also: せいれい
vengeful spirit; living ghost; doppelgänger
In Japanese folklore, a spirit that leaves a living person's body to haunt or harm others, often born from intense hatred or jealousy. Also used for a wraith-like double.
Her grudge turned into a vengeful spirit and tormented him.
In old tales, people possessed by living ghosts fell ill one after another.
Only when written 生霊 · Only with reading せいれい
Rare reading せいれい used in classical or Buddhist contexts to refer to human beings or spirits. Not used in modern everyday language.
In old documents, 生霊 is read as せいれい and can refer to the souls of people.
死霊 refers to spirits of the dead, while 生き霊 is a spirit from a living person.
怨霊 is a vengeful ghost of a deceased person; 生き霊 is specifically from someone still alive.
Standard kanji spelling for the vengeful spirit sense.
Alternate spelling; also used for the reading せいれい with a different meaning.
Reading せいれい is rare and means 'mankind' or 'souls'.
Rare variant using 魑魅 (mountain demons).
Rare variant; same as 生き魑魅 but without き.
Compound of 生き (living) and 霊 (spirit). The concept originates in Japanese folk belief where intense emotions can cause a person's spirit to act independently.