Spiritual Matters: Material Culture and Japanese Religion

In medieval Japan, a number of Buddhist deities emerged, whose main function was to increase human life – to protect that life from the outset, during the first stages of embryonic gestation – and to transform death into a preliminary, quasi-embryological, preliminary stage toward rebirth. These deities were often connected by specific symbols, for instance the wish-fulfilling jewel (cintâmani) and the sword. This talk will focus on two such figures, Aizen and Fudô, and on their role in medieval representations of power and fecundity.