I’ve become interested (obsessed?) about the various trickster foxes in Asian folklore. If you are not familiar with Tricksters see: Trickster Spirits in Folklore.
Above is an AI Image I did at magicstudio.com. It can represent most of the Asian 9 Tails.
For my case of obsession, I’ve been trying to decide which Trickster I wanted to contact. I have two desired choices… there are many more.
Kumiho (Gumiho) is a Korean 9 tail. I first found him/her in a paranormal female book called “9 Tailed”, written by Jaci Lee who was nicknamed Gumiho as a youngster.
Kumiho’s early description was dark and dangerous. However, it has cleaned up with age and is a very popular myth in current Korean lore.
My other choice is Kitsune which is the Japanese version of the 9 tailed myth. There are also Chinese and Vietnamese versions (and probably more). Kitsune’s reputation is a bit more stellar than Gumiho’s. Kitsunes are considered friendlier (but still tricksters) and with more things to share. You can readily get Kitsune masks and costumes at Amazon and elsewhere.
There are lots of stories about either on the web. Here is one about kumiho.
Here is a long list of Kitsune (and other Asian fox) stories: Kitsune and More
In recent days I have dithered from selecting a Gumiko to a Kitsune and then back to a Gumiko. Maybe I want to live dangerously (a little bit). Maybe Gumiko…
In any case, I selected a Gumiko picture for my avatar here. Hopefully it won’t turn out as:
When I first encountered the names a couple of years ago, I thought they were just rare references to forgotten myths. Not so.
Kitsunes and Gumikos get a lot of air time. Once I started searching for information it came up frequently. There are movies, cartoons, and TV series about them both (albeit in Japanese and Korean but dubbed). Some of the Kdrama lists (which includes comedy) have links to all kinds of stuff, including YouTube shorts.
I have watched them my whole life. They make terrible pets (Google it… really terrible pets). I feel that is how it should be. We have a few near us but to see them, I have to get up very early (fat chance) or use a trail cam. They are not apex predators here (humans and coyotes are) so they are very shy. But when I see them, I am mesmerized. Like you, I feel a connection. When I discovered the 9 tail myths, I was hooked.
Here is one making sure the other animals in the woods leave his stuff alone. He is about 200 feet from our back door. Taken with a trail cam just at sunrise.
I finally found a spell to contact a Kitsune. Like all spells, I’ve found that intention is necessary to feel the spell working. If you decide this spell is important, construct it (modify it as needed for your comfort) and take the time to get comfortable and mean it.
I would make my own picture and then download the spell and put it in my digital BoS.
edit: I would also put the Inari kanji somewhere in the picture since nearly all complete references to the Japanese Kitsune say that the main deity is Inari and should be included when addressing the spirit.
