Malicious Priest c. 1790

This woodblock print, made by Katsushika Hokusai, presents a scene laden with symbolic tension. A bound figure is flanked by tormentors, one holding a fan and what appears to be torture implements, and the other brandishing a broom. The broom, often associated with purification or removal, here takes on a sinister connotation. It is a tool of cleansing turned into an instrument of aggression. Consider how the act of purification, meant to rid one of impurities, becomes a means of inflicting pain and asserting dominance. This echoes in the cyclical nature of symbols—how they resurface through history, inverted or perverted to serve different agendas, tapping into our collective memory and subconscious fears, thereby becoming powerful agents of psychological manipulation.