SENNIN

[Japanese] The immortal spirit of a saint living in the mountains in Japanese mythology. This saint, a hermit, who has acquired so much merit by his asceticism that he can perform miracles, such as speaking after death, flying on the back of a tortoise or on a cloud, or causing a gourd to give birth to a horse. Sennings may speak to mortals in dreams or appear in the shape of ordinary men. They are accompanied by their familiars: a toad, a horse, or a tortoise.