Raijin
Raijin known as Yakusa no ikazuchi no kami, Kaminari-sama, Raiden-sama, is a god of lightning and storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. The name'Raijin' is derived from kami. Raijin is depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions, standing atop a cloud, is shown beating on drums; the drums are shown to have the symbol tomoe drawn on them. Raijin is depicted as a protector and/or warrior figure within Japanese temples and shrines. Raijin is depicted with a fierce, frightening face and a muscular figure with gravity-defying hair, he is surrounded by Taiko drums. Raijin holds large hammers in his hands. In some cases, Raijin is portrayed with three fingers which are said to represent the past and future. Two of the most notable sculptures of Raijin are located in the Sanjusangendo temple and the Taiyuin Rinnoji temple. Raijin and Fujin reside side by side in the Kaminarimon gate that guards the entrance to the Sanjusangendo temple; these sculptures are made of wood with gold leaf and paint along with crystal, inlaid eyes.
The Raijin and Fujin sculptures in Sanjusangendo are considered national treasures. In the Taiyuin Rinnoji temple and Fujin are located in the Niten-mon gate, they are made of wood with paint and are seen with their token talismans, Raijin's drums and Fujin's wind bag. Raijin was born from Izanami after Japan was first created. Raijin came from Izanami's corpse when she was in the land of darkness. Izanami sent Raijin and several female demons to chase after Izanagi, after he fled the image of her rotting form, to bring him back to Yomi. Raijin has many siblings, most notably, Kagutsuchi and Amaterasu. Raijin is often seen in the company of his brother and his son, Raitaro, he is seen fighting with Fujin, mending his drums, or causing mischief. He is shown in the company of Raiju, a thunder-beast or thunder demon. Prayers to Raijin were based upon agriculture as it was believed that rice, struck by lightning would produce the best harvest. In one legend, Raijin is shown to defend Japan against the invading Mongols.
In this legend, the Mongols are driven off by a vicious storm in which Raijin is in the clouds throwing lightning and arrows at the invaders. Another legend depicts how a man named Sugaru was ordered to catch the Thunder God Raijin and deliver him to the Emperor in order to stop a storm. Sugaru commands Raijin to cease the storm to no avail. Sugaru prayed to Kannon who delivered Raijin to him. Sugaru tied him up in a sack and took him to the Emperor; some Japanese parents tell their children to hide their belly buttons during thunderstorms so that Raijin doesn't take them away and eat them. Raijin appears in the kabuki play Narukami, in which he is imprisoned under a pool of water, thus causing a drought. Leigong, god of thunder Leizi, goddess of lightning Parjanya, god of rain and lightning Sanjūsangendō Izanagi, part of divine pair of creation deities Izanami, part of divine pair of creation deities Fujin, god of wind Netsuke: masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains many representations of Raijin
Amaterasu
Amaterasu, Amaterasu-ōmikami, or Ōhirume-no-muchi-no-kami is a deity of the Japanese myth cycle and a major deity of the Shinto religion. She is seen as the goddess of the universe; the name Amaterasu is derived from Amateru and means "shining in heaven". The meaning of her whole name, Amaterasu-ōmikami, is "the great august kami who shines in the heaven". According to the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in Japanese mythology, the Emperors of Japan are considered to be direct descendants of Amaterasu. Records of the worship of Amaterasu are found from the c. 712 CE Kojiki and c. 720 CE Nihon Shoki, the oldest records of Japanese history. In Japanese mythology, the goddess of the sun, is the sister of Susanoo, the god of storms and the sea, of Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon, it was written that Amaterasu had painted the landscape with her siblings while she created ancient Japan. Amaterasu was said to have been created by the divine couple Izanagi and Izanami, who were themselves created by, or grew from, the originator of the Universe, Amenominakanushi.
All three deities were born from Izanagi when he was purifying himself upon entering Yomi, the underworld, after breaking the promise not to see dead Izanami and he was chased by her and Yakusan-no-ikaduchigami, surrounding rotten Izanami. Amaterasu was born when Izanagi washed out his left eye, Tsukuyomi was born from the washing of the right eye, Susanoo from the washing of the nose. Amaterasu became the ruler of the sun and the heavens along with her brother, Tsukuyomi as the ruler of the night, Susanoo as the ruler of the seas. Amaterasu shared the sky with Tsukuyomi, her husband and brother until, out of disgust, he killed the goddess of food, Uke Mochi, when she pulled "food from her rectum and mouth"; this killing upset Amaterasu causing her to split away from him. The texts tell of a long-standing rivalry between Amaterasu and her other brother, Susanoo. Susanoo is said to have insulted claiming she had no power over the higher realm; when Izanagi ordered him to leave Heaven, he went to bid his sister goodbye.
Amaterasu was suspicious, but when Susanoo proposed a challenge to prove his sincerity, she accepted. Each of them took an object belonging from it, birthed deities. Amaterasu birthed three women from Susanoo's sword. Claiming the gods were hers because they were born of her necklace, the goddesses were his, she decided that she had won the challenge, as his item produced women. After Susanoo's defeat he went on a rampage destroying much of the heavenly and earthly realm, Amaterasu's rice fields, hurled a flayed pony at her loom, killing one of her attendants in a fit of rage. Amaterasu, in fury and grief, hid inside the Ama-no-Iwato, plunging the earth into darkness and chaos, she was persuaded to leave the cave. Omoikane threw a party outside of the Ama-no-Iwato to lure Amaterasu out but it was not until the Goddess Ame-no-Uzume danced promiscuously outside of the cave that Amaterasu came out. Susanoo was punished by being banished from heaven. Both amended their conflict when Susanoo gave her the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi sword as a reconciliation gift.
According to legend, responsible from keeping balance and harmony within the earthly realm, bequeathed to her descendant Ninigi: the mirror, Yata no Kagami. Collectively, the sacred mirror and sword became the three Imperial Regalia of Japan; the Ise Shrine located in Ise, Mie Prefecture, houses the inner shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu. Her sacred mirror, Yata no Kagami, is said to be kept at this shrine as one of the imperial regalia objects. A ceremony known as Shikinen Sengu is held every twenty years at this shrine to honor the many deities enshrined, formed by 125 shrines altogether. At that time, new shrine buildings are built at a location adjacent to the site first. After the transfer of the object of worship, new clothing and treasure and offering food to the goddess the old buildings are taken apart; the building materials taken apart are given to buildings to renovate. This practice is a part of the Shinto faith and has been practiced since the year 690, but is not only for Amaterasu but for many other deities enshrined in Ise Shrine.
The Amanoiwato Shrine in Takachiho, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan is dedicated to Amaterasu and sits above the gorge containing Ama-no-Iwato. The worship of Amaterasu to the exclusion of other kami has been described as "the cult of the sun"; this phrase may refer to the early pre-archipelagoan worship of the sun. Himiko Shinto in popular culture Sól Surya Vairocana Zalmoxis Ōkami Amaterasu, fictional character from video game Ōkami
Shinto
Shinto or kami-no-michi is the traditional religion of Japan that focuses on ritual practices to be carried out diligently to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written historical records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified religion, but rather to a collection of native beliefs and mythology. Shinto today is the religion of public shrines devoted to the worship of a multitude of "spirits", "essences" or "gods", suited to various purposes such as war memorials and harvest festivals, applies as well to various sectarian organizations. Practitioners express their diverse beliefs through a standard language and practice, adopting a similar style in dress and ritual, dating from around the time of the Nara and Heian periods; the word Shinto was adopted as Jindō or Shindō, from the written Chinese Shendao, combining two kanji: shin, meaning "spirit" or kami.
The oldest recorded usage of the word Shindo is from the second half of the 6th century. Kami is rendered in English as "spirits", "essences", or "gods", refers to the energy generating the phenomena. Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the singular divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms: rocks, rivers, objects and people can be said to possess the nature of kami. Kami and people are not separate; as much as nearly 80% of the population in Japan participates in Shinto practices or rituals, but only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists" in surveys. This is. Most of the Japanese attend Shinto shrines and beseech kami without belonging to an institutional Shinto religion. There are no formal rituals to become a practitioner of "folk Shinto". Thus, "Shinto membership" is estimated counting only those who do join organised Shinto sects. Shinto has about 85,000 priests in the country. According to surveys carried out in 2006 and 2008, less than 40% of the population of Japan identifies with an organised religion: around 35% are Buddhists, 3% to 4% are members of Shinto sects and derived religions.
In 2008, 26% of the participants reported visiting Shinto shrines, while only 16.2% expressed belief in the existence of a god or gods in general. According to Inoue: "In modern scholarship, the term is used with reference to kami worship and related theologies and practices. In these contexts,'Shinto' takes on the meaning of'Japan's traditional religion', as opposed to foreign religions such as Christianity, Islam and so forth." Shinto religious expressions have been distinguished by scholars into a series of categories: Shrine Shinto, the main tradition of Shinto, has always been a part of Japan's history. It consists of taking part in worship events at local shrines. Before the Meiji Restoration, shrines were disorganized institutions attached to Buddhist temples; the current successor to the imperial organization system, the Association of Shinto Shrines, oversees about 80,000 shrines nationwide. Imperial Household Shinto are the religious rites performed by the imperial family at the three shrines on the imperial grounds, including the Ancestral Spirits Sanctuary and the Sanctuary of the Kami.
Folk Shinto includes the numerous folk beliefs in spirits. Practices include divination, spirit possession, shamanic healing; some of their practices come from Buddhism, Taoism or Confucianism, but most come from ancient local traditions. Sect Shinto is a legal designation created in the 1890s to separate government-owned shrines from local organised religious communities; these communities originated in the Edo period. The basic difference between Shrine Shinto and Sect Shinto is that sects are a development and grew self-consciously, they can identify a founder, a formal set of teachings and sacred scriptures. Sect Shinto groups are thirteen, classified under five headings: pure Shinto sects, Confucian sects,mountain worship sects, purification sects, faith-healing sects (Kurozumikyo／黒住教, Konkokyo/金光教 and its branching Omotokyo/大本教 and Tenrikyo／天理教. Koshintō, literally'Old Shinto', is a reconstructed "Shinto from before the time of Buddhism", today based on Ainu religion and Ryukyuan practices.
It continues the restoration movement begun by Hirata Atsutane. Many other sects and schools can be distinguished. Faction Shinto is a grouping of Japanese new religions developed since the second half of the 20th century that have departed from traditional Shinto and are not always regarded as part of it. Kami, shin, or, jin is defined in English as "god", "spirit", or "spiritual essence", all these terms meaning "the energy generating a thing". Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms. Rocks, rivers, objects, places
Eurydice
In Greek mythology, Eurydice was an oak nymph and one of the daughters of Apollo. She was the wife of Orpheus. Eurydice was the wife of Orpheus. One day, Aristaeus saw and pursued Eurydice, who stepped on a viper, was bitten, died instantly. Distraught, Orpheus played and sang so mournfully that all the nymphs and deities wept and told him to travel to the Underworld to retrieve her, which he gladly did. After his music softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, his singing so sweet that the Erinyes wept, he was allowed to take her back to the world of the living. In another version, Orpheus played his lyre to put Cerberus, the guardian of Hades, to sleep, after which Eurydice was allowed to return with Orpheus to the world of the living. Either way, the condition was attached that he must walk in front of her and not look back until both had reached the upper world. Soon he began suspecting that Hades had deceived him. Just as he reached the portals of Hades and daylight, he turned around to gaze on her face, because Eurydice had not yet crossed the threshold, she vanished back into the Underworld.
When Orpheus was killed by the Maenads at the orders of Dionysus, his soul ended up in the Underworld where he was reunited with Eurydice. The story in this form belongs to the time of Virgil, who first introduces the name of Aristaeus and the tragic outcome. Other ancient without however, speak of Orpheus's visit to the underworld in a more negative light. Ovid says that Eurydice's death was not caused by fleeing from Aristaeus, but by dancing with naiads on her wedding day. In fact, Plato's representation of Orpheus is that of a coward. Since his love was not "true"—meaning he was not willing to die for it—he was punished by the deities, first by giving him only the apparition of his former wife in the underworld and by being killed by women; the story of Eurydice may be a late addition to the Orpheus myths. In particular, the name Eurudike recalls cult-titles attached to Persephone; the myth may have been derived from another Orpheus legend in which he travels to Tartarus and charms the goddess Hecate.
The story of Eurydice has a number of strong universal cultural parallels, from the Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami, the Mayan myth of Itzamna and Ixchel, the Indian myth of Savitri and Satyavan, to the Akkadian/Sumerian myth of Inanna's descent to the underworld. From the Bible, the story of Lot and his wife is "often compared to the story of Orpheus and his wife Eurydike." The story of Orpheus and Eurydice has been depicted in a number of works by artists, including Titian, Peter Paul Rubens, Nicolas Poussin and Bracha Ettinger whose series, was exhibited in the Pompidou Centre,. The story has inspired ample writings in the fields of ethics, aesthetics and feminist theory. In addition, the myth has been retold in operas by Jacopo Peri, Gluck, Yevstigney Fomin, Harrison Birtwistle; the myth is the basis of Anais Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown. The story of Orpheus and Eurydice features prominently in the 1967 album Reflections by Manos Hadjidakis, the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album The Lyre of Orpheus.
Additionally, the story of Orpheus and Eurydice is the basis of a play by Sarah Ruhl. It inspired the 1959 film Black Orpheus by Marcel Camus; the myth inspired the American playwright Tennessee Williams' 1957 drama Orpheus Descending. Other uses include: Valsa de Euridice, a song by Vinicius de Moraes Euridice, an opera by Jacopo Peri, the first genuine opera whose music survives to this day Orphée, directed by Jean Cocteau Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck Eurydice, a play by Sarah Ruhl Orfeu Negro, a 1959 adaptation of the classic myth, filmed in Brazil L'Orfeo, by Claudio Monteverdi regarded as the first operatic masterwork Myth or Madness from the eponymous album, Passerine, a Sarasota-based folk group The Lyre of Orpheus, an album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Orpheus, a song by Manos Hadjidakis and The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble Eurydice, a section of Écho d'Orphée, Pour Pierre Schaeffer composed by Pierre Henry. Eurydice, a 1941 play by Jean Anouilh From the Underworld, a song by British psychedelic band The Herd.
Euridice, a song from the 1971 album Focus II by Focus Evrydiki BA 2O37, 1975 film directed by Nikos Nikolaidis. Eurydice, a song from the album Echoes and Artifacts by The Crüxshadows Eurydice, a song from the album The Dawnseeker by Sleepthief The Eurydice Project, written by D. J. Whistler Hadestown, a 2010 ensemble album by Anais Mitchell, featuring Mitchell as Eurydice, Justin Vernon as Orpheus and Ani DiFranco among others, retelling the myth as a'folk opera' in a post-apocalyptic Depression era America. A Broadway musical of the same name opening in 2019. Eurydice by Wayne Shorter and recorded by Weather Report on their 1971 album, Weather Report. Orpheus and Eurydice: A Myth Underground, theatre production written by Molly Davies with music by James Johnston, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for the National Yo
Susanoo-no-Mikoto
Susanoo known as Takehaya Susanoo no Mikoto and Kumano Ketsumiko no Kami at Kumano shrine, is the Shinto god of the sea and storms. He is considered to be ruler of Neno-Katasu-Kuni, he is married to Kushinadahime. In Japanese mythology, the powerful storm god, is the brother of Amaterasu, the goddess of the Sun, of Tsukuyomi, the god of the Moon. All three were born from Izanagi, when he washed his face clean of the pollutants of Yomi, the underworld. Amaterasu was born when Izanagi washed out his left eye, Tsukuyomi was born from the washing of the right eye, Susanoo from the washing of the nose. Susanoo used Totsuka-no-Tsurugi as his weapon; the oldest sources for Susanoo myths are ca. 720 CE Nihon Shoki. They tell of a long-standing rivalry between his sister; when he was to leave Heaven by orders of Izanagi, he went to bid his sister goodbye. Amaterasu was suspicious, but when Susanoo proposed a challenge to prove his sincerity, she accepted; each of them took an object of the other from it birthed gods and goddesses.
Amaterasu birthed three women from Susanoo's Totsuka-no-Tsurugi while he birthed five men from her necklace. Claiming the gods were hers because they were born of her necklace, the goddesses were his, she decided that she had won the challenge, as his item produced women; the two were content for a time. In a fit of rage, he destroyed his sister's rice fields, hurled a flayed pony at her loom, killed one of her attendants. Amaterasu, in fury and grief, hid inside the Ama-no-Iwato, thus hiding the sun for a long period of time. Though she was persuaded to leave the cave, Susano-o was punished by being banished from Heaven, he descended to the province of Izumo, where he met an elderly couple who told him that seven of their eight daughters had been devoured by the eight-headed dragon Yamata no Orochi and it was nearing time for their eighth, Kushinada-hime. The Nihon Shoki, here translated by William George Aston in Nihongi, gives the most detailed account of Susanoo and Amaterasu slaying Yamata no Orochi.
Compare to that found in the Kojiki, translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain in The Kojiki, where Susanoo is translated as "His-Swift-Impetuous-Male-Augustness": Then Susanoo no Mikoto descended from Heaven and proceeded to the head-waters of the River Hi, in the province of Idzumo. At this time he heard a sound of weeping at the head-waters of the river, he went in search of the sound, he found there an old woman. Between them was set a young girl, whom they were caressing and lamenting over. Susanoo no Mikoto asked them, saying:-"Who are ye, why do ye lament thus?" The answer was:-"I am an Earthly Deity, my name is Ashi-nadzuchi. My wife's name is Te-nadzuchi; this girl is our daughter, her name is Kushi-nada-hime. The reason of our weeping is that we had eight children, daughters, but they have been devoured year after year by an eight-forked serpent and now the time approaches for this girl to be devoured. There is no means of escape for her, therefore do we grieve.” Sosa no wo no Mikoto said: "If, so, wilt thou give me thy daughter?"
He replied, said: "I will comply with thy behest and give her to thee." Therefore Sosa no wo no Mikoto on the spot changed Kushi-nada-hime into a many-toothed close-comb which he stuck in the august knot of his hair. He made Ashi-nadzuchi and Te-nadzuchi to brew eight-fold sake, to make eight cupboards, in each of them to set a tub filled with sake, so to await its coming; when the time came, the serpent appeared. It had an eight-forked tail; as it crawled it extended over a space of eight valleys. Now when it came and found the sake, each head drank up one tub, it became drunken and fell asleep. Susanoo no Mikoto drew the ten-span sword which he wore, chopped the serpent into small pieces; when he came to the tail, the edge of his sword was notched, he therefore split open the tail and examined it. In the inside there was a sword; this is the sword, called Kusa-nagi no tsurugi. This sword from the dragon's tail, the Ama-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi or the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, was presented by Susanoo to Amaterasu as a reconciliation gift.
According to legends, she bequeathed it to her descendant Ninigi along with the Yata no Kagami mirror and Yasakani no Magatama jewel or orb. This sacred sword and jewel collectively became the three Imperial Regalia of Japan. While Amaterasu is enshrined at the Honden of the Ise Grand Shrine, Susanoo is enshrined at Kumano Taisha located in Shimane, where he descended when banished from heaven; the iwami kagura - Orochi The jōruri - Nihon Furisode Hajime by Chikamatsu Monzaemon Aston, William George, tr. 1896. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A. D. 697. 2 vols. Kegan Paul. 1972 Tuttle reprint. Chamberlain, Basil H. tr. 1919. The Kojiki, Records of Ancient Matters. 1981 Tuttle reprint. Susanoo, Encyclopedia of Shinto Susano-O no Mikoto, Kimberley Winkelmann, in the Internet Archive as of 5 December 2008 Shinto Creation Stories: Sosa no wo in Izumo, Richard Hooker, in the Internet Archive as of 28 August 2006 Susanoo vs Yamata no Orochi animated depiction
Kobayashi Eitaku
Kobayashi Eitaku was a Japanese artist and illustrator specializing in ukiyo-e and nihonga. Eitaku apprenticed under the Kanō school painter Kanō Eishin. Legend states he aspired to paint for Ii clan in Hikone, another that Kanō Eishū took him on as an adopted son. After he left the Kanō school to produce ukiyo-e, it is said that the ukiyo-e painter Kawanabe Kyōsai took care of him. Eitaku's work long suffered the same low critical esteem in Japan as that of his contemporary, late-era ukiyo-e artists, it was valued more in the West—his painting Sugawara Michizane Praying on Tenpai-zan won a place in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Media related to Kobayashi Eitaku at Wikimedia Commons Eitaku prints at ukiyo-e.org Lambiek Comiclopedia page
Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto
Tsukuyomi-no-mikoto or Tsukuyomi, is the moon god in Shinto and Japanese mythology. The -no-mikoto ending is a common honorific suffix for the names of gods, of similar meaning to "the grand, the great, the exalted"; the name "Tsukuyomi" is a compound of yomi. The Nihon Shoki mentions this name spelled as Tsukuyumi, but this yumi is a variation in pronunciation of yomi. An alternate interpretation is that his name is a combination of mi. "Yomi" may refer to the Japanese underworld, though this interpretation is unlikely. Unlike the myths of ancient Greece or Rome, the Japanese moon deity is male; this is clear in the earliest mentions in sources such as the Kojiki and the Man'yōshū, where Tsukuyomi's name is sometimes rendered as Tsukuyomi Otoko or as Tsukihito Otoko. Tsukuyomi was the second of the "three noble children" born when Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the god who created the first land of Onogoro-shima, was cleansing himself of his sins while bathing after escaping the underworld and the clutches of his enraged dead wife, Izanami-no-Mikoto.
Tsukuyomi was born. However, in an alternate story, Tsukuyomi was born from a mirror made of white copper in Izanagi's right hand. After climbing a celestial ladder, Tsukuyomi lived in the heavens known as Takamagahara, with his sister Amaterasu Ōmikami, the sun goddess, who later became his wife. Tsukuyomi angered Amaterasu when he killed the goddess of food. Amaterasu once sent Tsukuyomi to represent her at a feast presented by Uke Mochi; the goddess created the food by turning to the ocean and spitting out a fish facing a forest and spitting out game, turning to a rice paddy and coughing up a bowl of rice. Tsukuyomi was utterly disgusted by the fact that, although it looked exquisite, the meal was made in a disgusting manner, so he killed her. Soon, Amaterasu learned what happened and she was so angry that she refused to look at Tsukuyomi again, forever moving to another part of the sky; this is the reason that night are never together. In versions of this story, Uke Mochi is killed by Susanoo instead.
Media related to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto at Wikimedia Commons
""2.1 The Land of Hades".
