.
Was just clicking around Wikipedia looking for something else, stumbled upon this, figured I'd post it here.
Thanks. --K
Kotodama or
kototama (言霊, lit. "word spirit/soul") refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word," "magic word," and "sacred sound." The notion of
kotodama presupposes that sounds can magically affect objects, and that ritual word usages can influence our environment, body, mind, and soul.
This Japanese compound
kotodama combines
koto 言 "word; speech" and
tama 霊 "spirit; soul" (or 魂 "soul; spirit; ghost") voiced as
dama in
rendaku. In contrast, the unvoiced
kototama pronunciation especially refers to
kototamagaku (言霊学, "study of kotodama"), which was popularized by Onisaburo Deguchi in the Oomoto religion. This field takes the Japanese
gojūon phonology as the mystical basis of words and meanings, in rough analogy to Hebrew Kabbalah.
The etymology of
kotodama is uncertain, but one explanation correlating words and events links two Japanese words pronounced
koto: this 言 "word; words; speech" and 事 "situation; circumstances; state of affairs; occurrence; event; incident". These two kanji were used interchangeably in the name Kotoshironushi 事代主 or 言代主, an oracular
kami mentioned in the
Kojiki and
Nihon shoki.
Kotodama is related with Japanese words such as
kotoage 言挙 "words raised up; invoke the magical power of words",
kotomuke 言向 "directed words; cause submission though the power of words", and
jumon 呪文 "magic spell; magic words; incantation".
Kotodama is a central concept in Japanese mythology, Shinto, and Kokugaku. For example, the Kojiki describes an
ukei (or
seiyaku) 誓約 "covenant; trial by pledge" between the sibling gods Susanoo and Amaterasu, "Let each of us swear, and produce children".[1] Uttering the divine words of the Shinto divination ritual known as
ukehi[clarification needed] supposedly determines results, and in this case, Amaterasu giving birth to five male deities proved that Susanoo's intentions were pure.
Kototama or
kotodama is also fundamental to Japanese martial arts, for instance, in the use of
kiai. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido and a student of Deguchi, used
kototama as a spiritual basis for his teachings. William Gleason says Ueshiba "created aikido based on the kototama principle," and quotes him that "Aikido is the superlative way to practice the kototama. It is the means by which one realizes his true nature as a god and finds ultimate freedom."[2] Mutsuro Nakazono, a disciple of Ueshiba, wrote books on the importance of
kototama in aikido.[3]
While other cultures have animistic parallels to
kotodama, such as mantra, mana, and logos, some Japanese people believe the "word spirit" is unique to the Japanese language. One of the classical names of Japan is
kototama no sakiwau kuni (言霊の幸わう国, "the land where the mysterious workings of language bring bliss"),[4] a phrase that originated in the Man'yōshū.
References:
1. Chamberlain, B.H. The Kojiki, Records of Ancient Matters, p. 53. 1919.
2. Gleason, W. The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido, p. 55. Destiny Books, 1995
3. Nakazono, M. Kototama. Third Civilization, 1976. The Kototama Principle. Kototama Institute, 1983.
4. This quote comes from Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary (5th ed., 2003), which translates kotodama as "the ⌈soul [spirit] of language; the miraculous power of ⌈language [a phrase, a spell]."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotodama
.