Goryō
Goryō are the deified vengeful spirit of those who were martyred. One of the characteristics of Japanese gods is that as long as they are properly honored and celebrated with rituals, they help and protect the people of the locale they originated from. When a god is not properly honored, they become angry and vengeful. In many stories, the goryō were believed to physically manifest itself in the form of natural disasters, insects that would devour and destroy local crops or as a devastating outbreak of disease.
The belief in Goryō began sometime in the Heian Period (794-1185 AD). Originally, goryō were believed to be the vengeful spirits of the nobility that were martyred. The anger of these spirits was believed to affect not only those who directly hurt them in life, but everyone around them. These spirits were deified in the locale they died in an attempt to appease their spirits. This also gave rise to the custom of retaining mountain priests to exorcise the angry spirits and protect the living from the dead. The definition later came to include peasants whose deaths were caused by some tragic betrayal or some other social injustice.
Characteristics Seen in Fatal Frame
Throughout the Fatal Frame Series when the kami are not properly honored due to the failure to properly perform a ritual, the consequences are severe and reflect some of those typically seen in traditional stories of goryō.
Himuro Mansion
-Earthquakes occur after the Hell Gate is opened and the Malice is released.
Minakami Village
-Earthquakes were a sign that a Crimson Sacrifice Ritual needed to be performed. After the Repentance, earthquakes continue to occur within the village.
-Crops would fail and many people would die if the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual was a failure.
-After the Tachibana's Crimson Sacrifice failed the earthquakes increased in frequency and the crimson butterflies could be seen swarming in the sky over Minakami Village warning of the impending doom.
Kuze Shrine
-Miasma engulfed anywhere the Tattooed Priestess wandered after the Unleashing occurred. Miasma is a poisonous vapor or mist that is filled with particles from decomposed matter that were believed to cause disease and is identifiable by its nasty, foul smell.
A recurring theme in the Fatal Frame series is that the failure to perform a ritual properly leads to the seal separating the lands of the living and the dead to be broken. This allows the spirits of the dead to return to the land of the living (in the case of Fatal Frame) and traps the spirits of those who have died thereafter in the land of the living (or in a kind of limbo) until the seal is replaced. This would be the most severe consequence possible for failing to properly honor the kami, because their souls cannot properly move on to the otherside.
Example of Goryō in History
The most famous example of a Goryō that was deified was Tenjin (天神), the kami of natural disasters. Sugawara no Michizane was a celebrated scholar and poet that climbed up the ranks of the Japanese government and became a high ranking official in the late 9th century. By the opening of the 10th century, Michizane was victimized in a plot executed by a rival of his in the powerful Fujiwara family. He was demoted and forced into exile where he died in 903 AD. Almost immediately afterwards, Kyoto encountered severe storms that caused fires throughout the city and floods that destroyed many homes. Many of the leading members of the Fujiwara family also died during this time. These coincidences were too much for the Japanese government, who believed these natural disasters were caused by the angry spirit of Michizane. The emperor ordered Michizane's order of exile to be burned and all offices be restored to him posthumously. The government also deified him and established a shrine in his honor.
Japanese Culture
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| Religion |
| Buddhism - Shinto |
| Japanese Ghosts/Creatures |
| Funayūrei - Goryō - Hitodama - Ikiryō - Onryō - Ubume - Yōkai - Yūrei |
| Specific Japanese Ghosts/Creatures |
| Oiwa - Okiku - Yuki-onna |
| Terms |
| Dosojin - Grave Mound - Hannya Mask - Higanbana - Jizo - Kaidan - Miko - Mukoyōshi - Sanzu River - Shimenawa - Toro-Nagashi - Wara Ningyo |
| Locations |
| Northeastern Japan - Shizuoka - Sugisawa Village - Tono |
| Media and Entertainment |
| Kagome, Kagome - Ringu |