“Oniwa-uchi (Demons welcome in)”…this can mean something related to our mind. The reason is because….we think of our mind as a spirit, don’t we? When looking up the word spirit in a dictionary, “it’s something which dwells in a humans’ body and keeps us alive. Also it’s thought to be something which governs our mind. It’s believed that it still exists even if it becomes apart from the human’s body after death and it finally becomes a divine spirit after undergoing the becoming of an ancestor's spirit phase”.
However, when looking at the word “魂 (spirit)”, there is “鬼 (demon)”. See, there is a demon in the spirit. Also there is another character “云 (saying)” which is located right next to “鬼 (demon)”. What do you think that it means? Does the action where demons say something to us actually mean the “魂 (spirit)” ? Yes, because there are demons in our mind, so they could be shouting something to us. People often complain about something, don’t we? When we are angry and shout abusive language and so on, we might have two horns sticking out of our head. Only some people may be able to see it.
Also this demon spirit may get transmitted to other people. Yes…everyone can get affected. The power of transmitting is supposed to be strong, so then people here and there can become affected. Talking about our custom where we throw soy beans on the day of the setsubun (節分) festival, it is to get our evil spirits out from our mind. But, I wonder, where can those evil spirits (demons) go afterward? People who can let them go out must feel better, but who is going to completely get rid of them? Do we need a yin-yang master like in the old days….?
Also, talking about the pronunciation of “云 (saying)”, it’s pronounced as ‘un’. It’s the same as the pronunciation for the “luck” (運:un). When we are saying ‘un’, we always have our mouths closed, don’t we? In contrast, when we complain about something, our mouths are always opened. So because it’s opened, demons (=luck:un) can get out. But we must not let them out, because we should deal with those that we created on our own.
So, remember to say “Fukuwa-uchi, Oni-mo-uchi (Good luck in, demons in, too)” when throwing soybeans at the next setsubun festival. When you become aware of the existence of the demon in your mind, you will find out that it surprisingly disappears. This is a way that you can release (delete) those demons in your mind. When you can do it, good luck will naturally come to you.
Well, remember to say “Oniwa-uchi, Fuku-mo-uchi” next year. Those demons may smile on you.
When demons smile, luck will come…..How is that?
*Don’t forget that demons have “luck”….as it’s shown in the word “魂 (spirit)”
