Since he was young, Atsutane HIRATA had been thinking that the Dark ('幽' hidden or mysterious things) and the Light ('顕' appeared or clear things) were the one and the same, and that this world was formed by the working of those opposing factors; Atsutane wanted to analyze the true nature of the world and tried to demonstrate his ideas in many works including 'Tama no Mihashira' (Concept of Afterlife), 'Koshi Seibun' (Early History), 'Senkyo Ibun' (Another Story of Unworldly Men's World) and 'Kokon Yomi-ko' (Studies on Mysterious Things of Ancient and Modern Japan).
篤胤は若い頃より、この世界が幽顕一如で構成されていると考え、その本質をなんとか解明する事が出来ないものかと常日頃から思案し「霊能真柱」「古史成文」「仙境異聞」「古今妖魅考」他数多の本の中に次々に書き表して証明しようとした。