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Then two other gods arose:
* and
*
These gods also emerged spontaneously, did not have a defined sex, did not have a partner, and hid at birth.
Then, five pairs of gods were born (for a total of ten deities), each pair consisting of a male deity and a female deity:
* and his younger sister (and wife) ,
* and his younger sister (and wife) ,
* and his younger sister (and wife) ,
* and his younger sister (and wife) and
* and his younger sister (and wife)
All deities from Kuni-no-koto-tachi to Izanami are collectively called .
Following the creation of Heaven and Earth and the appearance of these primordial gods, Izanagi and Izanami went on to create the
In Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a collection of traditional stories, folktales, and beliefs that emerged in the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Shinto traditions are the cornerstones of Japanese mythology. The history of thousands of years of contac ...
, the is the story that describes the legendary birth of the celestial and creative world, the birth of the first gods, and the birth of the Japanese archipelago
The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...
.
This story is described at the beginning of the Kojiki
The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...
, the first book written in Japan (712), and in the Nihon Shoki
The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...
(720). Both form the literary basis of Japanese mythology and Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
; however, the story differs in some aspects between these works.
Myth
At the beginning the universe was immersed in a beaten kind of matter (chaos) in the shape of an egg, sunk in silence. Later there were sounds indicating the movement of particles. With this movement, the light and the lightest particles rose but the particles were not as fast as the light and could not go higher. Thus, the light was at the top of the Universe, and below it, the particles formed first the clouds and then Heaven, which was to be called . The rest of the particles that had not risen formed a huge mass, dense and dark, to be called Earth. When Takamagahara was formed, a small plant was formed and from this small plant the first three gods appeared: * * and *. Then these gods: * and * These five deities, known as Kotoamatsukami, appeared spontaneously, did not have a definite sex, did not have partners ('' hitorigami'') and went into hiding after their emergence. These gods are not mentioned in the rest of the mythology.Kamiyonanayo
Then two other gods arose:
* and
*
These gods also emerged spontaneously, did not have a defined sex, did not have a partner, and hid at birth.
Then, five pairs of gods were born (for a total of ten deities), each pair consisting of a male deity and a female deity:
* and his younger sister (and wife) ,
* and his younger sister (and wife) ,
* and his younger sister (and wife) ,
* and his younger sister (and wife) and
* and his younger sister (and wife)
All deities from Kuni-no-koto-tachi to Izanami are collectively called .
Following the creation of Heaven and Earth and the appearance of these primordial gods, Izanagi and Izanami went on to create the Japanese archipelago
The is an archipelago of list of islands of Japan, 14,125 islands that form the country of Japan. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East China Sea, East China and Philippine Sea, Philippine seas in the southwest al ...
('' Kuniumi'') by stirring the ocean with a spear, then the matter that dripped off of the spear solidified and became an island, and they also gave birth to a large number of gods ('' Kamiumi''). One of these gods being Amaterasu
, often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...
(the sun goddess of the Shinto
, also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...
religion).
See also
*Creation myth
A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Cre ...
* Tenrikyo creation myth
References
Bibliography
* * *Toneri, Prince, Son Of Tenmu, Emperor Of Japan, 676-735 Editor. ''Chronicle of Japan, Volumes 1 and 2''. lace of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, 1599Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress,