on an active participation in it of the broom, we may obtain a much more satisfactory explanation—the broom is inverted and is maltreated in order to force it to cause the man to be uncomfortable, and the phrases used by the operator have been intended to instruct the broom-spirit as to its duties in the matter. This latter explanation still leaves us, however, with the question as to why a broom-spirit should be especially selected for the work. As an answer to this I would suggest that it is either because of the association of the broom, in other majinai, with departing guests, or because the spirit attributed to the broom is regarded as one which, although (due to the nature of the broom) easily controllable, is exceptionally powerful.
There is another broom-majinai (said by its recorder to be "an exceedingly doubtful" one), which is employed in order to obtain news of an absent person. The broom is dressed in human clothing and, at a very early hour of the morning, is set on end in an empty room having eight tatami (floor-mats). Then a letter addressed to the absent person is placed in the bosom of the dummy, and the latter is told to deliver it and to leave the answer in some specified place. Finally, the operator leaves the room without looking back at the dummy. If the dummy topples over entirely by itself, it is thought that the answer requested will be obtained.[1]
An application of brooms well known in Japan is that for the laying of unquiet corpses. There is a belief there that if a cat jumps upon the body of a person who has lately died, the corpse may arise and walk about as if it were alive, just as if (so I was told) the person had died "with a bad conscience." In order to lessen the probability of this occurring, the cats of the household are sent away until after the funeral, and, in addition, "something sharp," such as a sword, a knife, or even a pair of scissors.
- ↑ de Becker, loc. cit.
