GrandTrinity Posted September 3, 2006 So I was reading in Alex Anatole's great book Truth of Tao, and looking at the pictures/shrines of Foxes in Japanese (tao?) temples. The author neglected to explain about the foxes, however. Whats up with Foxes? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer64 Posted September 3, 2006 (edited) The only thing that comes to mind is the reference to foxes in the last hexagram of the Yi Jing (I Ching)... #64 Before Completion where there is a warning that a fox - having almost crossed a frozen stream may become lax in it's wariness and allow its tail to dip in the water- or break the ice at the last moment... As in other words - we must always be careful and not allow supposed success to lull us into letting our guard down in perilous undertakings-such as crossing water...It ain't over til its over... I am sceptical about the shape-shifting lore of fox-women stealing men's yang force. It seems a bit misogynistic if not paranoid about the female powers of seduction...The sharing of Yin and Yang energies is an important and revitalizing part of love-making, not something to fear. Precious energies and even bodily fluids can safely be shared between the sexes...(This is supposing that the valid Taoist idea of men curtailing their ejaculations and reserving their yang force is not being practiced at the time). But safe-sex is still a good idea in many cases that come up... So keep that rascal wrapped - if in any doubt! Sorry if this is off topic! More traditional ideas of the fox remain of a creature that is very smart and remembers the lay of the land and knows the territory it inhabits very well indeed. I hope this helps ya- Edited September 5, 2006 by Wayfarer64 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DustWalker Posted September 3, 2006 (edited) In Chinese and Japanese mythology there is a lot of talk about "fox spirits". At least according to chinese lore female foxes have the ability to cultivate just like humans. When they reach a certain degree of cultivation they can shapeshift into a beautiful human female that lures men into having sex with them and thus steals their jing for their own benefit. This is the way that the fox/spirit can gain immortality, or something along the line. If you really are interested here are some links mostly dealing with the japanese variant.  http://www.comnet.ca/~foxtrot/kitsune/kitsune1.htm http://www.coyotes.org/kitsune/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsune http://www.fox-dream.com/  Hope this helps.  Edit:  Here are some more of the chinese sort  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_spirit http://academia.issendai.com/fox-index.shtml http://www.nickyee.com/stories/05_Fox_Spirit.html http://www.illuminatedlantern.com/cinema/a...fox_spirits.php  Interesting that Fox-spirits seem to be sort equivalent to the european pheonomenon of fairie. Edited September 3, 2006 by DustWalker Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeform Posted September 3, 2006 (edited) . Edited December 18, 2019 by freeform Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
