神秘的な出産体験からみた生命誕生における霊魂のむすび : 平田篤胤の産霊神(むすび)思想に基づいて

概要

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The author, working as a midwife, has seen many mysterious phenomena pertaining to natural childbirth. According to Shinto, a native religion in Japan, "Musubi" is a god involved in creating life. This paper presents ten cases of mystical experiences of childbirth the author has witnessed, and examines the power of Musubi in childbirth in view of the Musubi theory of Hirata Atsutane, a Japanese classical and theological scholar in the late Edo period. In all these cases mothers found a relationship between the birth of their children and the death of their family or of their relatives. According to Hirata's ideas of death and reincarnation, the soul of the dead as well as that of the baby to be born are watching his or her family on the earth from their world beyond. This is testified in this paper. Testified also is the existence of strong links among the souls of the dead, of the coming baby and of their family or relatives. Therefore, the author believes that the function of Musubi in childbirth is to link souls, and a new life created through linking of souls is the incarnation of Musubi himself, who links other souls in turn. By recognizing the importance of this soul linking, we come to the understanding that we are able only to live through our relationship with other people. This realization leads us to find the meaning of living.
2010-05-30