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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 22, 2007 22:35:48 GMT -5
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 22, 2007 22:36:13 GMT -5
Yuki-Ona
'Yuki-onna' ( " snow woman") is a spirit or type of spirit found in Japanese folklore. She is a popular figure in Japanese animation, manga, and literature. Yuki-onna is sometimes confused with Yama-uba ("mountain crone"), but the two figures are not the same.
Yuki-onna appears as a tall, beautiful woman with long hair. Her skin is inhumanly pale or even transparent, causing her to to blend into the snowy landscape. She sometimes wears a white kimono, but other legends describe her as nude, with only her face, hair, and pubic region standing out against the snow. Despite her inhuman beauty, her eyes can strike terror into mortals. She floats across the snow, leaving no footprints (in fact, some tales say she has no feet), and she can transform into a cloud of mist or snow if she is threatened.
Yuki-onna is winter personified, particularly the storms common during that time of year. She is at the same time beautiful and serene, yet ruthless in her killing of unsuspecting mortals. Until the 18th century, she was almost uniformly portrayed as evil. Today, however, stories often color her as more human, emphasizing her ghostlike nature and ephemeral beauty.
In many stories, Yuki-onna reveals herself to travelers who find themselves trapped in snowstorms and uses her icy breath to leave them as frost-coated corpses. Other legends say that she leads them astray so they simply die of exposure. Other times, she manifests holding a child. When a well-intentioned soul takes the "child" from her, he or she is frozen in place. Parents searching for lost children are particularly susceptible to this tactic. Other legends make Yuki-onna much more aggressive. In these stories, she often physically invades people's homes, blowing in the door with a gust of wind, to kill them while they sleep (though some legends require her to be invited inside first).
Exactly what Yuki-onna is after varies from tale to tale. Sometimes she is simply satisfied to see her victim's death. Other times, however, she is more vampiric, draining her victims' blood or "life force". She occasionally takes on a succubus-like manner, preying on weak-willed men in order to drain or freeze them through sexual intercourse or a kiss.
Like the snow and winter weather she represents, Yuki-onna has a softer side. She sometimes lets would-be victims go for various reasons. In one popular Yuki-onna legend, for example, she sets a young boy free due to his beauty and age. She makes him promise to never mention her again, though, and when he relates the story to his wife much later in life, his wife reveals herself to be none other than the snow woman. She reviles him for breaking his promise but spares him yet again, this time out of concern for the children she has born him. In a similar legend, Yuki-onna melts away once her husband discovers her true nature.
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 22, 2007 22:36:45 GMT -5
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 22, 2007 22:37:16 GMT -5
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 22, 2007 22:48:08 GMT -5
Yuki-Onna is a Yokai that is depicted in popular literature and anime.. One such example being Inuyasha, Episode 101 - Seven Years Later: Lingering Snow.
Two of the Main Characters are caught in a snow storm, and a woman appears from the snow and retrieves a somewhat spell bound Miroku.
Sango tries to stop her, but she is waist deep in snow and Miroku seems to offer no objections and does not seem to see Sango.
Miroku is lead to a large home where he finds dozens of children inside.. The Yuki-Onna, or Snow Demon tells him that they are his children..
Upon being found by his friends, they see that Miroky is held there by an illusion, he has been captivated and held spell bound by the Yuki-Onna.
The Children are not there at all, Miroku has been caring for a few dozen snow men... This Little episode corresponds with the lore and legends dealing with the Yuki-Onna.
I shared this episode summary, because I think it's interesting to see, that these old legends are still being portrayed in popular culture, through stories, Manga, and Anime.
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Post by Senbecc on Mar 22, 2007 23:25:11 GMT -5
Yuki-Onna is a Yokai that is depicted in popular literature and anime.. One such example being Inuyasha, Episode 101 - Seven Years Later: Lingering Snow. Two of the Main Characters are caught in a snow storm, and a woman appears from the snow and retrieves a somewhat spell bound Miroku. Sango tries to stop her, but she is waist deep in snow and Miroku seems to offer no objections and does not seem to see Sango. Miroku is lead to a large home where he finds dozens of children inside.. The Yuki-Onna, or Snow Demon tells him that they are his children.. Upon being found by his friends, they see that Miroky is held there by an illusion, he has been captivated and held spell bound by the Yuki-Onna. The Children are not there at all, Miroku has been caring for a few dozen snow men... This Little episode corresponds with the lore and legends dealing with the Yuki-Onna. I shared this episode summary, because I think it's interesting to see, that these old legends are still being portrayed in popular culture, through stories, Manga, and Anime. It seems to me by reading many of your posts on Japanese myth and legend that the Japanese people work very hard to keep the old culture alive...I find that extremely respectable and wich more cultures had taken such care in the ways of their ancestors...I don't think Japan or China etc. were ever subjected to any witch trials were they? |
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 22, 2007 23:38:47 GMT -5
I don't think Japan or China etc. were ever subjected to any witch trials were they? None that I am aware of.. |
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Post by Senbecc on Mar 22, 2007 23:55:42 GMT -5
I don't think Japan or China etc. were ever subjected to any witch trials were they? None that I am aware of.. LoL, this looks like a job for Google!  |
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 23, 2007 0:09:52 GMT -5
None that I am aware of.. LoL, this looks like a job for Google! I did a little looking and didn't find anything, if you come across anything like it, I'd really like to read it |
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Post by Senbecc on Mar 23, 2007 1:26:19 GMT -5
LoL, this looks like a job for Google! I did a little looking and didn't find anything, if you come across anything like it, I'd really like to read it I haven't found anything of substance, though it now seems pretty unlikely to me given that Shinto was the dominate religion in ancient times and is still at least one of the most dominate. |
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Mar 23, 2007 1:36:19 GMT -5
lol... well, I'm sorry that you didn't find anything..
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Post by Senbecc on Mar 23, 2007 17:23:46 GMT -5
lol... well, I'm sorry that you didn't find anything.. LoL, well I'm actually pretty glad someone was spared from such things |
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Post by Lady Anastasia on Apr 25, 2008 2:13:20 GMT -5
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Jul 26, 2017 10:37:02 GMT -5