Superstitions: Ushi No Koku Mairi

Have you ever hated someone to the point that you wished something terrible would happen to them? Can hatred run that deep?

Well, it appears for some people it does.

While we must have heard of voodoo dolls at some point or another, there is a ceremony in Japan called ushi no koku mairi that is performed during the hours of the Ox.

Interestingly, the hours of the Ox is the time period between 1 AM and 3 AM. In the olden days, China and Japan used a 12-hour system to tell whether it was night or day. The 12-hour system was divided in such a way that each period was signified by a zodiac.

It is thought that the hour of the Ox is when the night is the darkest and when the border between the living and the dead is the thinnest. Evil spirits are thought to have great power then.

Now according to the ritual, one must be dressed in complete white, including powdering the face and bringing a doll resembling the person they wish to harm and nail the doll to the tree. Wherever the nail is inserted in the place where the victim will suffer pain. When done for seven days, the victim then dies.

However, if the ritual is witnessed by anyone, the curse either doesn’t work or befalls the person who is performing the ritual.

Now isn’t it better not to perform this ritual? Do you really want to play around with something that disturbs the realm of the dead and living?

If there is one thing horror movies have taught us is that it is dangerous to invite curses and perform rituals that bring evil into the living world.

If you don’t like someone, simply avoid them.

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