Introduction: Scientific Deconstruction and Modern Redefinition of Supernatural Concepts

Concepts such as “evil spirits” and “barriers” have historically been discussed in religious or occult contexts. These have been treated as supernatural phenomena that can only be manipulated by those with specific “psychic abilities,” and for ordinary citizens, they have been regarded as objects of passive fear or areas where one should wait for salvation by specialists. However, by mobilizing the knowledge of modern cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and environmental psychology, these phenomena can be rationally explained as “external factors that threaten an individual’s mental homeostasis” and “cognitive and environmental control to protect oneself from them.”

By redefining the ritual of exorcising evil spirits as “blocking negative feedback loops” and barriers as “establishing and maintaining psychological boundaries,” we systematize defense strategies that non-psychics can practice.

Physical and Physiological Barriers in Living Environment: Scientific Significance of Cleaning and Organization

Living space is a place that mirrors an individual’s mental state, while simultaneously being the totality of external inputs that constantly affect an individual’s cognitive resources. The fact that traditional “purification” and “ablution” involve physical cleaning is not merely symbolic, but recent research suggests it is a rational means directly linked to the control of neurotransmitters and stress hormones in the brain.

Mechanisms of Neurotransmitter Transformation Through Cleaning Activities

Physical activity of cleaning has the effect of promoting the secretion of happiness hormones in the brain, particularly serotonin. Serotonin contributes to mental stability and plays a role in reducing feelings of anxiety and restlessness, and cleaning involving regular rhythmic movement induces this secretion. Especially when you feel “unmotivated,” engaging in short-term cleaning becomes a trigger to switch the brain to a reward-system-dominant state.

The orderly space after cleaning is completed functions as a visual reward. A cluttered room is an accumulation of “incomplete tasks to be processed” for the brain, unconsciously increasing cognitive load and promoting the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol. In contrast, an organized space sends a signal to the brain that it is a “safe place” and helps normalize hormonal balance. This becomes the physical foundation of a “mental barrier.”

Housework as Mindfulness and Cognitive Control

The act of immersing oneself in cleaning and tidying functions as a kind of mindfulness (concentration on the here and now). When thoughts are trapped by “modern evil spirits” such as past failures, future anxieties, or anger toward others, focusing on housework makes it possible to physically drive out those negative thoughts from the brain.

The following table contrasts the psychological and physiological changes brought about by cleaning as “daily barrier technique.”

Physical Defense and Boundaries: Psychological Independence Through Grooming

In the concept of barriers, the boundary that separates self and others is not merely spatial. The individual’s body itself, and the “attire” that envelops it, function as psychological boundaries to prevent undue intervention from others.

Grooming is not just an act to gain evaluation from others, but an important action to maintain cleanliness of oneself and maintain mental and psychological independence. The habit of appropriately caring for oneself clarifies one’s position as an “independent individual” in relationships with others. If this is lacking, boundaries become ambiguous, and one may defensively accept negative emotions and influences from outside. Habituating grooming is a rudimentary but powerful means of forming self-defense (barrier) in social interactions.

Neuroscience of Kotodama: Avoiding Self-Destruction Caused by Negative Language

“Kotodama” (word spirit) is the belief that spoken words affect actual events, but when we reconsider this from a neuroscience perspective, the fact emerges that negative words uttered by the speaker cause direct damage to that person’s brain structure.

Slander and Irreversible Damage to the Brain

Slander, criticism, or cynical attitudes toward others may seem like stress relief at first glance, but in reality they become extremely harmful stress factors for the brain. When slandering, dopamine is released in the brain, providing temporary pleasure, but at the same time, large amounts of the stress hormone cortisol are secreted.

This excess cortisol physically destroys important parts of the brain. Specifically, it kills nerve cells in the “hippocampus” that governs memory, and impairs the connections of neural networks in the “prefrontal cortex” responsible for rational judgment and thinking by up to 40%. This process dramatically increases the risk of developing dementia. According to research from the University of Eastern Finland, people who repeatedly engage in sarcasm and criticism toward others have been confirmed to have three times the risk of dementia and 1.4 times the mortality rate compared to those who do not.

Negative Speech as “Self-Cursing”

The brain has the characteristic of not accurately recognizing subjects, and strong aggressive language such as “die” or “disappear” directed at others also has the aspect of being processed as commands to the brain itself. Continuing to slander can be said to be the true identity of the most terrifying “curse” in modern times in the sense that it shortens one’s own lifespan and destroys cognitive function.

Therefore, breaking inappropriate language habits is “the greatest defense (barrier)” to protect one’s health and intelligence without using psychic abilities.

The following table summarizes the long-term effects of language choices on the body and brain.

Grounding and Stabilization of “Ki”: Physical Techniques for Mental Tranquility

A state in which the mind becomes unstable and susceptible to external influences is expressed as “ki is rising” in the context of Oriental medicine and spirituality. If we interpret this in terms of modern psychology, it is a state in which the sympathetic nervous system is excessively dominant, attention is dispersed, and emotions are becoming uncontrollable. The technique to counter this is “grounding (putting feet on the ground).”

Establishing Center of Gravity Through Tanden Breathing and Ritsuzen

To protect oneself from psychological shaking from outside and malicious words and actions, it is effective to keep the physical and mental “center of gravity” low.

These techniques also contribute to alleviating knee pain and physical discomfort, and further contribute to the mental defense of highly sensitive individuals with high energy consumption.

“Evil Spirits” Within Organizations and “Psychological Safety”: Neutralizing Harmful Human Relationships

It is not uncommon for stress from the groups and organizations one belongs to to break through an individual’s barriers, not just individual efforts. Harmful individuals referred to as “bad apples” in organizational psychology significantly reduce the performance of the entire group and seriously impair the mental health of members.

The Bad Apple Experiment and Discovery of the “Neutralizer”

According to experiments conducted by Will Felps, when there is even one “aggressive person,” “slacker,” or “person who spreads negative emotions” in a team, that negative influence is contagious, and the productivity of the entire team decreases by about 40%. This “bad apple” has the power to rot those around them in the same way, but interestingly, there was one team that was not affected by that negative influence at all.

In that team, there was a member who behaved in a specific way that neutralized the attacks and negative attitudes of Nick (the harmful person). This behavior of the “neutralizer” is the true identity of the “dynamic barrier” that ordinary people should build within organizations.

Neutralization Techniques to Protect Psychological Safety

Neutralizers do not take the words and actions of harmful people as personal attacks, and maintain the “psychological safety” of the place by thoroughly practicing the following behaviors.

In this way, having supervisors and leaders convey clear expectations and ensure psychological safety is equivalent to casting a powerful barrier over the entire organization.

Mental Independence in Modern Society: Transcending Dependence and Consumption

In modern Japan, many people tend to seek evaluation on social media or depend on “spiritual services” to fill loneliness and approval needs. However, these sometimes function as “poison” that weakens the defensive abilities that should originally be built within oneself.

The Trap of Social Media and Approval Needs

The spread of social media has created an environment that demands constant feedback in the form of “likes” and follower counts from others. This is a “new form of approval need” and promotes a mental structure dependent on evaluation from others. A state dependent on evaluation from others is a state in which one’s barriers are constantly shaken by being elated or depressed by trivial external reactions, creating gaps that are easily exploited by mental “evil spirits.”

Spiritual Market and “Ultimate Consumerism”

In the “New Spirituality Movement” pointed out by Susumu Shimazono and others, there is “ultimate consumerism in the spiritual world” where people pay several thousand yen in the market to purchase “spiritual purification” and “energy.” Such consumption behavior may provide temporary reassurance, but it does not fundamentally enhance mental defense capabilities.

True “evil spirit exorcism” is a process of graduating from dependence on external transcendent powers and cultivating “spiritual culture (mental core)” inside oneself through one’s own consciousness transformation and disciplined daily life. This can be said to be the only way for non-psychics to truly become independent and protect themselves in modern society.