Mask of the Vessel
In Fatal Frame IV terminology, the Mask of the Vessel is the white mask worn by the Vessel during the Rogetsu Kagura and formerly during the Rite of Descent. Its origins are older than any of the other masks on the island.[1] Every ten years, a new mask was carved to resemble the chosen Vessel,[2] using the harvested facial skin of a dead person who had not Budded.[3]
As the lunar eclipse approached, the Vessel would undergo purification rituals and meditate in order to become one with the mask.[4] During the ceremony itself, the mask, music and dancing would gradually cause the Vessel to enter a trance, temporarily losing herself and communing with the returned souls of the dead. The mask had to be crafted with great care, allowing the Vessel to maintain her sense of self even while channeling a multitude of souls.[5] Many years before the events of Fatal Frame IV, Soetsu Yomotsuki decided to design a new kind of Vessel mask, which he called the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, but his creation caused the Day of Tranquility and his works were destroyed.[6]
In A Folie à Deux in August from Rogetsu Isle Reminiscences, Tomoe Nanamura owns a Vessel's mask which has been handed down in her family, one of the old mask-making families of Rogetsu Isle. Marie Shinomiya wears the mask as she and Tomoe attempt to recreate the kagura and cure themselves, but the mask cracks in two at the height of the ritual.
References
- ↑ Bundle of Burned Letters, Fatal Frame IV
- ↑ A Folie à Deux in August - Chapter 5, Rogetsu Isle Reminiscences, 2023. (English translation)
- ↑ "Secrets of the Shugen Temple", Fatal Frame IV
- ↑ Tsubaki Tono's Diary, Fatal Frame IV
- ↑ The Mask and the Mask Artisan (2), Chapter 5: Glossary, Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Digital Art Book, 2023.
- ↑ "On the Mask of the Lunar Eclipse", Fatal Frame IV