AJI-SUKI-TAKA-HI-KONE
One of several thunder gods. Born noisy, he grew up even noisier,
and so they carry him up and down a ladder to quiet him. That
is why you can hear him receding and approaching.
AMA-NO-UZUME Fertility
goddess. A companion of Ninigi, she performed a bawdy dance hoping
to entice the sun out of hiding. This dance symbolizes the planting
of seed which waits for the sun come after winter.
AMATERASU Sun goddess,
ruler of the heavens. When her great enemy, the storm god Susa-No-Wo,
destroyed her fine palace, Amaterasu went to hide in a cave. The
other gods used all their magical tricks to get her to come out,
to no avail. In her absence, darkness and demons ruled the earth
until Ama-No-Usume lured Amaterasu out of the cave with a trick.
With a comical and obscene dance, he made the gods gathered at
the mouth of the cave laugh. When Amaterasu asked what was going
on, Ama-No-Uzume replied that they had found another and better
sun goddess. Amaterasu peeped out of her cave and saw her own
reflection in a mirror which Ama-No-Uzume had hung on a nearby
tree. Fascinated, Ameratasu drew a little closer for a better
look, and the gods grabbed her and hauled her out.
AMATSU MIKABOSHI "August
Star of Heaven." God of evil.
BENZAITEN Goddess of love,
one of the gods of happiness. Benzaiten rides a dragon while playing
a stringed instrument.
BISHAMON God of happiness
and war, a strange combination. Bishamon protects men from disease
and demons. Bishamon was often portrayed wearing a wheel of fire
like a halo, which some see as the Wheel of Fate.
CHIMATA-NO-KAMI God of
crossroads, highways and footpaths. Originally a phallic god,
his phallic symbol was placed at crossroads.
HO-MASUBI Fire god. His
birth killed the creator goddess Izanami, and his father, the
creator god Izanagi, was so enraged with grief that he killed
the baby. From his blood came eight gods, and from the body came
eight mountain gods.
IZANAGI and IZANAMI Creator
god and goddess sent down from heaven to build the earth. The
other gods and goddesses are their descendants, but when the god
of fire was born he burned his mother to death. Descending to
the underworld, Izanami became old and ugly. Izanagi followed
her to bring her back, but she forbade him to look at her. Izanagi
looked anyway and Izanami tried to imprison him in the underworld.
Pursued by Izanimi's furies, Izanagi escaped and sealed up the
entrance to the underworld with a boulder. Enraged, Izanami vowed
to kill a thousand of Izanami's subjects a day, and Izanami vowed
to create fifteen hundred a day. So it was that Izanami became
the goddess of death and Izanagi became the lord of life.
KAWA-NO-KAMI God of rivers.
Larger rivers have their own gods, but all waterways are under
Kawa-No-Kami's authority. When rivers flooded, the gods were sometimes
appeased with human sacrifices.
NAI-NO-KAMI God of earthquakes.
A late addition to the Japanese pantheon, Nai-No-Kami was inducted
in the seventh century C.E.
NINIGI Grandson of Amaterasu,
sent to rule the earth, the ancestor of all the Japanese emperors.
O-KUNI-NUSHI God of sorcery
and medicine. Originally the ruler of the province of Izumo, he
was replaced by Ninigi, but in compensation he was made ruler
of the unseen world of spirits and magic.
SENGEN-SAMA Goddess of
the sacred mountain of Fujiyama. At her shrine at the top of the
mountain, worshipers greet the rising sun.
SHINE-TSU-HIKO God of
the wind. Shine-Tsu-Hiko fills up the empty space between earth
and heaven, and with his wife Shina-To-Be, he holds up the earth.
SUSA-NO-WO God of storms,
snakes and farming. Amaterasu's brother and greatest enemy. From
the moment he was born, he was a troublemaker. After Amaterasu
was finally taken out of her cave, Susa-No-Wo was punished. The
other gods shaved his beard and moustache, pulled out his fingernails,
and banished him to live as a mortal on the earth.
The preceding information was compiled and is copyrighted
1994 by D.W. Owens. Distribution is allowed if credit is given.
Likewise, all validity, spelling, and authenticity of information
rests on the author's shoulders and not ours. Enjoy!
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