©

Tengu Sagemono, 1995
inro and ojime: Armin Muller
netsuke: Lynn Richardson
porcelain
Collection of the Artists

The Tengu is a mountain, tree, and forest deity, originally worshipped in the form of a kite. He is a fantastic bird with a small compact head, a short strong bill, and heavy claws dressed as a mountain priest (Yamabushi) in narrow clothes and a small characteristic cap of polygonal shape. Dangerous, but not an altogether malevolent spirit of the wilderness, the tengu was venerated by simple bush rangers and woodcutters who desired to acquire supernatural power in solitude. Tengu are small but muscular-entrenched in the spiritual life of the countryside, capable of kidnapping adults and children. The diety punished willful damage to the woods. It could tear asunder those who would disturb the peace, and if so, clouds would appear, darkness come, and rain and thunder and lightening.