In the Midst of Stars and Shikigami: Abe no Seimei and the Rise and Fall of the Yin-Yang Dormitory (Mid-Heian Period)

In the Midst of Stars and Shikigami: Abe no Seimei and the Rise and Fall of the Yin-Yang Dormitory (Mid-Heian Period)

In the mid-Heian period, when the government of the capital was guided by the principles of Yin-Yang, a man of exceptional talent walked the line between heaven and earth. His name was Abe no Seimei. He was neither a fortune teller nor a sorcerer, but a public official in the service of the state, an Onmyoji who held a key position in the Onmyo Dormitory. The Onmyo-ryo was a formal government office established under the Ritsuryo system, and was in charge of astronomical observations, calendar creation, determining good and bad directions, and even exorcisms of plagues and vengeful spirits. The emperor's government was supported by the operation of the stars and exorcism ceremonies.

Seimei studied under Kamo Tadayuki and Yasunori and distinguished himself with his extraordinary qualities. He served five emperors, and his name is inscribed in "Kou-eki" and "Nippon Kiyo". He was not merely a mystic, but a practitioner of both knowledge and art.

But what made him immortal were the legends attached to him after his death. The anecdote of his birth as the son of a white fox, the tale of his manipulation of the god Shikigami, and his magical confrontation with his arch-enemy, Roya Michimitsu, have been refined by later authors and are now inseparably linked to the man he really was.

The Seimei Shrine in Kyoto is said to have been built on the site of his mansion, and his pentagram is still believed in by people as a charm against evil. Although he was a real person, Seimei eventually became a "god. His name still shines as a legacy of knowledge that lived in the national system and as a spiritual legacy that lives in illusion and faith, beyond the millennium.