More correctly called Dakini-ten (茶吉尼天) [This name has numerous alternative spellings, mainly due to being only phonetic kanji, except for 'ten' which most likely refers to her status as a deva], originally, she was an ancient Indian divinity named ḍākinī, a yaksha deity who foretold death and ate the hearts and livers of the dead, but she was reformed by Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana) and became a god. She is depicted as a beautiful goddess riding a white fox and is thus identified with the god Inari.
Since great power and benefit could be obtained by worshipping this Dakiniten, the prayers and austerities for obtaining this power were treasured by many rulers as secret processes, and were forbidden to be used by others, thus being called "gehou". [lit. outside methods]
According to one theory, Fujiwara no Kamatari is said to have defeated Iruka no Soga due to the secret practices of Dakini-ten, and Taira no Kiyomori is also believed to have cultivated his faith in her to gain power, but he gave up the practice when he realized that those who used the gehou would have no descendants.
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