|
"The radiance of the Sun Goddess filled the universe and all deities rejoiced." Records of Japan
At the time when heaven and earth began seven generations of Shinto gods and the last couple, Izanagi and his sister/wife Izanami, became the
ancestors of all mortals and immortals. They created the magnificent islands of Japan. When Izanami was consumed by her son, the
god of fire, she was condemned to the Underworld. Seeking his beloved in the Land of Night, Izanagi ignored dire warnings and tried
in vain to save her. When he fled the horrors that befell him, he reached earth and bathed to purify himself. From his left eye Amaterasu was born. The rays of
the sun became her necklace of lights. By all gods it was decreed that Amaterasu be made Queen of the Solar Star on the High Plain of Heaven and Goddess of Agriculture and
Weaving. As the sun's powerful light rules the harvest of the earth, it also reveals the frailty of reality and the waking mind. Centuries after Amaterasu's birth,
legends were recorded in the 8th century sacred texts, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. She was known as the High Priestess of the Imperial family of Japan and is revered to this
day when devout Shintoists visit her ancient shrine at Ise on Honshu Island. In her temple’s inner sanctuary rests her sacred octagonal
mirror, the Shintai of her deity by which her spirit enters the ceremony. She is honored as the supreme Kami
of Shinto and eternally endeavors to be worthy of this great respect.
AMATERASU
Mother to the emperors
Regal in her clime
Across the naked horizon
She mounts the eastern sky
In her silk kimono
Raising mist off the morning sea
Gloriously gliding higher
Her long journey begins
Across all the lands of her realm
Her jeweled necklace of orbits
That circle the globe
Blushes in flares of gold and red
That surround the earth’s swirling sphere
Of sapphire and pearl colored clouds
Shadowing earth’s rotation
Her sword the axis
Her bright octagon mirror
A compass of directions
The center of a spinning wheel
Floating on the galactic sea
Cosmic dancer on tides of space
Her eclipsed light captured in stone
Pillars of ancient calendars
Inspiring myths embroidered
With tales of her subjects’ clashes
Loud sounds that shaped the winds
Her brother Susanoo’s thunder
And pelt of dead horses
Ruined her weavers’ chambers
With fear and disgust she hid
In a mountain cave
Robbing earth of seasons and life
When the moon ruled the black daylight
Casting demons on human souls
A bawdy stripper brought laughter
That stirred the Goddess from her cave
Seeing herself in her mirror
Stunned by her blazing beauty
She rose to her star zenith
Looking down over the centuries
Casting light on man’s corruption
She saw violent world wars
Fought on rough terrain burnt by bombs
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
In a virtual dream world
She was reborn as Okami
A white wolf warrior
With flames on her back
Then the islands drowned by ocean walls
Deluged a modern civilization
With waves of radiation
Still worshipped in her sacred shrine
Amaterasu
Mother to the first dawn
Mother to the Islands
Mother to the First and the Last
Regal in her clime
Across the naked horizon
She mounts the eastern sky
In her silk kimono
Raising mist off the morning sea
|
