Reading Notes: Japanese Mythology, Part A
Bibliography
"Izanagi and Izanami" from Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E.W. Champney and F. Champney, Read it here
As part of my storybook research, I read into some stories about Izanagi and Izanami, but I was still a little confused at how the events in their story transpired and who all of the characters in Japanese mythology are, so for this week's reading assignment I decided to read more Japanese mythology.
This story of Izanami and Izanagi is the most detailed one I've read so far, so I think it was really helpful to get a basic understanding of their story before reading this more detailed one. Although I don't feel like an expert, I think I definitely have a better grasp on their mythology now.
The story begins with what I think is a summary of their story that was translated from a Japanese poem. It describes Izanami as the "beautiful Goddess of Love" and Izanagi as the "God of the Heavens", which is a really pretty detail that I hadn't come across before. As the summary says, Izanagi and Izanami were really the first generation of gods to come down to earth, and they created almost all of the other gods and goddesses in Japanese mythology.
According to the story, Izanami and Izanagi came into existence when two flowers bloomed creating the sun and the moon, and from these blooms a bunch of gods and goddesses were born including Izanami and Izanagi. This is why another name for Izanagi is the God of the Air, and another name for Izanami is the Goddess of the Cloud. They then descended to earth, which at the time was only a pool of chaotic nothing. Izanagi stuck his spear into the 'nothing goo', and then land was created! Then Izanami and Izanagi created all sorts of life, from animals to mankind. They then went about having children of gods and goddesses.
The story is a little more complex than that, however, as Izanami and Izanagi initially had trouble in their marriage and fertility. According to Japanese mythology, Izanagi was supposed to greet Izanami first since he was the male, but Izanami jumped the gun and greeted Izanagi. In some stories this causes several issues, but in this one they just walk away and redo their greeting and everything is peachy, which is kind of nice. They then hold hands and are married!
They then have many children, which are the islands of Japan, as well as surrounding islands and countries like Korea. Their children also become gods of features like mountains and rivers. They also had two children that become the rulers of earth, who are the goddess Amaterasu and the god Susa-no-wo-no-mikoto, or Susanoo for short.
That's where this story ends, but Izanami and Izanagi's story continues, in a rather tragic way. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of that part of the story though, so I'll keep my notes for this story based on the first half of the myth.
"Izanagi and Izanami" from Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E.W. Champney and F. Champney, Read it here
As part of my storybook research, I read into some stories about Izanagi and Izanami, but I was still a little confused at how the events in their story transpired and who all of the characters in Japanese mythology are, so for this week's reading assignment I decided to read more Japanese mythology.
This story of Izanami and Izanagi is the most detailed one I've read so far, so I think it was really helpful to get a basic understanding of their story before reading this more detailed one. Although I don't feel like an expert, I think I definitely have a better grasp on their mythology now.
The story begins with what I think is a summary of their story that was translated from a Japanese poem. It describes Izanami as the "beautiful Goddess of Love" and Izanagi as the "God of the Heavens", which is a really pretty detail that I hadn't come across before. As the summary says, Izanagi and Izanami were really the first generation of gods to come down to earth, and they created almost all of the other gods and goddesses in Japanese mythology.
According to the story, Izanami and Izanagi came into existence when two flowers bloomed creating the sun and the moon, and from these blooms a bunch of gods and goddesses were born including Izanami and Izanagi. This is why another name for Izanagi is the God of the Air, and another name for Izanami is the Goddess of the Cloud. They then descended to earth, which at the time was only a pool of chaotic nothing. Izanagi stuck his spear into the 'nothing goo', and then land was created! Then Izanami and Izanagi created all sorts of life, from animals to mankind. They then went about having children of gods and goddesses.
The story is a little more complex than that, however, as Izanami and Izanagi initially had trouble in their marriage and fertility. According to Japanese mythology, Izanagi was supposed to greet Izanami first since he was the male, but Izanami jumped the gun and greeted Izanagi. In some stories this causes several issues, but in this one they just walk away and redo their greeting and everything is peachy, which is kind of nice. They then hold hands and are married!
They then have many children, which are the islands of Japan, as well as surrounding islands and countries like Korea. Their children also become gods of features like mountains and rivers. They also had two children that become the rulers of earth, who are the goddess Amaterasu and the god Susa-no-wo-no-mikoto, or Susanoo for short.
That's where this story ends, but Izanami and Izanagi's story continues, in a rather tragic way. I feel like I have a pretty good grasp of that part of the story though, so I'll keep my notes for this story based on the first half of the myth.
Izanami is known as the Goddess of Love or the Goddess of Clouds.
(Image source: Pexels)
Comments
Post a Comment