Hell Courtesan
Working theory: Jigoku Tayū as a liminal bodhisattva-form that can be approached through traditional means. I think she, as a person, a mythological figure, an archetype, an enlightened being, and enjoyment body of a living Bodhisattva are useful to engage with. Especially in our current timeline. Especially one like this. One like us. Also, I think she is a possible friend who just wants us to suffer less. I can dig that. Whatever model you want to use. Does not matter. Need not be.
Jigoku Tayū — the Hell Courtesan — appears in Japanese Buddhist legend as a high-ranking courtesan who gained insight into impermanence and emptiness through visions of hell and the teachings of the Zen saint, Ikkyu Zenji.
In this bit of Mahayana influenced devotional Chaos Magick, she is treated as:
- An actual human being who, according to legend, was trafficked into sex work after the death of her father. As a person, she was a survivor, and rose the the height of her trade (Oyran). She plied in the red lantern district, the floating world, withing the city that is now Osaka. An actual human being who achieved enlightenment within her own lifetime (and had a rap battle with a Zen saint). A life that was reputed to be short. These things would still apply even if she had never existed, including her humanness. Think of it as "skillful means". This brings us to the second part.
- A Honzon or devotional image. This is where we hit the symbolic/archetypical part. Iconography is both pretty and cool.
- A patron of sex workers, outcasts, artists, poets, and and liminal practitioners of all sorts. And as thus a spiritual ally in the magical sense.
Nothing here is orthodox doctrine. At all. Tho in my defense I really think this is all Lotus Sutra compatable. This is a working ritual-mythos framed in respect for Mahayana ethics: compassion for all beings, no coercion, and clear consent in all realms.
Cultivation View
As a cultivation archetype, Jigoku Tayū embodies the insight that:
- All roles are costumes. Courtesan, monk, magician, bodhisattva: all dependently arisen.
- Hell is a teaching device. The mind manufactures hellscapes from clinging and aversion.
- Adornment is not the enemy of emptiness. Painted face, elaborate hair, layered kimono: every ornament can become a mudrā of suchness when held lightly.
In practice, she functions as a yidam-style focus (meditation deity) for:
- Working with shame, sexuality, and stigma without bypassing or glamorizing harm.
- Transforming fear of punishment / hell into clarity about cause and effect.
- Holding both desire and renunciation as movements within empty awareness.