Jorogumo: The Whore Spider
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Also sometimes referred to as "the binding spider," though this seems to mostly be for posterity's sake.
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A form of yokai, Jorogumo begins it's existence as little more than a spider. Specifically: a golden orb-weaver spider (picture 2). These spiders are common in many parts of the world, including Japan.
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It is believed that once the Jorogumo reaches 400 years of age, it comes into it's powers. At this point tales vary-- some saying they can travel between the spirit and corporeal worlds, making their lairs in the spirit realm, away from humans. Some tales say they are particularly talented at playing melodies, particularly on stringed instruments. Still others say they could control other spiders, and also possessed the ability to enter and influence dreams-- a power they use to their advantage to entice their prey.
(Cont)
Almost all the tales can agree on one thing: once they reach this age, their prey changes from common insects, to humans. Particularly young human men. Their name comes into play here, for the Jorogumo often transform into beautiful young women to lure their prey to them.
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Their tactics vary from luring men into their homes, to seducing men within their dreams, to asking for their hands in marriage. Some reportedly would pretend to be in distress, asking a young man to hold their baby. Once he had taken the baby he would instead discover what he held was a sac of eggs.
To those unfortunate enough to fall into their grasp, there was little escape. The threads of silk spun by Jorogumo were more than strong enough to keep a grown man ensnared. Their venom was designed to paralyse and keep their victim complacent for however long the Jorogumo wanted to spend, tormenting and devouring them. Some claim the homes of Jorogumo would be filled with the skeletons of the devoured men, bound and hanging by their feet.
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It is also rumoured that Jorogumo may use their victims for more than food. Mirroring the behaviour of black widows, once they have finished with their unwitting partners, they then lay a clutch of eggs, to eventually hatch and begin the cycle again.
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One Jorogumo is particularly infamous. Known as "The Mistress of Joren Falls.*" The most common tale, tells of a woodcutter who drops his axe in the pool. A beautiful maiden appears before him, returning the Axe to him. The tale diverges here in two directions:
The first tells of him becoming lovestruck, returning to her day after day, until eventually she draws him close enough. Revealing her true nature, she drags him beneath the water to drown.
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The second tells of her telling him to never reveal he saw her there at all. He keeps this promise for years until one evening he gets drunk and mentions her to another. He falls into a deep sleep that night and never wakes up again.
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*Picture 3: Joren Falls, Yugashima district of Izu city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Not a spider seductress, but in city folk you can buy a fountain for the city, and if you throw your axe into there then a gorgeous (fox) maiden comes out and can either A: give it back and tell you to stop that, B: keep it and scold you for throwing shit away, or C: turn it silver or gold (making it much better)
Hmmm. That sounds similar, although I also wonder if that wouldn't be a kitsune story. They are EXTREMELY prevalent in Japanese folklore and are notorious shapeshiftsers/tricksters and seductress.
Kitsune and tanukis seem to be issues in a lot of stories lol. One of my favs (I cant remember if it was tanukis or not but idc) is a group of yokai who disguise themselves as humans with no faces and their only goal is to scare the shit out of people.
Lemme find a link
Interesting. I encountered mentions of them when I was cross-checking some things about jorogumo, but what I saw implied they were more akin to a malevolent spirit-- closer to a ghost or such. It didn't mention they had any links to kitsune, but given how criss-crossed and turned around some of the stories get I wouldn't be surprised if both were potentially accurate depending on the tale.
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Then again what I read was literally just in passing. I may look into them more at some point
A bonus round for @dr_richard_ew . With my luck you probably hate spiders and this isn't what you had in mind at all, but this was one that I could put together decently quickly, so hopefully you get a kick out of it anyway.
That's actually an interesting little video :) I read about the Buddhist priest and the guy with the Web, but it only popped up once or twice. Most of the places talking about it don't mention them at all, so I decided to focus on just the woodcutter. Still I hadn't seen anywhere mention the tengu. Adds a whole other element to it
https://www.deviantart.com/wintershades/art/Jorogumo-674929473
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Also sometimes referred to as "the binding spider," though this seems to mostly be for posterity's sake.
'
A form of yokai, Jorogumo begins it's existence as little more than a spider. Specifically: a golden orb-weaver spider (picture 2). These spiders are common in many parts of the world, including Japan.
'
It is believed that once the Jorogumo reaches 400 years of age, it comes into it's powers. At this point tales vary-- some saying they can travel between the spirit and corporeal worlds, making their lairs in the spirit realm, away from humans. Some tales say they are particularly talented at playing melodies, particularly on stringed instruments. Still others say they could control other spiders, and also possessed the ability to enter and influence dreams-- a power they use to their advantage to entice their prey.
(Cont)
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Their tactics vary from luring men into their homes, to seducing men within their dreams, to asking for their hands in marriage. Some reportedly would pretend to be in distress, asking a young man to hold their baby. Once he had taken the baby he would instead discover what he held was a sac of eggs.
Gorgeous artwork btw
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It is also rumoured that Jorogumo may use their victims for more than food. Mirroring the behaviour of black widows, once they have finished with their unwitting partners, they then lay a clutch of eggs, to eventually hatch and begin the cycle again.
'
One Jorogumo is particularly infamous. Known as "The Mistress of Joren Falls.*" The most common tale, tells of a woodcutter who drops his axe in the pool. A beautiful maiden appears before him, returning the Axe to him. The tale diverges here in two directions:
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The second tells of her telling him to never reveal he saw her there at all. He keeps this promise for years until one evening he gets drunk and mentions her to another. He falls into a deep sleep that night and never wakes up again.
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*Picture 3: Joren Falls, Yugashima district of Izu city, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Lemme find a link
Here he is
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Then again what I read was literally just in passing. I may look into them more at some point
Edit: what the fuck was I smoking? That was one fucked up sentence.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=clJ0FoMr4DM