Shine for Life: The Cave Legend of Amaterasu
The Sun, which warms us and gives us life, has been one of the most important figures for humanity for thousands of years. Every morning since the beginning, when we see night turns into the day, we know that we have been alive for another day. This awareness has led to countless stories being told for Amaterasu in the Shinto belief. Here is one of them.
Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu-Ōmikami, is the goddess of the Sun in Shintoism and Japanese mythology. The origin of the name Amaterasu is from the verb amateru, ama means sky and teru means to shine; Ōmikami means great and august deity. In some tales, she was born to the creator god Izanagi and the goddess of creation and death Izanami, after they created the Earth, skies, mountains and seas. But in some tales, Amaterasu was born from his father’s left eye, when Izanagi washed his eye as a part of a purification ritual. However, in both versions, Amaterasu was a desired child because her parents wanted to create life on the Earth they had created.
When Amaterasu was born, the Earth was filled with light and life; her unique beauty and joy enlivened the family. Then, Izanami and Izanagi placed her in the sky to let every living creature see her and be enlightened by her. So, she became the goddess of the Sun. After a while, her sister Tsukuyomi was born. Tsukuyomi was like her sister, radiant, joyful and peaceful. Almost as bright as Amaterasu, she became the goddess of the Moon and took her own place in the sky.
Later, the couple’s third child, Susanoo, was born. Unlike his sisters, Susanoo was full of anger and prone to violence. Due to his bad temper, he became the god of Storms and Seas. And due to his proclivity for chaos, he later became the god of the Underworld.
One day, while Amaterasu was weaving on the drawloom, her brother Susanoo organized an attack on both her and her belongings. Outraged at how beautiful and beloved she was, Susanoo killed Amaterasu’s mare and threw it into the weaving room. He did not stop and destroyed all the things Amaterasu had created. Susanoo was so furious that he also killed one of the servant girls in the weaving room. Then, he mercilessly attacked Amaterasu.
Because of the devastation, her brother caused, Amaterasu left her palace. She sought shelter in the caves on the highest mountains and refused to spread her light and joy over the Earth. Gradually, the Earth began to fade and die, causing demons to creep out of the underworld. The absence of light and the presence of demons caused great chaos on the Earth. The people, animals and plants started to perish from the havoc.
Knowing that the Earth was on the verge of evanescence, the Gods and Goddesses made a plan. They all gathered outside the cave and tried to pull Amaterasu out to make her radiate her light to the Earth. After several failed attempts, the goddess of dawn, mirth, meditation, revelry and the arts Ame no Uzume came up with a clever plan.
She placed a large mirror on a nearby rock overlooking Amaterasu’s cave, hung jewels on the trees, and started dancing around, encouraging other Gods and Goddesses to do the same. Their merriment was loud that it started to appeal to the interest of the goddess of the Sun. Meanwhile, Uzume said, “We found a new and better Sun goddess!”, shouting out at the cave. This caused Amaterasu to look out of the cave to see what the noise was about. The time she looked out from the cave, she saw her own reflection in the mirror. Charmed by her own beauty, she stepped out of the cave. Then, a god quickly sealed the entrance to the cave with a huge rock to prevent her from fleeing into the cave again.
Realizing why they did this, Amaterasu regretted leaving Earth in the dark. In a moment, she was completely immersed in the festivities of the gods and goddesses.
Forgetting her misfortune, Amaterasu regained her joy and once again brightened the Earth with her light. When the world was filled with the divine light, the demons returned to the Underworld and the life on the Earth reawakened.
Amaterasu, along with the other gods and goddesses, is still an inspiration for the people. She is mentioned especially in the Japanese cartoons called animes, movies, modern arts, etc.
