade. he is pretty cool. sha sheng shi is a demon, but not an evil demon. he fell in love with a human woman, but she died. she loved to play the pipa (chinese instrument) and sha sheng shi goes into the human world when she is dead to steal a pipa. it reminds him of his love and he just wants to hear the sound of the instrument. really sad :/ a demon hunter found him and tries to kill him but he is saved by another human. this human is so friendly towards sha sheng shi that he stayed with him from then on. as his friend. he offers his help to the human, which is needed during the movie, when they have to fight a truly evil demon. sha sheng shi almost dies, but only almost. the fight against this evil demon is amazing, sha sheng shi truly has some sick moves. with the stone sword. and the fire/ magma he can call. i love his sad past and how cool he is while fighting. and how he sticks with the human who saved him from the demon hunter. 

[elvencantation]

With my blood I command the spirits.

bonus:

[naughtynanzhu]

bonus: happy april fools

[theparanormalperiodical]

A few weeks back, Japan’s ‘killing stone’ split open. Let’s talk about that.

Japanese horror films are world renowned for their artistic prowess, intricate stories and folkloric-inspiration. But no one really talks about the latter. From my research for previous blogposts, I’ve fallen down many a rabbit hole and gotten lost in ancient stories that inspired our favourite scary movies, like The Ring and The Grudge.

So, when I saw that a paranormal Japanese legend had hit the press, last week, I knew what today’s blog would be about.

Turns out, the ‘killing stone’ - or Sessho-seki - has split in half, releasing the demon spirit of Tamamo-no-Mae after 1000 years.

dun dun duuh

Of course, what’s really happened here is that the volanic rock has been splitting over several years due to weathering. And its lethal name? Probably because of the poisonous gases it emits.  

And science, yeah, is cool, right. But today we’re talking about some spooky shizz.

Let’s get started.

*snaps latex glove*

The legend of Tamamo-no-Mae

I was about to say that our story starts sometime between the 14th or 16th century - with the Muromachi period, where Tamamo gets her first mention. But we actually need to go all the way back about 3400 years (*m3nt4l m4th5*) to the Shang dynasty in China. Well, right to the end of it: when the last king, King Zhou, shacked up with a woman named Daji. But according to legend, a fox spirit killed and impersonated her.

Fox spirits are entities from Chinese (and East Asian) mythology. These foxes are mischievous tricksters with magical powers. And most of the time, they can disguise themselves as beautiful women. Transforming into Daji, therefore, wasn’t too much of a challenge.

But this fox spirit caused hell of a lot of trouble when it brought on a ‘reign of terror’, resulting in a rebellion that ended the Shang dynasty. After this, it hot-footed it to ancient India to become another partner of a royal figure, influencing him to execute thousands of men. After its second defeat, it returned to China (8th century BC) to play out the same pattern of impersonate, marry and create chaos.

Now we’re in the 14th century AD. 2200 years later (?), the fox heads on over to Japan for the first time, appearing as Tamamo-no-Mae. She was clever, beautiful and Emperor Toba’s favourite partner. But after he became ill, an astrologer was brought in to diagnose the problem. The astrologer sniffed the fox out pretty easily. So, the emperor asked some warriors to kill the fox in the town of Nasu.

When the deed was done, the spirit embedded itself in a nearby rock, becoming Sessho-seki.

A Buddhist monk visited the rock a few hundred years later, exorcising the spirit and claiming it was now at peace.

So, what is it about magical foxes?

Turns out, foxes and humans used to live quite close together, back in ancient Japan. They used to believe that any fox - or kitsune - can shapeshift into human form, and that they possess paranormal abilities that increase as they age.

Kitsune liked to possess young women by entering them beneath their fingernails on through their breasts (yeah, no idea how, either). Much like spirit possession in other cultures, you could be exorcised by a priest.

Today, people can suffer from kitsunetsuki, where they believe they are possessed by a fox. They crave rice, sweet beans, aren’t interested in anything, are restless and can’t keep eye contact.

But its not just in Japan or East Asia that foxes are associated with supernatural powers.

According to Native American legends, foxes are born tricksters that were able to remove their fur and become women. The Celts thought they were cunning, sly creatures. In Scandinavian mythology it is even believed that foxes created the Northern Lights.  

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[nothingwronghere]

Spirit Guardian