A group of spirit mediums found a way to use their psychic prowess to get rich in the physical realm. But when an investigator started looking into a suspiciously successful prosperity scheme, he uncovered a case of divine fraud.
Featured image: A scene in the movie Rashomon involving a spirit medium. For obvious reasons, it’s hard to find pictures or videos of this kind of private religious ritual. (Image source)
An illustration of a woman meditating under a waterfall to cure her son’s ailment. (Image source)
A modern practitioner of waterfall meditation. (Image source)
Ōshio Heihachirō in his later rebellious years. (Image source)
Saint Mary of the Snows, one of the few remaining pieces of Nanban art to survive to the modern day. (Image source)
Inari, the goddess (sometimes god or androgynous deity, it’s complicated) making an appearance. (Image source)
Sources
- Punishment and Power in the Making of Modern Japan
Christian Sorcerers on Trial: Records of the 1827 Osaka Incident