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Miko (Shinto Priestess)
Hinoto in X
Hinoto can neither see nor hear. And both she and her sister, Kanae, are known as Dream Watchers (they can travel and show people dreams of the future). Hinoto is a
bit like the blind medium of Japan. These miko are known as itako or ichiko, and are called to this life because they are blind, usually from birth or infancy, and it is a good profession
for them to be of use to others. As for dreams, dreams fall into different categories, and one under supernatural dreams is the prophetic. In these dreams, the person watching,
whether ascetic or other, is passive. Sometimes a messenger might appear in a dream or a kami, or an object may be bestowed. Dreams are also important to ascetics, as through
dreams of initiation they gain clairvoyance or divination abilities.
Marina in Sorcerer Hunters
Marina in ep. 7 has an old priestess type of role, or a sacrifical miko or bride to a god. From her birth it was decided she must wait until the birth of a savior and then devote her
life to him. If he is never found, she will live out her life and die a virgin.
In the episode, it is a type of Romeo-Juliet tale as Marina and her love Daniel are forbidden to love each other because of her destiny. So to show his love he sends little grass boats
down the river for her to find. The legend behind the two families goes that the Rivertop family rolls a Flowing Spirit Stone down the Saint Light River, and as the stone makes its way downstream
it will take shape. If when the Marineside family take the stone from the river and the shape is that of a human it means a savior will come to take the unhappiness from the world.
Miaka and Yui in Fushigi Yuugi
In ancient times, these women acted as mediums for the kami to speak through, sometimes residing in the emperor's court or in a
village. There are also ancient stories of serpent deities taking the miko as his bride, rendering her not only in the role of a chosen
figure, able to communicate between the people and deity, but also as the lover. This more ancient concept of the miko can be seen in
Fushigi Yuugi, the chosen mikos for the four gods act as the medium through which the deity speaks and performs power through. At
the same time, the chosen priestess must be a virgin at the time of the god's summoning and must then couple with him in order to receive
his power.
Momiji in Blue Seed
Besides the ancient beliefs associated with the miko given in the description above for Fushigi Yuugi, there were also tales where the miko was made a
living-sacrifice to the serpent deity. The idea of sacrifice and the miko comes into play with Momiji. She, the Kushinada, must be the
sacrifice for humanity.
Rei in Sailor Moon
Hino Rei is a young shrine maiden, and thus some of her powers and associations are from her Shinto religion.
Rei (Spirit) is one of the four important elements in Shinto. To remove evil Rei will use the chant Rin-Byo-To-Sha-Kai-Jin-Retsu-Zai-Zen.
She will also say this while meditating in front of her fire in the shrine. These are the nine magic syllables in Shinto.
She also says "akuryou taisan" which means evil spirit begone, when she uses an attack with an ofuda. When she's saying the above,
a silhouette appears behind her in the flames, possibly this might be Fudo-Myoo (a Buddhist deity). He appears surrounded by flames and
holding a sword and rope. The rope binds passions and the sword cuts delusion. He can also be an aider and protector.
Archery is sometimes used in certain Shinto ceremonies, so this could be one origin of her Flame Sniper attack,
along with the obvious reference to the Greek god of war.
Sailor Mars has a manga only attack called Snake Fire. There are old stories in Japan of a snake or serpent associated with a miko.
There are stories of the snake bridegroom, where the girl marries or is visited by a deity who has taken the form of a snake.
In some tales, it is the woman who takes the form of a snake. Another tale associated with the miko involved cases where a woman
was buried alive to act as a sacrifice to a serpent presiding over a river or lake. There is also a belief that sometimes deities will appear
to an ascetic in a dream as a snake, or a snake will be the guardian's form over the ascetic.