Spirit Tree
Spirit Trees (御神木, Shinboku), according to the Shinto belief system, are trees which demarcate a sacred space, or in which a kami has taken up residence. Such trees are marked with Shimenawa, and spirit trees are not to be harmed or cut down.
The same word is also used to describe wood that has been dedicated for the construction of shrines.[1]
Fatal Frame III
In Fatal Frame III: The Tormented, Spirit Trees (probably of the second definition) were used as core pillars in the construction of the Rift Shrine[2], preventing the Rift from spreading throughout the Manor. Another Spirit Tree was left growing outside the doors to the Engraving Shrine and was surrounded by skewered dolls. This tree seems to have been central to the ritual sacrifices used after the Unleashing; Tengai Narumi and the Handmaidens both come to the tree shortly before or after making a sacrifice. There is a wooden memorial tablet tied to the trunk, and one of the fragments of Reika Kuze's Mirror of Loss is buried in a box at the foot of the tree.
Footnotes
- ↑ Sakurai, Haruo. (2005) "Shinboku, Shinju", Encyclopedia of Shinto. Retrieved January 28 2011, from http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=289
- ↑ Moriya Tome 1, Fatal Frame III: The Tormented