Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/275

 avoid the use of words suggesting unfortunate events.

The belief borrowed from Taoism that every inanimate object has a spirit, and that the ills of life are due to malignant demons, is utilised by a large number of persons who make it their business to go from house to house, repeating formulæ to propitiate the demons. Some of these quasi-religionists, who are in reality a species of beggar, undertake to make the needle of the seamstress move deftly or the chop-sticks convey only wholesome food to the mouth. Some pronounce spells against conflagration and burglary; some pledge themselves to make a religious pilgrimage in lieu of any one willing to employ them, and all pronounce a blessing on households bestowing alms, such a blessing as: "Every good be with you for the thousand years of the crane, the ten thousand of the tortoise, the eight thousand of Urashima Taro and the nine thousand of Tōbō-saku." These reverend mendicants used to be constantly seen in every city of Japan, wearing pseudo-sacerdotal costume, tolling a hand-bell or playing a flute as they passed from door to door, but their occupation has become comparatively unprofitable in modern times.

Spells are sometimes employed to bring injury on an enemy, especially when the latter is a rival in love. Unfastening her hair, binding a mirror