A powerful soot blackened image of Goki, one of two attendant demons of En no Gyoja, here seen with the sacred flask in his right fist. It has fierce, glass eyes with glowing gold irises. Muromachi to Momoyama period (14th–16th century). The figure is 37 x 27 x 41.5cm (15 x 11 x 16-1/2 inches). Originally covered in thick pigments, much has flaked off, and all is coated in thick black incense soot. The bottom of the flask magical is missing.
En no Gyōja, the semi-legendary founder of Shugendō, is often said to have had two supernatural attendants (kijin) who served him after being bound by his powers. According to legend, they were originally fierce demons who caused trouble in the mountains, but En no Gyōja subdued them through his spiritual discipline and bound them to serve as protectors. In Shugendō lore they come to symbolize the taming of destructive forces and the transformation of destructive forces into protective ones. Zenki is traditionally red and represents the yang (active force), often shown with an axe or a travel pack, while Goki appears in blue or green tones as the yin (receptive force), depicted carrying a jug of sacred water. Interestingly, in folk tradition, Zenki and Goki are sometimes also regarded as the progenitors of the Yamabushi’s “oni clans” in the Yoshino region, where their descendants were believed to live for generations, thus are revered as guardian deities rather than malevolent beings, embodying the power of the mountains.
