Baku is a dream eater, he is good or evil. Baku mythology of Japan. History and description
Surely everyone has had a nightmare at least once in their life. Most horror stories visit children. And if this phenomenon is not associated with diseases, you can try to get rid of it.
Of course, it is easier to carry out this event, to drive away terrible dreams, with children - they have not yet lost faith in folk tales, their natural imagination has not hidden in the far corners of consciousness.
For a long time, the peoples of different countries have seen something inexplicable in their dreams, and if another terrible dream comes, it could scare even an adult to death. And as a result, people believed in spirits responsible for night terrors.
The famous Slavic spirit Brownie, whom we consider a harmless old man, it turns out, could be angry with the owner for not showing him proper respect. Then at night the spirit could come and choke the impolite, sitting on his chest.
In the past, and even now this sometimes happens, parents frightened children with the night spirit Babai: if the child is capricious and does not fall asleep, then Babai will come and take him away.
In the old days, children believed that in the closet in the children's room, a small evil creature Buka would certainly live. Only children could see this spirit. But at night, Buka liked to have fun: he grabbed the children by the legs and dragged them to his dwelling. Sveta Buka was terribly afraid. The children felt it, which is probably why they demanded to light the lamp.
The Japanese went the other way: they were not afraid of terrible dreams, they did not frighten children with evil spirits. They called for help the strong but peaceful spirit of Baku (emphasis on the first syllable), or, as it is also called, the Dream Eater.
Baku came to Japanese mythology from Chinese culture. It is interesting that the appearance of this spirit combines the features of different animals and changes in different centuries. In his appearance, you can see the features of an elephant, a bear, a tiger, a rhino, a bull, a tapir. True, in modern Japan they strive for simplification in the images of Baku.
To fight the evil spirits of Baku, you need the sharp claws of a tiger, the powerful tusks of an elephant, and the strong hooves of a tapir.
As the legends say, the spirit of Baku was collected by the supreme spirit from everything that remained after the creation of earthly animals.
This brave spirit resists evil forces, in particular, protects a person during sleep. But for this it is necessary to call Baku to your dwelling - to place his figure, made of wood or other materials, at the entrance to the dwelling or in the bedroom. Also, the Japanese wrote his name on pillows or wrote the name on paper and put such notes under the pillow. Since Baku ate bad dreams, before going to bed they respectfully asked him to eat all the nightmares that would appear in the house.
The peace-loving spirit instilled in the inhabitants of the house, where he was warmly welcomed, calmness and confidence, gave security and comfort.
And today Baku is popular in Japan and continues to protect its inhabitants from nightmares. On sale there are many things with the image of Baku - pillows, children's toys, dishes, key chains, amulets. Small figures are usually placed under the pillow or hung at the head, large ones are placed in the house or at the entrance. Children often fall asleep holding a figurine of good Baku in their hands.
In addition to protecting sleep, Baku protects its owners from diseases and other misfortunes. If the spirit loves its owner very much, it will not only devour terrible dreams, but also give good, magical dreams.
The Japanese treat small figurines of the spirit with care: they put them in a special box or bag for a day. Large figures are also looked after - cleaned; if necessary, tint; greeted when entering the house.
Attention does not hurt anyone, therefore, waking up after an unpleasant dream, it is not superfluous to say to Baku something like this: “Baku, Dream Eater, exterminate my terrible dream.” The child is taught to address the spirit more respectfully: "Baku-san, come eat my dream."
Over time, the appearance of Baku changes, but its main essence remains unchanged - a good spirit that protects the dream of a person who believes in him.
Dream Eater Baku is our guest from Japanese mythology. This is kind, eating bad dreams. They say he can be summoned by writing his name on a piece of paper and putting it under your pillow at night. Legends about the dream-eater baku appeared first in Chinese folklore, and later, somewhere in the region of the 14th and 15th centuries, the period known as Muromachi, they started talking about him in Japanese fairy tales. At that time, he, as a creature of the non-material world, had a strictly specified appearance. Most of all, Baku resembled a chimera - an animal consisting of various parts of other creatures. The Dream Eater was depicted with a bear body, tiger paws, an elephant trunk, an ox tail, and rhinoceros eyes. Legends say that the gods assembled Baku from spare parts left after the creation of other life forms.
Baku can also be depicted as looking like a black-backed tapir. For reference: the black-backed tapir is a South Asian odd-toed hoofed mammal with a small trunk, the closest relatives of which are horses and rhinos. As you can see, the Japanese have rather original ideas about good people. Of course, there are no comrades for the taste, but both creatures drawn in the imagination do not inspire faith in their good intentions.
According to another version, the image of Baku spread in Japan during the reign of Emperor Goyodzei (from 1586 to 1611): it was fashionable to give figurines of gakarabune - a treasure ship with seven gods of happiness, and Baku the protector was depicted on the sail of this ship.
"Sphere of influence" Baku
However, if you find out what kind of dreams Baku should chase, then you stop being surprised at his appearance. Old Japanese books describe similar "food" for Baku: two double clothes stained with blood, a fox with a human voice, a talking pot of rice, etc. What hardworking citizens of Japan can't dream of!
A Japanese man awakened from a nightmare asks Baku something like this:
Oh Baku, dream eater! Exterminate my bad dream.
Or simply wakes up the dream eater with a cry of “Baku, eat!” At this point, hungry Baku will come and free a person from bad dreams.
But a child in Japan who had a nightmare should address Baku more respectfully and without fail three times: “Baku-san, come eat my dream.”
Of course, just for "thank you" Baku will not eat someone's dreams - before that, it is necessary, like any other deity, to be cajoled. At one time, for this purpose, his image hung in Japanese houses, then his name was written on pillows and pillowcases.
The Japanese believed and believe to this day that if the dream eater is refreshed by a bad dream, then he can turn it into another one that will bring good luck. They say that Baku can be invited to protect yourself from bad dreams even before falling asleep - little Japanese often hold talismans with the image of Baku in their hands at night.
However, Baku is not always kind. The trouble is for those who find him hungry or not satiated with a nightmare. The offended dream eater will reach for everything he finds. They say that he, having eaten both bad and good, will cause insomnia. And yet, from hunger, it will absorb the hopes and dreams of the sleeper, leaving behind a terrible emptiness. So one should be careful when approaching Baku. However, he is rarely described as so angry and starved. Much more often it is a really kind spirit helper.
In general, the dream eater should come to the aid of a person in order to prevent or interrupt a nightmare - this should be the main idea of the call. It was understood at different times and in different cultures, and the use of amulets to protect sleep united all cultures and peoples.
BLACK QUICK WHISPERS (I part) ========================================== 1. If your stomach hurts, then looking intently at the enemy’s back, quietly pronounce without counting: “Follow you famously, but go into the womb, settle in the belly, and curl up in the intestines. Sworn” 2. Following the enemy, looking: “You are leaving me , you take away all the bad things with you. Take the burden on your spine - I will throw all my hardships on you. Therefore, be "3. They whisper after the offender: "Fly an arrow, with pain, tears, untrodden paths, through his blood, not in the eye , not in the eyebrow, but go straight to the heart. Chain him and stab him, beat him, bring him out - my offender. Sworn." 4. Whisper in the back, covering his right eye, he will certainly fall out of the blue: “I got up --- went, stumbled - fell. So that from this moment you do not know happiness. Let it be so according to my word" 5. If there is a threat of attack, it is better to have time to escape))). Here are the words that cause the so-called "okyb": "Stay stand, sleep slumber, stand with a stake. Dream. Peace. True. "You need to have great inner strength, throw your hand forward when reading" Odyba "and speak in a loud voice. 6. Another option, but this is not a stakeout, but rather remove aggression and exclude an attack. If you feel the slightest threat, look at the enemy in the center forehead and mentally say 3 times: "Neither on the forehead, nor on the forehead, I owe you nothing." don't touch me. Damn the demon of the dogs, drive every dog away from me. So be it" or also from the attack of stray dogs: "A castle on your mouth, a lasso on your neck, a trap on your paws. Sworn" 8. And one more whisper if someone has done something bad against you: "Your business is in your body." You can even read in the photo at 12 o’clock at night: “Don’t go to hell (the name of the enemy), but to the vovka їde, assailed by a toad, but defiled by a reptile; not by the road, but by the writhing swamp. Writhing around that swamp, but baling at the wolf, and spitting at the toad, and the reptile b "yut - so that the whole world harkav and spit on the new one and did not take caress to its own! Sworn" Here is the translation: "Does not walk (the name of the enemy ), and rides on a wolf, saddled a frog, filths with a reptile; he doesn’t go on a road, but with snags and a swamp. They go around snags and swamps, but they bale at the wolf, and they spit on the frog, and they beat the reptile - so that the whole world spit on him, yes spit and did not accept his caress! Sworn" 10. If someone said evil at you, say right there in response: "Your words are in your shoulders." Here is the translation: “Your speech is on your shoulders.” 11. Looking at your enemy, you can say to his back: “The road to the forest and an empty cart. This to be." or “Wherever you go you won’t get there, you won’t find talent or prowess. The road is empty for you and dashingly pleasing. Cursed." 12. To entice someone else's wealth, having come to someone else's rich house, looking at someone else's wealth and prosperity: “How is your way and treasure, everything that is for you will be for us. Cursed. Cursed. Cursed."
For two days now, both apostates have been walking under their own power to the meeting place with other members of Akatsuki, from whom they could receive missions for the organization. Kakuzu was in charge of such affairs, and even though there was absolutely no desire to communicate with him, they had to do this regularly. It was he who provided the organization with money, the executors were all the rest, like natural enforcers. Today Sasori was walking on his own two feet, and his favorite protective puppet, Hiruko, was sealed in a scroll, where he dried from the lubricant that the puppet needed on a regular basis. In addition, seeing the world through the eyes of a puppet was also useful, which Deidara did not fail to note when he realized what his Danna intended to do. In the small trading town where they stopped by the passage, it was noisy and dusty in an urban way. The puppeteer would have grimaced if not for the tree-bound facial expressions. He always loved silence, and he had enough noise with only Deidara, who, in addition to walking with his partner to the other end of the city, did not forget to look around. Once he dropped a phrase that, they say, an artist always acts on a whim, on inspiration, not afraid to improvise and create something new. Sasori strongly disagreed with this, because in order to create a puppet, it was necessary to think through everything, down to the smallest details, from the very beginning, and only then get to work. And now the demoman was looking for something inspiring, and his partner simply considered his occupation meaningless, but said nothing. However, this has always been the case, although for some reason they both could not help touching each other's interests and preferences, as if trying to change everyone for themselves and their art. Sighing and unexpectedly looking in the same direction as the demoman was now looking, the Red Sands Scorpion saw various decorative pillows with elegant tassels and patterns embroidered on them laid out on the market stall, but besides them, there were also things familiar to ordinary people. For example, pillowcases with images of Baku. Sasori remembered him. Baku is a guardian monster, also known as the Dream Eater ("yumekui"), who comes to people and takes away their nightmares, leaving good and bright dreams in their place. The man never understood what was in this tank, although in childhood he did not care about this. He just liked to listen to the stories that his mother told while his father was on a mission or somewhere else on business. One of them was especially remembered by the future genius of the Village Hidden in the Sand. It told about a maiden who met a baku in the forest - a mythical chimera with an elephant's trunk, rhino eyes, a lion's head, a horse's body, a bull's tail and tiger's paws, while covered with a spotted skin. Unfamiliar with him, she became frightened of him and ran back to the village, thus offending the Dream Eater. That night, he did not take away the nightmares that the evil youkai spirits sent, and the maiden did not close her eyes all night, until the sublunar world disappeared with the first rays of dawn. Only after last night did she realize how important Baku was to her, and went to look for him to ask for forgiveness and regain her peaceful sleep. But, no matter how much time passed, she did not return home just as calm sleep did not return to her. Most likely, this tale was remembered then by the boy because he could not sleep that very night. It was a long time ago, then he was more than five years old, when he was just a child, but the memories of that day remained. It was already dark on the streets, and the hot, merciless sun of the desert had gone beyond the horizon, finally allowing the desert inhabitants to rest. Everything was quiet at home, only my mother was doing the dishes in the kitchen, my father was talking about something with Grandma Chiyo, and he was the only one sent to bed. The boy at first obeyed and went to sleep, but then he became offended. Everyone had fun, and he alone had to sleep! Where's the justice?! A little later, he realized that there was no justice in this world, but now he did not care. Sasori was more interested in the fact that he was again not allowed to do something that everyone can do, and this child simply resented it. He loved his parents, so he did not want them to reproach him for something, and therefore, after thinking a little, the boy decided to obey them and honestly tried to fall asleep. He slept alone in a separate room, as he himself had asked for the past week, and finally the family yielded to the pressure of children's eyes. The boy, smiling, had already almost fallen into a dream, when some rustle was heard from behind. Startled, Sasori opened his eyes wide, waking up instantly. A chill ran down my spine, although it was warm at home after the sun, and even under the covers. Cautious, the boy looked around and slowly, lifting the blanket, hid under it, confident that no one could reach him there. However, even here someone found him, tenaciously clinging to the boy's leg. Almost screaming, Sasori, sharply kicking the stranger, jumped out from under the covers and immediately found himself in the cold embrace of a woman in a white kimono, whose long black hair covered that face, falling on a frightened boy. Pushing it away and running up to the door, the descendant of the puppeteers pulled the door towards itself, and immediately the huge paws of the spider, which he had seen in the book about animals, were still moving, burst into the room. “Ta…” the boy tried to remember the name. – Tata... Tara... Tarantula? “The answer is correct,” a voice whispered, and one of the paws suddenly rushed towards him, grabbing his leg and knocking him over. Screaming in panic, Sasori kicked the door with all his foolishness, which slammed shut and pinched his paws, which immediately released their prey, flying up, but soon rolled on the floor in agony. The boy was afraid to go outside, but there was nowhere else to run. - Come to me, boy... The wind suddenly blowing from the window whipped up his black hair, and then the boy realized... that he was in trouble. The woman had no face. Only his mouth twisted into a crazy smile, and pale hands reaching for him: - Come to me, son ... - No-no-no ... Nooo!!! the boy yelled, jumping over his paws and pulling the door towards himself, immediately running wherever his eyes looked. Looking at his parents, he froze. The house suddenly became quiet again. It seemed to Sasori that his heart rumbled throughout the house, and the whole village heard his frequent breathing. His body was trembling slightly, but he honestly tried to cope with the fear rising to his throat. Horror tentacles crept to his heart, penetrating with thin invisible threads every cell of his body, crawling under the nails, into the mouth, nose, eyes, and flowing through the blood vessels to the inexperienced soul of the child. The mother hung like a limp sack on a powerful green plant, which clasped her around her body and pressed her hands to her body. Blood was dripping from the lips of my own mother, and a powerful pink flower with a toothy core was eating up my father. Opening its mouth with a nasty squelching, the "flower" chewed the father's hand with a vile smack, and it was then that the child's nerves could not stand it. Having taken a couple of steps back, the boy already wanted to run forward, when a low hiss was heard from behind: - Boy ... Come to me ... A large tremor struck the body again, but then everything swam before his eyes, and the boy fell into saving darkness. Opening his eyes wide and breathing frequently, the child saw in front of him only a ceiling that was white, shimmering with a faded blue of the night, and realized that he was lying in his bed in his new room. As soon as Sasori understood this, the boy immediately flew off the bed, almost entangled in the blanket, and, leaving the room, stalked towards the parents' bedroom, constantly looking around, thinking to meet a woman in white, spider legs or a hefty flower. Mom and dad were already asleep. They stirred sleepily only when someone crawled between them under the covers, someone small. - Mmm? Opening her eyes sleepily, gazing senselessly at the mound crawling up to her, the woman, blinking a little more, lifted the blanket and saw her own son, busily arranging herself between the waking up parents. – Sasori? - Can't sleep? - the father smiled knowingly, hugging his son, and he in response clung to his father's strong chest: - Um, - the boy nodded, shuddering again. - I had a nightmare ... There was a flower and spiders, and even a faceless one in white ... The woman looked sternly at her husband: - Did you tell horror stories? - What are you! And it’s not my fault that our son already knows how to read ... - he was indignant, after looking at his son again. "Don't worry, Sasori, no one else will come." - After all, we are close. Baku, kurae, Baku, kurae, Baku, kurae *, - she cast the spell three times, shamanizing over the still slightly frightened Sasori, smiling affectionately at the boy: - Repeat the spell after me. - Baku, kurae, Baku, kurae, Baku ... kurae, - the boy finished, immediately looking at his father and mother again - And he will take away the nightmare, right? I didn't offend him, did I? - No, I didn’t offend, - hugging the child, the parents whispered soothing words in his ear. - Close your eyes and try to sleep... and you will see the dreams that Baku gave you - bright and good... Gradually, under the gentle whisper of dad and mom, the child fell asleep, and the parents were nearby until he fell asleep, and only when they made sure that their the son is sound asleep, they themselves prepared for bed. Sasori himself did not understand why he suddenly remembered that day. I remembered that lady, and the spider, and the carnivorous plant, and the dead parents - the strangled mother and the almost eaten father. Frowning, the puppeteer looked away from the pillowcases with the image of Baku: - How stupid. - BUT? - he looked at his partner Deidara in bewilderment, not understanding what it was just about. - And nothing is stupid! I'll make this chimera out of clay, mm! And I won't stop until I get it, yeah! Art must always look for something more difficult until it reaches unprecedented heights! .. The demoman's partner was no longer listening, immersed in his thoughts. These stupid pillowcases involuntarily reminded him of his parents and the Motherland. He already regretted that he even looked where his narrow-minded, according to Sasori, colleague was looking. Baku ... Nothing more than just a myth that is told to the kids as a bedtime story and they also drive away nightmares. People are stupid. People are trusting. However, despite this, he was never able to become completely non-human. Not-human, not-doll, but something in between that had no name, stuck somewhere halfway from one term to indefinite eternity. Nothing lasts forever, and people, and what's in between, too. He did not want to accept this, because it was the non-eternal who had left him. That night they spent the night in the open air, not wanting to shine in hotels. Sleep was required only by the person who was Deidara, so Sasori had absolutely nothing to do, and watching his partner's sleep turned out to be the most boring task. An unexpected thought came to mind, over which the man did not begin to think, remembering the gestures of his mother. Shamanivshi over the sleeping blond, the puppeteer quietly whispered: - Baku, kurae, Baku, kurae, Baku, kurae ... Ha, - lowering his hands, the apostate snorted, shifting his gaze to the starry sky. - So silly. The next day, Deidara slept well and rested, utterly pleased with the day that had come, and the members of Akatsuki continued on their way. - Did you get enough sleep? – For some reason, the Hidden Sand apostate asked, and although the demoman was surprised, he answered with a satisfied smile: - Yeah, yes. Yesterday was an exceptionally good night… At least I didn't have any nightmares, mm. Sasori just chuckled in response. He still did not believe in Baku. * "Baku, kurae" - "Baku, eat" - a kind of spell that must be pronounced three times so that Baku, the Dream Eater, comes and eats a nightmare, giving a good dream in return.
