Who is izanagi?

Answer 1

Who is Izanagi?:

God of the Sun and the male counterpart of the couple whom created Japan. Most mythological experts agree that the creation of the world was done by Gods known as the "Old-Ones". A good analogy of the "Old-Ones", would be God in Christianity. The Christian God created the Christian Deity of the Earth, if you will, Jesus Christ, just as the Old-Ones created Izanagi and Izanami (Izanagi's wife, and female counterpart). Legend also states that the "Old-Ones" were responsible for creating 8 pairs of children, one male, one female, per "pair". Greek, Norse, Shinto, Chinese, etc. deities were said to have also been created by the Old-Ones.

As the story goes, the Old-Ones were bored with the Earth, and wanted to create order on the plain, rather than the chaos that was currently inhabiting the Earth. Earth, at the time, was an oily, cloudy, mess, that had a "static" of sorts, that ran rampant around the world, keeping life, in any recognizable form, from settling. So it was, the Old-Ones sent their 8 pair of children to inhabit, create, and populate a new world. One in which chaos and harmony would be balanced, creating order on the Earth plain, thusly, giving life to the desolate place. The 8 pair of children were told to create a home on the plain, and to go explore it, after that was done. Izanagi and his wife, Izanami, were given a sacred, and jewel-crested spear, (a naginata) that was to be used to churn the sea, and create their new home, which they did by standing on the bridge connecting the heavens (Yomi) and the Earth plain.

***There is some dispute amongst mythology "experts" about this part of the story. Some believe that their could not have been a bridge if the the Earth plain was not whole. Personally, this writer beleives that the bridge should be part of the story, because no one ever said the bridge was or was NOT afloat. Why wouldn't be afloat? Everything else was floating on the Earth plain, according to legend. ***

Never the less, Izanagi and Izanami pulled their sacred-spear from the roaring-sea; the blade, covered in sand and water. As the water/sand dropletts fell from the naginata blade, they created the island of Oronoko, which was to be their new home. When this was done, they did , in fact, go to it, and explore. This island was to be the main "pillar" of their country, and they separated; one going to the left; the other, to the right. When the met on the other side, Izanami saw Izanagi, and with a flirtacious smile, said "I have never seen such a handsome youth."

Izanagi responded in kind, "And I, have never seen such a BEAUTIFUL youth." And the two would perform the proper marriage ceremony so that they may have their desired children. They prayed to the Old-Ones, that their seed be blessed to bare child, and it was so. Their first child, was born with no bones, and they sent him out into the sea, in a basket, where he grew, and became Ebisu, the laughing God, and God of the fisherman. He is also one of the 7 lucky deities of Buddhism in later stories. Confused by their luck, the couple demanded to know what they had done wrong, and the Old-Ones told them their mistake. The male was supposed to solicit the female first, when a mate is chosen, and of course, they had done the opposite.

They rectified their mistake, and re-married. They went back around their island, and met on the other side, and Izanagi spoke first. Now, they were able to have 8 more children, each becoming one, of the 8 main islands of Japan. Next, they decided they needed children to preside over each island, and thus, the 8 Earth deities of Japan were born. When each of those deities controlled their power, the couple decided to populate Japan with mortals, just as the Old-Ones had requested. They had their mortals, and life in Japan truly began.

When the Old-Ones created the Gods, and the Gods created humanity, the static of chaos was dispersed around the world, settling in the heart of man, becoming the extremes of a mortal's emotions. Passion and COMpassion gone wild, if you will. To live by those extremes, is to live a sinner's life, and is the test placed before a mortal's soul, so that it may be judged according, and it's place on the many levels of the heavens (which includes "Hell") can be decided. However, for the moment, the bridge connecting the Earth plain and the Yomi was still "open" for travel between the two-realms, by mortal and God alike. This was keeping true order from becoming reality, as the mortals were able to go to the heavens, and see where their current place in the heavens would be, should they drop dead at that very moment. The mortals were then able to return to the Earth plain, and make the necessary changes to their life style to atone for their sins. But this was not balance, and was not order. Those who lived a sinful life, were destined to do so, and now had the power to alter this. So Izanagi and Izanami were informed by the Old-Ones that they were close this bridge, and leave their home on the Earth realm, for one in the heavens. Izanami was enraged upon hearing this, and her hatred for the mortals began to manifest it's self quite rapidly.

Izanagi saw this in his wife, and suggested they have more children, this time to preside over the 2 realms of heaven and Earth, and so that they may retire to the heavens. Izanami was not opposed to this idea, and they again had children. This "batch" if you will, was their finest, and last. The most popular, and highly coveted deities in Japanese Mythology/Folklore/Legend were born now.

In no particular order, these are their children: The Sun-Goddess, Amaterasu. The God of Storm and Sea, Susano. The God and Goddess ( twins) Haniyasu Hiko and Haniyasu Hime, of Earth and Nature. The Dragon God of the Sea, Ryu-Jin. The Moon-God, Tsukiyomi. The God of Evil, and lord of the underworld, Amatsu-Mikaboshi. These are the main deities of Japan, sans a few of the original 8 Earth deities, such as Ohoyamatsumi, the God of the Mountains and Volcanoes. But the couple realized they did not have a fire-deity, and prayed their seed be blessed with fire.

So it was, they had another child, Kagatsuchi. But, he burned his mother to death upon his birth, and she was sent to the underworld. Izanagi went to find his wife, as he was deep with sorrow over her death. Some versions of this story tell of Izanagi's murder of the fire-God, which creates several more deities out of the fire-God's wounds. Never the less, all versions have Izanagi going to the underworld of the Yomi to retrieve his wife.

Once inside, Izanagi fights demon upon demon, finally finding his wife. He opts to stay in "hell" with her, so that they may be together. Izanami tells him to leave, but he refuses. She is wearing a veil, as she has become "part" of the underworld now, after eating food from the realm. Her soul so hated the mortals, she could not help her satisfaction in getting to punish them, and she nearly forgot about the outside world, carelessly eating the aeformentioned "food from hell's table". Izanagi demanded he see her face, but she declined warning that no manner of man could handle what they would see. Eventually Izanagi digressed, and asked that they have more children. This is how the twins, Haniyasu Hiko and Hime were born. In the the throws of passion, Izanagi could no longer stand not seeing his wife's "beautiful" face, and again begged her to lift her veil. She again declined, and Izanagi angrily left her side. He waited until Izanami slept, and he lit a torch from a "tooth-comb" that was wrapped in his long hair. Under the dim-light of his make-shift torch, he lifted Izanami's veil, and saw the grotesque form she had taken on since her death. Her face was decomposing, and was over run with maggots. After decomposition, she was to become demon like in appearance, and that was starting too. A most attrocious sight, Izanagi let out a scream, and began to flee the realm. His noise however, awakened his wife, who was, for lack of a better word, right-pissed-off. She sent her own demons after her fleeing husband, but he and his twins, which he grabbed as he fled, fought the demons off. They safely escaped the Yomi, and Izangi declared his bond with his wife, obsolete.

This served to further enrage his now, ex-wife, and she vowed to kill 1,000 mortals each day, until Izanagi changed his mind. But Izanagi in turn, said he would create 1500 mortals each day to offset her dirty-deed, and it is said Japan's true life and death cycle was created. ****On a somewhat "creepy" note, until recent times, Japan did in fact, populate at roughly the same rate as legend stated it would.****

After Izanagi left the underworld, he felt dirty, and righfully so. He needed to cleanse himself after the filth of the underworld covered his body. He also wept as he washed, and his tears and discarded clothing became the other deities of Japan, sans the children of the deities, which became minor deities. Other versions of this story have Izanagi and Izanami only having the 8 Earth Deities, and Izanagi creating "the last batch" of children (amaterasu and the others) out of his tears and discarded clothing. On a personal note, I like the former.

***Note From the Editor****: This is where the legend of Izanagi becomes a little cloudy for westerners. Some legends of this fabled "Zeus of Japan", have him Seppuking upon the sacred-spear used to create Japan, when Amatersu approaches him about the violence that still occurs constantly in Japan. He does this to bless the nation with his body and soul, which disperse like shooting stars upon his suicide. Other versions state his suicide was the "way" that he could return to the Old-Ones, as the task they set before him, create life on Earth, was complete. Then again, in Western media, it is very difficult to find ANY stories of Izanagi after he cleansed himself of the Yomi's underworld aura. That is why I wrote what I knew of Izanagi. I hope someone, preferably an educated person on Japanese mythology, or a Japanese person them self, will finish what I have started. I have been unable, thus far, (11/9/07) been unable to find more than one article on Izanagi after his escape from the underworld. It is said Izanami became the Goddess of evil, and ruled in the underworld along side her son, Amatsu-Mikaboshi, who shares an equal hatred for the mortals. But Izanagi is shrouded in mystery!!! I encourage the completion of my article, no matter the version of the story used. Thank you, J.H. St.Louis, Missouri. Sometimes_its@yahoo.com