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I am struggling to find a definition via my usual sources/google searches for the meaning of the term 氣現 in the following context:

創世の湧水に生まれし、蒼き神よ! 氣現にして穢れた大地を清めんとする、いと高き神よ! 今こそ、ワレの肉体を依代に、一族に救いを!

This is a prayer from a fish-man creature (Sahagin) who is summoning a giant fish god (Leviathan).

So far I think it's translated something like:

Oh blue god, born in the spring of the creation of the world! Oh utmost god, who will ??? and purify this corrupted earth! Now inhabit my flesh and save my tribe!

I can see that 氣 is a variant of 気 but am still struggling to find a definition online anywhere. Is it perhaps akin to coming back to life?

Many thanks in advance.

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    Is it にして or にて?
    – user1478
    May 29, 2017 at 1:55
  • @snailplane: You are correct.
    – user20624
    May 29, 2017 at 5:16

2 Answers 2

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氣現にして穢れた大地を清めんとする、いと高き神よ!

There must be a typo in 氣現にして.
In the around 127th lines here, you can find the correct expression for it.

氣現にて穢れた大地を清めんとする、いと高き神よ!

The meaning of the above sentece is:
Oh utmost god, who intends to purify this corrupted earth by means of the power of the embodiment of [氣]【Qi】!

According to wikipedia here, Qi is literally translates as "breath", "air", or "gas", and figuratively as "material energy", "life force", or "energy flow". Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese martial arts.

Here is a very interesting video of the power of 気{き}, 氣 is a variant of 気, where animals are controlled by it. A man with a mustache in this video is a Ph.D in Medicine and also a skilful master of 気功{きこう} or Qigong.

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  • Nice answer, I could not guess it must have been a typo. I guess my answer makes no sense now in view of this. Maybe you can expand the explanation of 氣+ 現 + にて under a more grammatical point of view?
    – Tommy
    May 29, 2017 at 6:15
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    Tommy: **にてin this context has only one interpretation as "by means of **", and the interpretation of 気+現 depends on my imagination and my basic knowledge.
    – user20624
    May 29, 2017 at 6:21
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    @Tommy (ご存じだと思いますが、)古語の「にて」は、現在の日本語の「で」になったやつです。現代語で言うと「穢れた大地を、氣現で(=を使って)清めようとする・・・」って感じです(だからこの「にて/で」は、具格(instrumental case)の意味だと思います)。 「氣+現」は"realising qi"とか?
    – chocolate
    May 29, 2017 at 7:52
  • @Chocolate and Mackygoo, thanks for your replies. Yes I know about 「にて」 I thought it could be nice to put this kind of explanation in the answer as well to make it clearer for the OP and other readers as well.
    – Tommy
    May 29, 2017 at 7:55
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My guess is that that word is specifically "made up" for the game and holds a specific meaning just inside the context of that story (meaning that you won't find 氣現 in a Japanese dictionary).

I found something that might be useful here. It seems it could be related to 氣現獣 that seems to be a sort of summoning art. Let me quote:

その名の通り、自然界に存在する「」の力を利用することで攻撃や治療を行う。 利用する「氣」は、水の氣、大地の氣、そして命の氣まで様々であり、 作中では巨大モンスターを投げ飛ばしたり爆発から身を守ったり、溺れたアイの命を救ったりした。 ただし、その力はまさに諸刃の剣で、氣の流れを読み違えると大変な結果を招いてしまう。 物語中盤でリサは自分の命の氣を削って巨大なエネルギー体を生み出した。 その姿はアイによって「氣現獣」と名付けられ、以降も何回か召喚している。

Maybe they are using the traditional character 氣{き} and 現{げん} together to convey the meaning of "materialization of ki" ? This is just a guess though.

So my idea is that 氣現にして could be referring to the Leviathan and be simply translated as something like "appear / come / materialize / become real".

So your translation would be

Oh blue god, born in the spring of the creation of the world! Oh utmost god, come and purify this corrupted earth! Now inhabit my flesh and save my tribe!

Now a couple of things: first, I'm not 100% sure as I don't know the game and I'm just guessing. Second, I realize that the English translation I gave is nowhere near as cool as the Japanese 氣現. :)

EDIT: I just realized that with my explanation I would not be sure how to account for the particle に (I missed it at first). What I said could make sense if it was 氣現して but I am not sure it still holds with に that makes it look like an adverb. I'll wait for some comments and eventually edit my answer or just remove it if it's too far off.

EDIT 2: Please disregard my answer and refer to Mackygoo's one. I won't delete mine as I think it was a good try and still adds some info.

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    Aに して B means "being A and B".
    – user4092
    May 29, 2017 at 3:44

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