Inugami

Inugami or “Dog God” is a Japanese urban legend about a very powerful curse that is created when a dog is transformed into an evil spirit. WARNING: Do not attempt to perform this ritual. It is extremely evil and involves terrible cruelty to animals. Harming an animal is illegal, not to mention morally wrong, and anybody who hurts an animal should be reported to the police.

Inugami is a very ancient Japanese curse. Nobody knows when it originated, but by the Heian Period in Japan (794 AD – 1185 AD) it was already banned. They say there are still certain areas in Japan where this ritual is practiced today.

The ritual to create an Inugami:

1. A live dog is buried in the ground up to its neck.

2. Raw meat is placed in front of the dog, just beyond its reach. The dog can see the food, but can’t eat it.

3. The dog is starved for several days

4. Once the dog’s anguish and rage have reached a fever pitch, its head is severed with a Japanese sword.

5. The dog’s head will fly off and cling to the food with its teeth.

6. The dog’s head is buried at a crossroads where many people will walk over it. This serves to increase and intensify the dog’s grudge.

7. The dog’s head is then dug up and burned in an oven until all that remains is the skull. The skull is placed in a bowl and it is worshipped like a god.

The dog’s starvation-induced rage will turn into a powerful curse. The person who created the Inugami will be possessed and it will fulfill their desires. However, the Inugami could also turn on them and bite them to death. Someone who is killed by an Inugami will have bite marks all over their corpse.

The Inugami can possess people who are emotionally unstable. If someone is possessed by an Inugami, they will start to act strangely. They will experience pain in the chest, hands and feet, their shoulders will suddenly shake and they may even start barking like a dog.

People who created an Inugami would keep it safe by hiding it in their home, in a storeroom, under the bed, in a chest of drawers or in a jar.

There are also 2 other slight variations that can be used to create an Inungami. In one, instead of burying the dog in the ground, it is chained to a pole and the food is left just out of reach. In the other, two starving dogs are forced to fight to the death over a plate of fish. After one dog kills the other, you give the fish to the winner. While it is eating, you cut off its head with a sword and then you eat the remaining fish in front of it.

Once you create an Inugami, you can’t get rid of it. The Inugami has to be kept in the family and passed down through the bloodline. Families who owned an Inugami were called inugami-mochi.