I is for ikiryo, interlude and inaugural too!

Legends of astral projection exist from around the globe, and the ikiryo represents the Japanese version of this spiritual phenomenon. Tradition states that the ikiryo represents a spiritual manifestation of the soul of a living person, in essence a living ghost, which arises outside of the body. Ikiryo are vengeful spirits arising from intense emotion, such as jealousy, which is directed against another individual. In this manifestation, the ikiryo may appear to the intended victim to curse, possess or otherwise cause harm. Whether the ikiryo represents the soul of the individual from which it originates, or whether it represents a separate spirit which has splintered off, remains in dispute. However, it is thought that if the ikiryo remains separated from the individual then the individual will wither and perish—ultimately from an inability to overcome the destruction caused by their own negative emotions. With respect to our current callout, it would appear that the ikiryo offers intriguing potential as a malignant ghost looking for vengeance. May unsettling dreams of of ikiryo give you inspiration!

Further reading:

Ikiryo - 'living spirit'

I is also for interlude...and inaugural!

For those who wish to take the chill off ghostlies and hauntings for a brief spell, pop over to the main Chuffed Buff Books website for a spot of free poetry. Hot off the digital press, our incandescent  inaugural issue of new e-zine, Kigo: Seasonal Words Four-monthly Poetry, is ready to go! It's an absolutely free no-strings-attached treat and includes 100 haiku by 40 interesting/intriguing (check out their bios!) poets. If you like what you read—nay, if you are impressed—then please do give us (or any of the poets) a twitter shout-out or some Facebook love! Happy reading.

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 This blog post was written in the spirit of the April 2014 A-Z Challenge whereby a post is written every day during the month of April (with the exception of Sunday). The theme of each post is meant to correspond with a letter of the alphabet in sequential order. Tomorrow's post will be on J. For details and to visit the A-Z Challenge website, click here.