일본민속에서 ‘고유신앙’에 관한 일고찰 ‒조령신앙에서 사령신앙으로‒

Abstract

It judged that in the ancient times, a belief in departed souls was predominant, but in the Edo period, Won Buddhism-style funerals started penetrating people’s lives, further making great changes in their ancestor worship perspective. Therefore, ‘gods’ that were considered‘intrinsic’ were more like ‘ghosts’ that appeared in the deceased rites, so-called ancestral rites, before the Buddhism-style funeral, so they can be regarded as ‘departed souls’ that had great potentials to cause disasters. In the belief in departed souls, the purpose of rituals was to overcome or prevent disasters caused by departed souls, so it can be judged that such agricultural elements as good harvest were quite weak in this faith. The conversion of a belief in ancestors into a belief in departed souls means changing research subjects from positive spiritual beings to negative spiritual beings. When future studies are conducted on the Japanese folk culture from such a perspective, it is expected that they will reveal more pluralistic aspects of the Japanese folk culture.