Dakiniten had been seen as a kind of yaksha (Buddhist guardian deities sometimes depicted as demonic warriors) or rakshasa (type of evil spirit), and in the middle ages, it was thought to be identical to Reiko (a creature believed to live somewhere between the human and spiritual worlds).
荼枳尼天は人を食らう夜叉、または、羅刹の一種で、中世には霊孤と同一の存在とみなされた。