Week 6 Reading Diary A

This week to read the Japanese mythology unit from the untextbook.

Izanagi and Izanami
*Read about their stories here: part 1 and part 2

Izanagi and Izanami

by Lady-Voldything on DeviantArt

• Izanagi = all-powerful god of air, god of the heavens, the creator
• Izanami = goddess of love and the clouds, who have birth to the world and it's deities
• Taka-ma-no-hara = the highest plain in heaven 
• Before the world was created, there was an empty void. From this void floated various flowers that grew into the sun and the moon. Then, more flowers fell and their petals became Izanagi and Izanami. From these two came all of Earth and it's creatures. 
• Then, one day, the two were standing on the bridge of heaven and decided to create their own kingdom. Izanagi plunged his spear into the swirling ocean and out sprung the island of Onogora. He stirred his sword in the water and out came the "earth-makers." Izanami and Izanagi lived on Onogora and through this the 8 islands of  Japan were born. 
• The gods of nature are then born. 
• Izanami and Izanagi have two children: Amaterasu, who goes on to become the sun goddess/ruler of heaven, and Susa-no-wo, who became the moon god and ruler of the seas/tides. 
• The moon grew to be hateful and jealous because Izanami loved her Earth children most of all. She asked Kami to minister to them, the river god to water their rice fields, the mountain god to bestow gold upon them, the god of trees to give then timber, and the goddess of abundance to  grow them an abundance of fruit. 
• The gods got super jealous and held a meeting to bring it to attention. Izanami dies and Izanagi goes to the underworld to rescue her. He finds her soul, writhing in pain and sorrow, but he cannot save her and in his grief, he leaves to carry out his days on Earth (the island of Ahaji) in constant sadness.

The Heaven-Descended
*Read it for yourself here: part 1 and part 2

• Amaterasu = sun goddess
• The council, consisting of 800 gods, is meeting- Amaterasu addresses the council and advocates for a god being sent to the Rice Plains to restore order and peace to the area rife with uprisings. So, Amewaka descends to govern however he is enchanted by Princess Shita-teru-hime when he gets to the Isle of the Dragonfly. He marries her and lives with her happily for 8 years without changing anything. Amaterasu gets impatient and worried so she sends her pheasant, Na-naki to go see what's up. Na-naki perches on a branch nearby and is spotted by Ama-no-sagu (the Heaven-Spying Woman) who promptly goes and tells Amewaka that an evil bird is perched outside- surely it can be NO GOOD.
• Amewaka, trying to be proactive, grabs his bow and shoots an arrow straight through Na-naki's heart. The arrow continued up to the heavens where it landed at Amaterasu's feet. She throws the arrow to Earth and says that if he shot it at a bad earth spirit, that the arrow should kill that spirit, but if he shot it at someone with evil in his heart, may the arrow strike him dead. 
• The arrow strikes Amewaka in the heart. The princess finds him dead and Amewaka's mom arranges for a funeral and a huge temple to be erected, where everyone mourned for 8 days.
• The sun goddess calls for her grandchild Ninigi (Prince Rice Plenty) to go take Amewaka's place. She gave him 3 divine gifts: "he Necklace of Jewels, which her father Izanagi had bestowed upon her at her birth; the Sacred Sword, which Susa-no-wo discovered within the tail of the eight-forked serpent; and the Miraculous Mirror whose lustre had lured her from the magic cave." She tells him to guard them well, especially the mirror. 
• As he is about to descend he gets word of a Giant God with rays of light shining from his eyes and mouth. Ninigi calls upon Uzume, the goddess of mirth, to handle the giant. 
• The giant =  Saruta-niko (Deity-of-the-Field-Paths) who says he wants to pay homage to the grandchild of Amaterasu- to attend him as a guide. Ninigi eagerly descends. The giant helps Ninigi so much that he gives the giant Uzume as his wife to say thank you. The two are wed and head off to live out their days together in the mountains. 

Konohanasakuya-hime

by Csyeung, found on DeviantArt

• Ninigi gets lonely and meets Ko-no-hana (Princess Tree-Blossom). He inquires about her hand in marriage to her dad and is awarded not only her, but her sister, Iha-naga-hime (Princess Long-as-the-Rocks), too! However, Ninigi had no interest in Iha-naga-hime and rejected her. She got mad and yelled that if he had chosen her, his children would have been immortal, but since he didn't, they will wither and die. This is why the lifespan of man is as short as it is. 
• Ninigi didn't care and him and his bride lived happily for many years. For whatever reason, Summer Wind took a liking to Princess Tree-Blossom, and even though she remained faithful and he wasn't actively pursuing her, Ninigi gets hella jealous (it drives him mad) and.. disowns his sons? The faithful wife demands a TRIAL BY FIRE! She summons the sun goddess, saying (essentially) "if my children are innocent, and truly Ninigi's paternal children, please do not let the fire harm them." With that, the boys ran into the fire. They emerged on the other side of the fire and jumped into Ninigi's arms. Ninigi drops to his knees and begs for forgiveness from his wife, saying, 

Like Mina’s stream that foaming falls

From white Tsukuba’s height,

My whelming love shall flow to thee

Strong as a torrent, pure and free,

Calm as a pool of night

**Side note: OMG I LOVE this love story. I think I will LIKELY use it for my storytelling this week