Observations placeholder
Ninjutsu shape shifting
Identifier
003410
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Shape shifting is an out of body skill. Some of the very old Shinto myths and legends appear to describe shape-shifting skills [bear with me here] but what is myth and what is reality become almost impossible to separate this far back
The legends surrounding these figures eventually transferred to the kabuki theatre and actors then re-enacted the legends.
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In this woodblock print on paper by Kunisada, 1857, we can see an actor portraying Nikki Danj?, a character from the kabuki play Sendai Hagi. He is shown with his hands in a kuji-in seal, which allows him to transform into a giant rat. |
A description of the experience
Dr Masaaki Hatsumi - Essence of Ninjutsu
In the Kyojitsu Zatsudanshu written in the second year of Kansei (1790), it is recorded that a genjutsu master by the name of Kashinkyoshi was active between the Muromachi (1500) and Azuch Momoyana period .
Once, Kashinkyoshi …. in the presence of another heroic warrior, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, showed an illusion that hurt the pride of the short-tempered lord. For this, the master was to be crucified. When he was pinned to the cross, the executioner asked him what his last wish was. The master replied that although he had performed many tricks and transformed himself into various animals, he had never transformed himself into the form of a mouse; so as his last wish in this existence he wanted to perform the illusion of becoming a mouse. Then, he asked the executioner to loosen the rope for him. He transformed himself into a mouse and climbed to the top of the crucifixion post.
Without a moment's notice, a hawk dove from high in the sky and grasped the mouse in his sharp claws. The great master illusionist became a meal for a hawk. It can be said that his search for the ultimate illusion just for his own satisfaction made him lose perspective on his life and finally led to his death