The Gods/Deities/Powers of Shintoism.
Shintoism has various religious deities which each have contrastive purposes and responsibilities. The deities are name Kami - the forces of all that occurs in the world, and often are animalistic in appearance. The Kami are believed to be the the source of all natural wonders, powerful objects, impressive monuments, and all forces of nature. The Kami are absolutely anything with whom possesses wonder. For example, Kami can be considered a majestic lake or a wonderous mountain field, as well as people of significance like past Emperors or selfless philanthropists.
It is the Kami, that Shinto followers pray and worship to. The Kami a member of the religion worships to is entirely an individual choice, and can be as many or as little as you want as each serve a different motive and function. There are Kami for substantial rice growing to good weather, for good luck to financial aid. "Some good, some evil. Some caring, some mischevious" (Video - 'Japan Culture: Shinto, A Brief Overview) However, there is one significant deity that encompasses all of the Kami and is considered the most influential Kami of all: The Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. Amaterasu is the guardian of all the people, and the ‘Mother’ of all creation. It is believed she invented the art of weaving, created rice fields, grew wheat and bred silk worms: all of which were cherished events in the primitive days of the religion. All deities and all emporers are beieved to have descended from her, and all follow under her wing. Amaterasu’s spirit resides in the Ise Shrine, on the Island of Honshu in Japan. It is rebilt every twenty one years in her memory, to preserve the beautiful architecture and maintain the good condition for the most powerful deity of all.
Amaterasu is the sister of Susanoo, the God of the storms and the sea, and Tsukuyomi, the God of the moon. All are the 'children' of the God Izanagi. They were born when Izanagi had failed to save Izanami from the underworld, and whilst performing the purification process, his left eye produced Amaterasu, from his right fell Tsukuyomi and Susanoo from washing his nose. At first, both Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi ruled the skies together, sharing both duties of day and night. However, There was much rivalry between the siblings, in which Tsukuyomi became jealous and ended up killing the Goddess of Food, by which Amaterasu was disgusted and decided to break away from her brother, making her the complete ruler of the Sun, and he was only ruler of the Moon. Amaterasu and her other brother, Susanoo, had been having a very long contention when Izanagi ordered his son to leave Heaven. Full of anger and bitterness, he vistied his sister to say good bye. Here he offered her a challenge: to take an item of his and produce deities from it, and likewise he will take one item of her and create gods from it too. Amaterasu accepted, and took his sword, in which three female deities were formed, and Susanoo took her necklace, where five male Gods appeared.
Through anger and disappointment that his item produced females and he did not own any male gods, he destroyed all her rice fields and killed many of her attendants. Upset and consumed in deep grief, Amaterasu locked herself in a cave for for and extensive amount of time, in which a period of darkness fell over the islands of Japan. Finally persuaded, she left and her brother, full of remorse, handed her his Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi sword as a symbol of his apologetic emotion. The supernatural powers of Shintoism, therefore, are simply the impressive natural powers of the world. All supernatural powers are constructed by and control by the Deities that are assigned to them. The worshipping of these Gods, and all other deity is known at Matsuri. Matsuri is a sacred and a very organised procedure, all of which are usually undertaken in shrines.
It is the Kami, that Shinto followers pray and worship to. The Kami a member of the religion worships to is entirely an individual choice, and can be as many or as little as you want as each serve a different motive and function. There are Kami for substantial rice growing to good weather, for good luck to financial aid. "Some good, some evil. Some caring, some mischevious" (Video - 'Japan Culture: Shinto, A Brief Overview) However, there is one significant deity that encompasses all of the Kami and is considered the most influential Kami of all: The Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. Amaterasu is the guardian of all the people, and the ‘Mother’ of all creation. It is believed she invented the art of weaving, created rice fields, grew wheat and bred silk worms: all of which were cherished events in the primitive days of the religion. All deities and all emporers are beieved to have descended from her, and all follow under her wing. Amaterasu’s spirit resides in the Ise Shrine, on the Island of Honshu in Japan. It is rebilt every twenty one years in her memory, to preserve the beautiful architecture and maintain the good condition for the most powerful deity of all.
Amaterasu is the sister of Susanoo, the God of the storms and the sea, and Tsukuyomi, the God of the moon. All are the 'children' of the God Izanagi. They were born when Izanagi had failed to save Izanami from the underworld, and whilst performing the purification process, his left eye produced Amaterasu, from his right fell Tsukuyomi and Susanoo from washing his nose. At first, both Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi ruled the skies together, sharing both duties of day and night. However, There was much rivalry between the siblings, in which Tsukuyomi became jealous and ended up killing the Goddess of Food, by which Amaterasu was disgusted and decided to break away from her brother, making her the complete ruler of the Sun, and he was only ruler of the Moon. Amaterasu and her other brother, Susanoo, had been having a very long contention when Izanagi ordered his son to leave Heaven. Full of anger and bitterness, he vistied his sister to say good bye. Here he offered her a challenge: to take an item of his and produce deities from it, and likewise he will take one item of her and create gods from it too. Amaterasu accepted, and took his sword, in which three female deities were formed, and Susanoo took her necklace, where five male Gods appeared.
Through anger and disappointment that his item produced females and he did not own any male gods, he destroyed all her rice fields and killed many of her attendants. Upset and consumed in deep grief, Amaterasu locked herself in a cave for for and extensive amount of time, in which a period of darkness fell over the islands of Japan. Finally persuaded, she left and her brother, full of remorse, handed her his Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi sword as a symbol of his apologetic emotion. The supernatural powers of Shintoism, therefore, are simply the impressive natural powers of the world. All supernatural powers are constructed by and control by the Deities that are assigned to them. The worshipping of these Gods, and all other deity is known at Matsuri. Matsuri is a sacred and a very organised procedure, all of which are usually undertaken in shrines.