Showing posts with label oyamazumi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oyamazumi. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2021
Konomine Shrine
Friday, September 13, 2013
Enya Shrine
The shrine is very old, being listed in the Izumo Fudoki of 720, as well as the Engishiki.
Labels:
aragami,
engi shiki,
inari,
Izumo,
Izumo Fudoki,
izumo33,
komainu,
kotoshironushi,
ojin,
oyamazumi,
Shrine,
tenjin,
yamuyahiko
Monday, February 21, 2011
Many hands, some feet: Kono Shrine
Labels:
ema,
okuninushi,
oshihomi,
oyamazumi,
Shrine,
Susano,
tottori,
uganomitama
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Tanzan Shrine
Probably the first thing you notice at Tanzan Shrine is the rather unusual 13-story pagoda. Pagodas are of course Buddhist, and this was a temple and monastery complex until the government made it a "shinto" shrine in early Meiji.
The pagoda was built on top of the bones of Kamatari Nakatomi by his son Joe Fujiwara and the temple was primarily a private family mausoleum until later when it came under the wing of the Tendai sect and expanded.
Nearby is where Kamatari met with Prince Nakano Oe (later Emperor Tenji) and plotted the assasination of Soga no Iruka.
The Soga were the most powerful clan and most probably ruled Japan at that time, the Imperial family being mere figureheads (like they were for most of history). After their fall the Fujiwara ( the new family name of the Nakatomi) in essence ruled Japan for the next 1,000 years or more.
The history of the ruling elites of Japan, like many other places, reads like a gangster novel, assasinations, plots, revenge, inter-gang warfare, etc. and in truth the distinction between gangster and ruler is a very fine one indeed.
Leading away from the main building a line of torii lead to 3 shrines to Inari. There are in fact and incredibly large number of Inaris, though there are collectively lumped together as one.
There are numerous other sub-shrines within the grounds, a Shinmei Shrine dedicated to Amaterasu, a Sugiyama Shrine dedicated to Isotakeru, the son of Susano that came with him from Korea, the local Mountain God, an Okami Shrine to Suijin the water god, and a branch of Hie Shrine enshrining Oyamazumi, probably dating from the time the Tendai sect took over the temple.
When I went to Tanzan many years ago it was hard to reach, even though it is close to Asuka, though now they have built a new road directly from Asuka that I believe is open.
Tanzan is very popular during the Fall when the leaves are changing.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Asuka Nimasu Shrine
Asuka Nimasu Shrine in Asuka, the ancient capital of early Japan is a very old shrine and is one of the possible sources of the name of Asuka.
The three main kami enshrined here are Kotoshironushi, Takamimusubi, and Kayanarumi.
Kotoshironushi is an Izumo kami, one of Okuninushi's sons, nowadays equated with Ebisu. Kayanarumi is a daughter of Kotoshironushi, and Takamimusubi is one of the three "creator" kami. In some versions of the Kuniyuzuri myth that explains the ceding of Japan from Okuninushi to the Yamato, it is Takamimusubi who orders the process and not Amaterasu, and in fact Ninigi who descends to rule over Japan is the grandson of both Amaterasu and Takamimusubi.
Kayanarumi is the most interesting of the three, and an alternate name for her is Asuka no Kannabi mi Hime no kami, and this relates to what happened after Kuniyuzuri. Okuninushi decided to place himself and several of his relatives in the Kannabi (sacred mountains) surrounding Yamato, and Kayanarumi was placed in a mountain in Asuka, so it seems likely that she was the original main kami of the shrine.
There are a lot of secondary shrines within the grounds, enshrining Onamuchi (the name of Okuninushi enshrined in nearby Miwa), Oyamazumi, an Asuka Yamaguchi Shrine, and Sarutahiko.
There is also an Inari Shrine, one for Konpira, one for Daijingu, and one for Shirahige, a Korean god brought over with immigrants who settled in the Lake Biwa area.
When we look at some of the things for sale in the small office of the shrine it becomes clear what the focus of the shrine is,..... fertility!
This is a male/female sake cup.
The shrine is home to a famous matsuri, the Onda matsuri, which includes a performance with masked dancers that includes explicit representations of the sex act.
Labels:
asuka,
inari,
kayanarumi,
konpira,
kotoshironushi,
kuniyuzuri,
nara,
okuninushi,
oyamazumi,
phallus,
sarutahiko,
shirahige,
Shrine,
takamimusubi
Friday, October 31, 2008
Suga Shrine, Matsubara, Hamada
Tucked away against the hill is the Suga Shrine in the little fishing village of Matsubara.
The shrine grounds were being used as a car park, and the place did not look like a very busy shrine.
It has a fairly large honden though, leading me to think it was a more important shrine in earlier days.
The Kami enshrined in Suga shrines are Susano and his wife Kushinada. Within the shrine grounds are smaller secondary shrines, Hachiman, Atago, and a Mishima shrine enshrining Oyamazumi.
The original Suga shrine is located in the mountains of Izumo, and is believed to be the site of the "palace" built by Susano after he slew the serpent Yamata no Orochi and married Kushinada. Susano then wrote a poem....
Many clouds rise up
clouds appear to form a fence
holding this couple;
They form layers of a fence
Oh, the layers of that fence.
This is considered to be the first example of a Tanka in Japanese history.
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