Japanese gods and demons. Japanese gods of happiness, luck, death and war

The country of the rising sun - Japan - is culturally separate from the rest of the world. Being relatively small in territory, Japan has managed to create its own unique style, its tradition, not only similar to the West, but also to the nearby eastern states. Until now, for a huge number of people, the secret tradition behind the seven seals remains the religious tradition of the Japanese and the Japanese gods.

Religious World of Japan

The religious picture of Japan consists mainly of two components - Buddhism and Shinto. If something else can be known about the first of them to the Russian-speaking reader, then traditional Japanese Shinto is most often a complete riddle. But it is from this tradition that practically all the traditionally revered Japanese gods and demons occur.

It is worth saying that formally with Buddhism and Shinto, the overwhelming majority of the Japanese population themselves associate themselves - up to ninety-odd percent, according to some studies. And almost all of them profess both religions. This is a characteristic feature of Japanese religiosity - it tends to syncretistic synthesis of different traditions, combining various elements of both practice and doctrine. So, for example, Japanese gods originating in Shinto were accepted by Buddhist metaphysics, their worship continued in the Buddhist religious context.

Shinto is the path of the gods

It is necessary to briefly say about the traditions that gave life to the pantheon of the Japanese gods. The first of these, of course, is Shinto, which means "the way of the gods." Its history goes deep into history so far that it is impossible to determine unequivocally the time or the nature of its occurrence. The only thing that can be said with absolute accuracy is that Shinto was born and developed in Japan, remaining an inviolable and distinctive tradition, right up to Buddhist expansion, which had no influence at all. Mythology of Shinto is very unique, the cult is unique, and the world outlook is quite difficult for a deep understanding.

In general, Shinto is focused on honoring the Kami - soul or some spiritual essence of various creatures, phenomena of nature, places and inanimate (in the European sense) things. Kami can be spiteful and benevolent, more or less strong. Spirits-patrons of the clan or city are also Kami. This, as well as the worship of the ancestral spirits of Shinto, is similar to traditional animism and shamanism inherent in almost all cultures and pagan religions at a certain stage of development. Kami are Japanese gods. Their names are often quite complex, and at times exceedingly lengthy - up to a few lines of text.

Japanese Buddhism

The teaching of the Indian prince in Japan found a favorable ground and deeply rooted the roots. Since VI century, as soon as Buddhism entered Japan, he found many patrons in the face of the powerful and influential aristocrats of Japanese society. And after three hundred years I managed to achieve the state religion.

By its nature, Japanese Buddhism is heterogeneous, does not represent a single system or school, but is divided into many different sects. But at the same time one can postulate the involvement of most of them in the direction of Zen Buddhism.

Historically, Buddhism is characterized by religious integration. In other words, if, for example, a Christian or Islamic mission suggests that believers convert one religion to another, Buddhism does not enter into this kind of confrontation. More often than not, Buddhist practices and teachings are poured into the existing cult, replenishing, Buddhizing it. This was the case with Hinduism in India, the Bon religion in Tibet and many other religious schools, including Shinto in Japan. Therefore, today it is difficult to unequivocally answer what the Japanese gods and demons are - Buddhist Bodhisattvas, or pagan spirits of nature.

The influence of Buddhism on Shintoism

From the middle of the first millennium, and especially from the 9th century, Shinto began to experience the strongest influence of Buddhism. This led to the fact that Kami first turned into a spiritual defender of Buddhism. Some of them merged with Buddhist saints, and later the doctrine was proclaimed that the kami even need salvation through the path of Buddhist practice. For Shinto, these are unconventional ideas - in the beginning there was no concept of salvation, of sin. There was not even an objective representation of good and evil. Service to kami, gods led the world to harmony, to beauty, to the consciousness and development of a man who, himself, inspired by the connection with the deities, decided what was good and what was bad in every particular situation. Internal inconsistency of the two traditions led to the fact that quite early there were movements for the purification of Shinto from Buddhist borrowing. Attempts to reconstruct the original tradition resulted in the so-called restoration of the Meiji emperor in the 19th century, which divided Buddhism and Shinto.

The Supreme Japanese Gods

The mythology of Japan includes many stories about the deeds of the gods. The first of these was a group of three Kami, called Takamagahara. This Shintoist trinity included the supreme god Ame-no Minakanusi but Kami, the god of power of Takamusuhi-no Kami and the god of the birth of Kamimusuhi-kami. With the birth of heaven and earth, two more Kami were added to them - Umasi Ashikabi Hikoyi-no Kami and Ame no Tokotati-kami. This five of the deities was called Koto Amazuki and is revered in Shinto as a kind of supreme kami. Below them along the hierarchy are the Japanese gods, whose list is virtually endless. On this theme in Japanese folklore there is even a proverb that "Japan is a country of eight million gods".

Izanagi and Izanami

Immediately after Koto Amatsuka, seven generations of Kami follow, of which the last two are especially revered - the married couple Idzanagi and Izanami, who own the merit of the creation of Oyashima - the Japanese islands. They were the first of the kami who had the ability to give birth to new gods and gave birth to many.

Izanami is the goddess of life and death

All phenomena of this world are subject to kami. And material things, and non-material phenomena - all are ruled by influential Japanese gods. Death is also given attention to a number of Japanese divine characters. For example, an interesting story that tells about the appearance of death in the world. According to her, Izanami died during the birth of her last son - the god of fire Kagutsuti - and moved to the underworld. Izanagi descends behind her, finds and even persuades to return. The wife asks only about the opportunity to relax before the trip and leaves the bedroom, asking the husband not to bother her. Idzanagi breaks the request and finds in bed an ugly corrupted corpse of his former lover. In horror he escapes upstairs, filling up the entrance with stones. Izanami, enraged by this act of her husband, swears that she will take revenge on him, taking a thousand human souls to her kingdom every day. Thus, ironically, the Japanese gods of death begin their dynasty with the mother goddess, the great kami who gave life to everything. Idzanagi himself returned to his place and was ritually cleansed after visiting the world of the dead.

Japanese gods of war

When Izanami died, giving birth to her last offspring, Izanagi went into a rage and killed him. The Shinto myth says that as a result of this, a few more Kami appeared. One of them was Takemikazuti - the god of the sword. Probably, he is the first one with whom the Japanese gods of war originate. Takemikazuti, however, was not perceived as simply a warrior. He was closely associated with the sword and embodied his sacral meaning, representing, if I may say so, the soul of the sword, his idea. And already as a consequence of this, Takemikazuti was associated with wars. Following the Takemikazuti associated with battles and battles, is the god Hachiman. This character has protected the soldiers from the very beginning. Once, in the era of the Middle Ages, he was also revered as a patron of the samurai Minamoto clan. Then his popularity increased, he began to patronize the samurai estate as a whole, at the same time occupying prominent places in the Shinto pantheon. In addition, Hachiman served as the guardian of the imperial fortress and the emperor himself, along with his family.

Patrons of happiness and good luck

Japanese gods of happiness constitute a group of seven kami, called Cityfukdzin. Their origin is rather late and represents images reproduced by one of the monks on the material of Buddhist and Taoist deities in a mixture with traditional Japanese legends. Actually, the Japanese gods of luck - only Daikoku and Ebisu. The remaining five are imported or imported from the outside, although they have become well established in Japanese culture. Today, each of these seven has its own sphere of responsibility and influence.

The Goddess of the Sun

One can not but mention one of the most important representatives of Japanese mythology - the sun goddess Amaterasu. The sun always occupied an important position in the religiosity of mankind, because it is organically connected with life, light, heat, harvest. In Japan, this was added to the belief that the emperor is literally a direct descendant of this goddess.

There was Amaterasu from the left eye of Izanagi at the time when he performed his purification ablution. Together with her, several more Kami came to the world. But two of them occupied special places. First, Tsukuyomi is the moon god, born from another eye. Secondly, Susanoo is the god of wind and sea. Thus, each of the triad received its destiny. Further myths tell about the expulsion of Susanoo. The Japanese gods drove him away for a series of serious misdeeds against his sister and father.

Amaterasu was revered as the patroness of agriculture and silk production. And in later times it was identified with the Buddha of Vairochan, revered in Japan. In fact, Amaterasu became the head of the Japanese pantheon.