Izanagi And Izanami In Shinto Beliefs And How They Created The World

A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - In Japanese mythology, the origin of the gods and the world dates back to the time when earth and heaven did not exist.

There was only a formless mass of swirling gases, of which some slowly began to rise up and form the heavens. The denser and darker material sank due to its weight and formed the earth. Then, three divinities created themselves and hid. After them, there were born two other divinities, and they too hid. It was when the earth – still very young – was moving like a jellyfish.

Izanagi and Izanami

In this way, seven more gods were born and the last two of them were Izanagi ('Male-who-invites') and Izanami ('Female-who-invites').

This divine pair (brother and sister) are the central deities and creator gods in the early Shinto beliefs. They were born after heaven and earth separated out of the endless chaos. They were also commanded by the heavenly divinities “to complete and solidify the still drifting land".

While standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, the siblings looked down into the abyss and wondered if there was anything in the waters of the primeval ocean beneath them. Then, Izanagi plunged his heavenly jeweled spear in the ocean and lifted it. The drop that fell, formed the first landmass. It was an island - Onogoro. The siblings descended on this island and got married there.

Then, the couple began to procreate the world. First, Izanami released two creations, Hiruko ("floating in the mourning") and Ahashima ("the island of foam"), but these two did not meet parents' expectations and were rejected for lack of solid consistency.

They learned the art of love-making by watching a pair of wagtails, and these water birds are still associated with the couple. The divine marriage (Izanagi and Izanami) slowly filled the world with mountains, rivers, forests, waterfalls, trees, herbs, and the wind.

Izanami gave birth successively to new deities, but the last one gave the divine pair many troubles. Izanami gave birth to the fire god and became very ill and soon died.

Izanagi's Descent Into Hell And His Terrible Experience

Izanagi was heartbroken when his wife died and left for Yomi, the Land of Gloom, as the underworld is known ancient Japanese beliefs.

He followed her to Yomi and met her there. She agreed to return with him to the world of the living, on the condition that he would wait for her without entering the Land of the Dead. Izanagi did not keep his promise and followed his lovely wife. He found Izanami's body decomposing and full of worms and watched over by eight gods of thunder. Horrified Izanagi, managed to flee back to the world, but this terrible contact with the world of the dead, made him feel very dirty.

He had to undergo ritual purification and when he washed his left eye, he gave birth to the great goddess Amaterasu, goddess of the Sun; he then washed his right eye and brought into the world the god of the Moon, Tsukiyomi. Then, he washed his nose and gave birth to the god Susanoo, the third of his noble children. (In one version, all three deities were created from Izanagi's eyes.)

He appointed Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun and the ruler on the High Plain of Heaven. Her brother, Susanoo became the ocean ruler and the god of storms while her second brother, Tsukuyomi was appointed the god of the moon.

Izanagi And Izanami In Shinto Beliefs And How They Created The World

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In this story, through their divine marriage and offspring, Izanagi and Izanami established the pattern of nature for all time; however, through their divorce, they created mortal life and death.

Both the Land of the Living and the Land of the Dead have their prohibitions. Izanagi broke some of these prohibitions. In the underworld, Yomi, (or the Land of Gloom), there was no prohibition to look at Izanami and in fact, her husband met her there, but he was not allowed to enter the “Palace” or the “House”, where the process of transition was taking place.

When Izanami was trying to come to life (or rejuvenate) in the “palace”, Izanagi broke the taboo and entered the place, he saw terrible things taking place; he saw her wife’s body decomposing. He broke the laws of the underworld because he interrupted the processes involved in the transition between worlds of the dead and living. According to the Japanese ancient beliefs, the rejuvenation process should not to be disturbed and observed by outsiders.

The dead should not be observed during the process of transition.

Written by – A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com Senior Staff Writer

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