The article explains who Amaterasu Omikami is. In addition, you will learn which divine pantheon it belongs to and which imperial dynasty, according to legend, it gave rise to.
Religion
Faith in something supernatural and divine is probably inherent in a person at the genetic level. And this is a natural process, absolutely everyone is subject to it. Even the smallest wild tribes, which have practically no contact with the outside world, have their own superstitions, beliefs, some kind of religion or cult. Throughout history, people have worshiped a huge number of gods. It is probably fair to say that most of them have long been forgotten. But some are still remembered. And they are one of the original symbols of the country or locality. For example, the Scandinavian Odin or his son Thor. One goddess still revered today is Amaterasu Omikami.
Shinto
Amaterasu is one of the gods of the Japanese pantheon. In translation, her name means "great goddess, illuminating the heavens." According to Shinto beliefs, it was she who was the progenitor of the great imperial family of Japan, which has not been interrupted for many years.century. And the very first ruler of the famous dynasty named Jimmu was her great-grandson. So now we know what Amaterasu Omikami is. Or rather, who is she? In addition, she is revered as a goddess who told her people the secrets of the technology of growing rice and obtaining silk through a loom. In who it is, we figured it out. Now consider the legend, according to which, it appeared at all.
Origin
One of the Japanese legends tells how Amaterasu Omikami appeared. Before the moment when people arose in the world, there were many generations of gods. The last of them were a brother and sister named Izanagi and Izanami. They entered into a marriage union, created the Japanese islands, gave birth to many new goddesses and gods. But after the death of Izanami, her saddened husband tried to bring his wife back from the world of the dead. However, he did not succeed in this. He only defiled himself. Wanting to be cleansed, Izanagam went to one of the parts of Japan. And there, as he took off the details of the costume, new gods were born (according to one of the versions, he also separated body parts from himself). After all this, he decided to take a bath. And from the drops of water, the sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami appeared.
Quarrel
According to the beliefs, Amaterasu also had a brother. Having spawned them, Izanagi gave Amaterasu the sky, and her brother - the sea. But Susanoo did not want to take on the duties of a deity. He longed to retire to his mother's country. However, Izanagi was notagree with him. He banished Susanoo. Wanting to say goodbye to his sister, he visited her. But Amaterasu Omikami decided that her brother was going to take away her possessions. To confirm his peaceful intentions, he married his sister. Later they produced many beautiful children. Seeing their charm, Susanno decided that in this way he proved the purity of his thoughts. And he began to destroy irrigation canals and do other atrocities in the world of people. At first, the sister tried to reason with her brother, in every possible way justified him before other gods. But it only got worse. Then, saddened, she hid in one of the caves. And interrupted all contacts with both the world of people and the gods.
Return
To bring her back, the gods decided to use a trick. They placed a mirror and an empty cauldron in front of the entrance to the cave, on which Ame-no-uzume-no mikoto, the Japanese goddess of joy, songs and dances, began to dance. She exposed her body, and the gods laughed, much to Amaterasu's surprise. She decided to look out of her hiding place for a bit. Asking what was happening, she received the answer: the gods found an even more beautiful and majestic goddess than she. And they have fun just in honor of this.
Wishing to prove their words, they showed her a mirror that hung at the entrance to the cave. Even more surprised, Amaterasu began to walk out of the hideout. Then she was grabbed and finally pulled out by Ame-no tajikara-o-no (a strong god or a god who personifies strength). That is how she returned to the world. So now we know what Amaterasu Omikami is. Although we now know thatit is correct to say "who". And this is far from the most unusual Japanese legend. However, many people love the culture of this country precisely for its originality.