Filled with excitement over having the Shichi Fukujin greeting me as I began my new adventure into the world of Japanese Mythology, I looked up from the book, over the bay and into the sun. For a brief moment, I saw all seven of them in a boat, sailing across the water. A smile crossed my face, tears filled my eyes and laughter filled my heart.
I didn't know anything about them. That day was my first day of even looking at a Japanese mythology book. All I knew was with a name like "the seven gods of luck," good things were about to happen.
Through further investigation, I learned that the word shichi means seven, fuku means luck, and jin means god. There are six male gods and only one female goddess. Their names are: Jurojin, Ebisu, Daikoku, Fukurokujin, Benzai-ten (the only goddess), Hotei and Bishamon.
Immediately, I associated the Shichi Fukujin with Netzach on the Kabalistic Tree of Life. This was partially because of the number seven, but also because the description of Benzai-ten was very similar to what I knew about Aphrodite. Knowing this made it easier to understand why Benzai-ten is the only female deity among six males.
The first of the seven to introduce himself to me was Daikoku. He holds a mallet in his hand and offers his disciples the skill of building. With his assistance, a devotee can build anything: words that tell a story, a business, a home, and/or wealth. When shaking his mallet, coins fall out. Also, if you tap the mallet on the ground three times and make a wish, the wish will come true. I had to have a mallet.
Next, I met Benzai-ten. Looking up the Shichi Fukujin's names in Janet and Stewart Farrar's books The Witches' God and The Witches' Goddess, I found a brief description of each. However, Benzai-ten sailed off the page and into my living room when I read from her description that the Shichi Fukujin sail into port on New Year's Eve offering gifts of wealth and good fortune. Guess what day it was.
That night I prepared a meal for them and left it sitting on my dining room table. It consisted of rice, nori, sake and green tea. I felt like a child preparing for Santa's visit on Christmas Eve. But I didn't care, I was happy to have gotten the information in time to offer an appropriate greeting.
Benzai-ten is the artist among the group. She offers her disciples the arts of acting, dancing, music and visual arts. She carries with her a biwa, which is a banjo-like instrument. She also has a jewel that grants desires. Some say it is a jade, while others say it is a pearl. I had to have the jewel. Not knowing for sure whether it was jade or pearl, I got both.
Although the Shichi Fukujin are adaptations of Hindu and Chinese gods and ancestors, they are honored in Japan's indigenous religion Shinto. I began researching Shinto to have a better understanding of Japanese magick and worship. I wanted to treat the Shichi Fukujin with the utmost respect.
In my research of Shinto, I came to know Fukurokujin. He is the god of wisdom. He carries a staff that has a scroll hanging from it. On the scroll is all the information and wisdom of the world. Fukurokujin taught me the secret meanings behind the acts of worship in Shinto.
Wanting the Shichi Fukujin to be comfortable in my home, I began a search for Japanese temple music. I turned to Benzai-ten for help. I learned that the temple music is called Gagaku. I found tapes in the international section at a music store. It sounds eerie. I also found Kabuki music, which is used in Japanese theater.
Bishamon came to me next. He is a warrior god. He carries a sword and a pagoda. The pagoda he carries is the divine treasure house. He holds the divine treasure house because it is his responsibility to protect its contents. Here was another item I had to have.
I was afraid of Bishamon at first. He reminded me of Ares. I even felt he had a thing for Benzai-ten, like Ares has for Aphrodite.
Having a distaste for war and conflict, I was reluctant to spend any time with a warrior god. However, I wanted to know him, as he was a member of the Shichi Fukujin. So I began to spend time with him. I learned that at the core of conflict and war is an issue concerning boundaries. I saw that both victims and victimizers have boundary problems. The patterns of behaviors that are associated with boundary issues are hard to stop because both parties are getting rewarded. The perpetual victim is rewarded for not having to take responsibility for his/her life. Someone is always doing something to him/her. Victimizers usually go on victimizing because they succeed at what they are trying to accomplish and that is their reward. People who have repeated experiences of being a victim can learn, from Bishamon, how to set appropriate boundaries so that victimization does not take place again.
I met Jurojin while I was getting to know Bishamon. I was walking along the beach one day, when I saw an abandoned baby mallard duck. I picked him up and saw that he was injured. I took him home and treated his wounds. Being an Artemis at heart, I became the duck's mother. I named him Kamo (which means wild duck in Japanese). But Kamo was injured beyond my ability to heal. As he grew he began to have epileptic seizures. I tried skullcap and lobelia; they reduced the seizures, but other things continued to go wrong.
Jurojin is the Kami of life and death. He is also the time keeper. He carries a staff with a scroll on it that has a list of the names of all life. Beside each name is the date and time of each life's birth and death.
I asked Jurojin to help me keep Kamo alive, but one lesson I have had to learn over and over again is that there is a time to live and a time to die, and life cannot be extended if it is time to die. Kamo died.
Hotei came to me next. He is the Kami of laughter. He sits on a bag of rice and has children running around his feet. He had a hard time reaching me as I tend to take life very seriously and am very studious.
Not recognizing it to be an act of Hotei, I began talking to various friends about how serious I always was. I told them I needed to meet a fun-loving goddess or god, one who exposed me to laughter. I wanted to start seeing the humor in life. I said maybe I could find a goddess or god to work with after the Shichi Fukujin.
Then one day, while at a bookstore, I saw a "Far Side" card that reflected the seriousness of my life. The card was making fun of a serious situation. I got the joke and was able to laugh at myself. Things began to turn around. I began to see the humor in my life's drama. I understood the importance of breaking the spell of life's drama through laughter. And I saw Hotei behind it all.
Ebisu was the last Kami to approach me. I asked him many times to come forward so that I might come to know him. One day, I got a message that said there was no portal in me that allowed him to come through. Ebisu is the Kami of wealth and good fortune. He is the businessman, the investor and the merchant. He carries a fishing rod. Business and money relating to business is my weak point. I am an intellect, I am an artist, and I am intuitive. I ground through Artemis via nature and the love of animals. I also ground through physical exercise. Business? CPAs handle that.
Ebisu told me I needed to learn about money. So I picked up a copy of Investing for Dummies. When reading the book, I began to see the investment world like another mythological system or another system of magick. Learning about investing requires learning the jargon, learning the dynamics of what is going on, learning the formulas and/or rituals and then picking up on the energy. This was something I could actually do. Maybe business wasn't so bad after all.
Time and again, I became confused as to the order I should feed the Shichi Fukujin. I went through several different analyses and came up with: Jurojin, Ebisu, Daikoku, Fukurokujin, Benzai-ten, Hotei and Bishamon. I determined this order based on the importance each one had on my life. My experience of the Kami here on earth depends upon my being alive and healthy. So Jurojin gets fed first. Ebisu is next because business is about money, money is about survival, survival is about sustaining life. Daikoku is third because he is the builder. Once we have life and food, we begin to build a world around us (i.e. home, friends, family, communication, etc.). Building worlds allows us to know more and do more with that knowledge, so Fukurokujin is the fourth Kami to be fed. Benzai-ten is the fifth because now we can create beauty and art. I placed Hotei in the sixth spot because after the above it is time to relax and enjoy life. Bishamon is seventh because as the warrior god, he guards the boundaries. With that, I see him keeping the Shichi Fukujin in and everything else out. So he has to be last.
Putting them into some kind of order was very difficult for me. As she is the only goddess, I wanted to put Benzai-ten first. In Japan, according to tradition, she would be placed last. Doesn't the guest of honor enter last, so that everyone is present to honor her? Also, I felt Bishamon and Benzai-ten should be sitting next to each other. Then I wondered if Fukurokujin should go between Ebisu and Daikoku; after all, don't we need knowledge to build our worlds around us? Ebisu and Daikoku are always seen together; they are said to be son and father respectively. I settled on what I did because it felt comfortable to me. And that can be very important in magick. We must learn to listen to our own intuitive voices; we must learn to trust our intuition.
Not only do the Shichi Fukujin have objects of association, they also have associations with animals. It is believed that when an individual sees a particular animal, the corresponding Kami is reaching out to the person. The animals of association with the Shichi Fukujin are: Jurojin -- tortoise, Ebisu -- fish (sometimes specifically the jellyfish), Daikoku -- rats (because rats are found where there is plenty of food), Fukurokujin -- crane or deer, Benzai-ten -- serpent or sea dragon, Hotei -- small human children, and Bishamon -- ? I have never seen it written anywhere what animal is associated with Bishamon. However, Bishamon is known as a Hachiman, which is a warrior. The Hachiman's animal is the pigeon.
I keep my Shichi Fukujin altar in the northwest corner of my house. This is the helpful-people corner for Traditional Feng Shui, and it happens to be in the same place for my home using the Black Hat Sect of Feng Shui. Traditional Feng Shui is Chinese. The Black Hat Sect of Feng Shui comes from a sect of Unorthodox Tibetan Tantric Buddhists in China that mixes Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Bon with indigenous Chinese beliefs, customs and practices. In the Black Hat Sect, the helpful people corner will always be in the right corner on the same wall as the main entrance. Both the Traditional and Black Hat Sect of Feng Shui are effective. I personally have been using the Black Hat Sect because the tradition uses a lot of mysticism and magical cures that blend well with western magick. However, some people may prefer Traditional Feng Shui because the placements are stationary. (In Japanese the art and science of Feng Shui is known as Kaso.)
It is Shinto tradition to ring a bell to awaken the Kami. A closed ball bell is used because it is symbolic of life within the womb. The bell is hung on the ceiling with a spiraled rope attached, hanging to the floor. The rope is symbolic of the umbilical cord. The spiral is found everywhere: our solar system, our DNA, a rose and the vibration of a musical note. Even the umbilical cord spirals with one artery and two veins.
When approaching the Shichi Fukujin, I clean myself and my surroundings, prepare the food, start the music, ring the bell, bow twice, clap my hands twice and begin with a small variation in the order of an invocation formula recognized in Shinto. During invocation, my head is always kept at a lower level than the altar.
The formula I use is:
Words of praise for the Kami -- blessings to the Shichi Fukujin and a welcome into my home/office.
Identify myself -- name, date of birth, place of birth, current place of worship (address).
Occasion of observance -- date and day of week.
List offerings -- offer them the food by name and lay the offering out on the altar.
Give thanks -- recognize how they have manifested in my life.
Report petition -- ask what I would like from them.
Parting words of respect -- thank them each for what they have brought into my life and offer blessings again.
In all magick it is important to recognize how the goddesses and gods have come into our lives. Recognition opens the door wider, allowing more of their energy through.
Obvious recognition of how the Shichi Fukujin have manifested in my life is: Jurojin gives me a life and keeps me healthy. I recognize Ebisu for my successful business adventures and what money I earn. Daikoku helps me put these words in a cohesive form that makes what I write understandable. Daikoku is also helping me build up a practice here in Seattle. And he helped me turn the house I live in into a home. Fukurokujin is the one who gives me the insight to how the magick works and why things are done the way they are done. Benzai-ten has brought beauty into my home, my office and my life. She gives me the gift of bringing art into therapy in the form of ritual (psychodrama), altar building and photography (art therapy), and other techniques such as dance therapy (artistic ways of creating sacred space or invoking a goddess or god into one's life). Hotei brought me a sense of humor and the ability to see my life's drama as a comedy. At first, Bishamon had to help me clean up boundary mistakes, but now he helps me set appropriate boundaries to begin with. I also acknowledge the Shichi Fukujin with personal life specifics that they have helped me with.
My request to them is usually general. I usually ask for more of what I already recognize that they bring to me.
Working with the Shichi Fukujin has been a well-rounded and balanced experience. So far, I have not come across any loopholes that sends me spiraling off into some extreme.
I have been exploring Shinto as a magickal system for a year and a half now. The Shichi Fukujin have been my guides. My research has been mostly academic and the sources come from university libraries. There is a Shinto shrine in Granite Falls, and statues of the Shichi Fukujin can be found at Uwajimaya in the International District on South Sixth. The price ranges from $75 to $300. Hito, on South Jackson, carries a tiny Shichi Fukujin statue for only $5.
Basic books on Shinto can also be found at Uwajimaya. There is no documentation of it as a magickal system, and there is very little information available about the Shichi Fukujin. I am currently working on a book that explores Shinto as a magickal system. This book will include a section on the Japanese Goddesses and Gods. However, this book will not be available for a couple of years.
After 15 years' experience in magick, I have noticed that once I have worked with a goddess or god, they remain in my life forever. I am thankful for this. Having the opportunity to know even one goddess or god is a blessing. I feel honored to have the opportunity to know so many. With this article, I hope to share with you my blessings. And my blessings to you are: "May you know the Shichi Fukujin as I do, and may they help you with your life as they have helped me with mine."
Donna M. Pinkston M.A. is a mental health counselor in private practice. She blends traditional modes of therapy with various mystical, magickal, New Age and pagan philosophies and practices. She can be reached at (206) 726-2808.
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