2 0 0 0 霊媒から腹話術師へ (死後世界と死生観)
2 0 0 0 エピクロスの神と原子論的救済 (〈スピリチュアル〉をめぐって)
1 0 0 0 OA 記憶される死者 忘却される死者
From the 14th century, Japanese people experienced an enormous shift in terms of intellectual history. The idea of “the other world,” which during the early part of the medieval period had been overpowering reality, went through a rapid process of decline. While a wave of secularization swept society as a whole, the image of a far away Pure Land as the place for one’s rebirth after death faded among people, and the view that this present world was the only reality, began to spread. As a result, peace for dead people was no longer found in setting off for a distant Pure Land, but in abiding in a specific spot in this world, waiting for periodic visits by descendants and listening to the chanting of sutras.The formation of a general social notion according to which the dead abided in their graves meant the rise of the belief that in the afterlife, one would also be able to keep an eye on the daily lives of one’s loved ones from inside the grave. The feeling of “resting under the sod” shared by modern people developed after this cosmological shift, gradually spreading throughout early modern Japanese society. These days, as the notion of a person’s death occurring at a specific point in time demonstrates, people think there is a clear line to be drawn between life and death. Most people nowadays have a general image of someone passing from the world of the living to that of the dead more or less in an instant. However this understanding which might now be thought to have been so familiar to people in the middle ages, is entirely peculiar to the modern and contemporary periods of human history.
1 0 0 0 OA 身体の傷と心の傷:フリーダ・カーロの絵画にみる生と死の語り
Frida Kahlo was a woman painter born in Mexico in the first half of the 20th century. Many of her works were self-portraits in which she expressed her own personal suffering in her work. This suffering included the aftermath of childhood poliomyelitis, distress due to disability after a traffic accident, and her agony over her love for her husband, Diego Rivera.In Kahlo’s life she was repeatedly deprived of attachment figures. Kahlo’s suffering can be traced to two major experiences:[1] She was deprived of the relationship with her mother due to the birth of her sister.[2] Her relationship with her body was seriously altered due to polio and the traffic accident.Regarding [1], she was first left without a relationship with her mother at the time of her sister’s birth. This was because Kahlo came to be brought up by her nanny, instead of her mother who was more focused on her sister. A close relationship with one’s mother gives a child a sense of basic trust. Regarding [2], she lost the freedom to take action; therefore, she developed an introverted character. As a child, Kahlo asked for salvation from imaginary companions while she was under medical treatment. In her adult life, she turned to the canvas for salvation.A theme appeared in her later self-portraits that had not been seen in her early work. This was a transformation of her relationship with her mother into one with the Great Mother or Mother Earth. In the end, Kahlo could not connect intimately with others in direct relations. She could, however, connect with Rivera thorough symbolic relations that represented a unity rooted in Mother Earth. It was here that Kahlo finally found peace.
1 0 0 0 OA 江戸の怪談にみる死生観
Many people would probably agree that ghosts are one of the most interesting subjects in Japanese thought and culture, and a subject that has always drawn interest from abroad. In addition to considering the remarkable popularity the ghost theme has enjoyed, another interesting perspective presents itself which involves a comparison of the ghost-related culture in different societies of the world. Because death is a universal phenomenon, the problem of the unhappy dead and ghosts appears throughout the world, across both geographical and temporal boundaries. Therefore, with ghosts being established as an important focus for scholarship, the author offers one perspective on the topic in this paper. In this article, the question of why ghosts and ghost-related culture came to be so popular in the Edo period will be addressed.It goes without saying that fearful tales of the dead have been told in all periods and places. On the Japanese archipelago, however, the majority of these tales have their origins in the early modern period or later. Why is it that ghost stories and tales of the supernatural in Japan emerged predominantly in the early modern and modern periods, when society was undergoing a process of secularization? The author will answer this question by a comparison of the customs of the Japanese medieval and early modern periods, taking account of the changes which occurred relating to tombs and funerary practices. In searching for the cause of the large-scale emergence of ghosts in the early modern period, the author will also highlight the shift in Japanese cosmology which occurred between the medieval and early modern periods.
People in Ancient Mesopotamia (ca. 3000-500 BC) believed that they would continue to exist as spirits (et.emmu) after death in the netherworld and they must be fed with kispu, which their living family had to periodically offer to them (see the author's "Offering for the Dead in Mesopotamia," Annual of the Institute of Thanatology 2007).If the spirits were not adequately buried or taken care of, they could cause various troubles for the living. These could be evil omens, frightening apparitions, or physical or mental diseases. The professionals who handled these problems were called ??ipu which is still defined by standard Akkadian dictionaries as 'magician.' Recent studies have shown that the ??ipu belonged to a temple and had not one but several functions including priest, magician and physician. And the asu, which is conventionally translated as 'physician,'was proved to have been the pharmacist, bone setter and performer of minor surgery and to have assisted the ??ipu. JoAnn Scurlock (esp. 2002, 2005 and 2006) contributed greatly in presenting a much clearer image of the ??ipu caring for spirits and healing diseases caused by them in Mesopotamia. It is not easy to understand ancient phenomena as belonging to several modern categories such as religion, magic and science, at the same time. These categories, however, are undergoing reconsideration today.Departed spirits are the responsibility of the living family. But many texts assumed the existence of all kinds of spirits, of both known and unknown people, which might cause trouble for unspecified reasons. It can be compared with the long Japanese tradition caring for not only メソポタミアの「慰霊」と「治療」 the spirits of one's own family, shouryou( 精霊), but also the spirits of strangers, muen-botoke( 無縁仏), mainly on the occasion of urabon( 盂蘭盆). Anthropology and Ethnology have been the analyzing ambiguous attitude of living people toward their ancestors and the dead who might be merciful or frightening for them.V. Jankelevitch (1966), a French philosopher, distinguished 'the death in the third person, in the second person and in the first person.' However, he added that death in each person is reflexively death in the first person. Ph. Aries (1977) adopted certain key terms such as 'the death of the self (la mort de soi)' and 'thy death (la mort de toi)' from Jankelevitch for his reconstruction of a history of Western Europe from the Middle Ages to fit the respective attitudes toward death. Aries added that death has come to be thought of as taboo in the latter half of 20th century in Europe.K. Yanagida (1995) applied the theory of 'person' in death to describe matters related to death in contemporary Japan. He explained that 'my death,' 'your death' and 'his/her/people's death' are all totally different. He later (2002) suggested, however, the idea of 'death in person two-pointfive(' 二・五人称), so that we could have an empathy with 'death in the third person.' It is not rare now in Japan to hear : 'His/Her death is for me the death in 'person two-point-three(' 二・三人称), that is: 'nearer to the second person than to the third person.' In Japanese, grammatical person is usually expressed in cardinal numbers, (such as 'person one' (一人称), not in ordinal numbers such as 'the first person' (第一人称). This makes it possible to add further divisions between two and three.It is not wrong to adopt foreign thoughts and terminologies and to improve on or change them to make them fit for our situation in Japan. We should, however, consider the ambiguity of both death and the dead. We should also be aware of distortions that occur when we use modern and contemporary terms for ancient phenomena.
1 0 0 0 OA 死後世界の体感 : 聴こえない音を語る
In comparison to visual expressions describing the after-life, there are fewer descriptions of its sounds. At first this might seem to be because of a difficulty of expression, but the importance of certain tales of “sound” in the other world may arise from the very fact that it is so difficult to talk about that aspect.In this paper, the expressions of sound in the iconography and tales of the after-life in Europe of the Middle Ages will first be considered. That will be followed by an explanation of the concept of the “music of spheres”existing since the Pythagoreans. This sound is said to be harmonious and perfect, but quite difficult to hear. Thus it is literally the “ideal” sound. This concept became the basis for a common expression of the sounds in the afterlife in the Middle Ages, contrasting the ideal sounds of heaven with real sounds from life on earth describing the cacophony of hell.A further look will then be taken into the Celtic view of the other world, one that is deeply connected to the classification of tales of “journeys to the other world” during the Middle Ages. That examination leads to a consideration of the manner in which there was an intermingling of, on the one hand, the Pythagorean concept of a vertical heavenly scale (scale of spheres) and a rising musical scale with, on the other hand, the Celtic images of a horizontal movement of a journey to the end of this world. This overlaps with the aspiration for a “kingdom of God” that includes an earthly paradise.In the modern age, there has not necessarily been a successful sharing and handing down of tales of the afterlife. Despite this, in some accounts of near-death experience, much like in the tales of the past, confirmation can be made of an eagerness to express the sounds of the other world that 26 ordinarily would be impossible to express. It is also an important fact that the power of sound holds major significance for humans in terminal care who are striving to hurdle the wall of death. It is believed that hearing is the sense that remains until the very end of a person’s life. It is also clear that familiar songs from childhood fulfill a function of providing peace of mind as well as consoling people with worries.Both in the past and today, people ordinarily are unable to hear the sounds of heaven. Nevertheless, people have been trying to hear and describe the “inaudible sounds” of ascending to heaven in the purest, most ideal sounds that they can hear in this world. People may proceed along a journey to an afterlife ringing with unknown sounds that transcend life while being supported by nostalgic songs and the power of sound.
Coping with disease and taking action to maintain one's health have been both personal and private undertakings in many cultures of the world. In 19th century America, people sought help among family, relatives, and the surrounding community when they were sick, or turned to advice books when they wished to improve their health. Such practices continue even now, though public health interventions have also become common since the early 20th century. In this article, some factors leading to the rise in public health interventions in 20th century America are explained. Initially there was criticism and resistance when unknown persons such as public health officials or well-meaning third persons advised the public to get vaccinated or follow proper sanitation and hygiene rules, so as to be admitted as "decent citizens" by the mainstream. However, through seemingly scientific child-rearing advice given by people who were concerned about decreasing the infant mortality rate, immigrants and poor families began to accept check-ups and interventions by visiting nurses and public health officials. Children were also a channel for promoting modern public health services, and for spreading the ideology that personal health connects to public responsibility.
1 0 0 0 IR 死後世界の体感 : 聴こえない音を語る (死後世界と死生観)
In comparison to visual expressions describing the after-life, there are fewer descriptions of its sounds. At first this might seem to be because of a difficulty of expression, but the importance of certain tales of "sound" in the other world may arise from the very fact that it is so difficult to talk about that aspect.In this paper, the expressions of sound in the iconography and tales of the after-life in Europe of the Middle Ages will first be considered. That will be followed by an explanation of the concept of the "music of spheres"existing since the Pythagoreans. This sound is said to be harmonious and perfect, but quite difficult to hear. Thus it is literally the "ideal" sound. This concept became the basis for a common expression of the sounds in the afterlife in the Middle Ages, contrasting the ideal sounds of heaven with real sounds from life on earth describing the cacophony of hell.A further look will then be taken into the Celtic view of the other world, one that is deeply connected to the classification of tales of "journeys to the other world" during the Middle Ages. That examination leads to a consideration of the manner in which there was an intermingling of, on the one hand, the Pythagorean concept of a vertical heavenly scale (scale of spheres) and a rising musical scale with, on the other hand, the Celtic images of a horizontal movement of a journey to the end of this world. This overlaps with the aspiration for a "kingdom of God" that includes an earthly paradise.In the modern age, there has not necessarily been a successful sharing and handing down of tales of the afterlife. Despite this, in some accounts of near-death experience, much like in the tales of the past, confirmation can be made of an eagerness to express the sounds of the other world that 26 ordinarily would be impossible to express. It is also an important fact that the power of sound holds major significance for humans in terminal care who are striving to hurdle the wall of death. It is believed that hearing is the sense that remains until the very end of a person's life. It is also clear that familiar songs from childhood fulfill a function of providing peace of mind as well as consoling people with worries.Both in the past and today, people ordinarily are unable to hear the sounds of heaven. Nevertheless, people have been trying to hear and describe the "inaudible sounds" of ascending to heaven in the purest, most ideal sounds that they can hear in this world. People may proceed along a journey to an afterlife ringing with unknown sounds that transcend life while being supported by nostalgic songs and the power of sound.