TheTale of Genji

The Tale of Genji, renowned novel written by lady Murasaki Shikibu in the beginning of the 11th century, continues to inspire various artists through the centuries. Many motifs have been adopted or reinterpreted within other works of art, yet the scene of spirit possession – when wife of prince Genji, lady Aoi, is possessed by the spirit of her lover, lady Rokujō – seems to be exceptionally inspiring. This article traces those adaptations of The Tale, where the possession is highly signi- ficant: including classic nō play, modern nō play and film versions. The relations between the characters are carefully investigated, along with their emotions and motives: both in the original text and its adaptations. The key conclusion shows that in all analysed works it is not the actual possession and its mechanism that matters the most, it if for the emotions of the characters, their development and complicated relations with one another.

There have been multiple historical and cross-cultural reports of excess correlation of specific experiences between individuals separated by thousands of kilometers. Recently there have been experimental demonstrations of excess correlations between measurable cerebral events for small percentages of test subjects. More reliable effects can be elicited when electromagnetic fields and photons are involved. In this experiment completed during the summer of 2015, 5 pairs of volunteers separated by more than 6,000 km wore identical cerebral toroids through which patterns of phase shifting, 30 nT magnetic fields that diminished the local magnetic field in both loci by 1-5 nT were exposed to the sequences that produced excess correlation in chemiluminescent reactions and shifts in pH. Compared to the various baselines and control procedures enhanced power between the right hemispheres of pairs of participants occurred during the interval documented to produce excess correlation. Specific analyses indicated diminished coherence within the theta band only within the right temporal lobes of the pairs. Sequential block analyses revealed that the paired brains’ responses to pulsed tones at 6.5 Hz occurred within the 30-40 Hz band over the caudal temporal lobes during the exposures to the effector field. Primary independent component analyses verified these patterns. During the 6.5 Hz tones there was a peak in the spectral power density (SPD) at that frequency over the right temporal lobe of the person listening but a trough in (SPD) over this region for the person who was not. Even subjective experiences, as measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS), indicated significantly increased excess correlation for scales by which increased anger and decreased vigour are inferred. This experiment, based upon physical principles, suggests there is a technology that can generate reliable excess correlation of brain activity (and potentially consciousness and specific experiences) between two people separated by thousands of kilometers.

The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari, Japanese: 源氏物語), written by Murasaki Shikibu in the beginning of 11th century, is considered to be the first novel in the world, but it also remains a particularly abundant source of knowledge about the Heian period (794-1185). The novel concentrates on the character of prince Hikaru Genji (called “The Shining Prince”), the most flawless hero of all. It tells the story of his life and numerous affairs and also depicts the customs of aristocracy of the time within political and sociological context.
The object of this article is to present the essence of The Tale of Genji in relation to the author’s view of her fictional character, as well to analyse the reception of the novel among its first readers – the ladies of the Heian emperor court. Their fa- scination with the Shining Prince and blurred boundaries between fictional affair and real-life events will be the key aspect of the analysis.