![]() ![]() Kagutsuchi may be one of the most short-lived gods in Shintoism and in most other mythologies but he has managed to change the landscape of his religion more than most. Of course, once she got into the Underworld Yomi, the then-undead-Izanami continued giving birth to new kami but that’s a different story. While this is an “add-on” of sorts to Shinto mythology, its connection to Kagutsuchi’s birth into the world is clear – with her dying breath, the Mother goddess managed to give birth to several more kami to save Japan from her destructive son. The water was to be poured over the rising flames and the reeds and clay were to then smother the remains of the fire. And this equipment included precisely a gourd of water, some water reeds, and a bit of clay. This may seem weird to people outside of Japan but the themes of these kami are intentional – because forest and city fires were a serious problem for the people of Japan throughout the country’s history, most people were carrying fire-fighting equipment with them at all times. This version of the myth was believed to be an added 10 th-century Shinto story that tells of this.Īccording to the story, before Izanami died of her burns (and, presumably, while Izanagi was still busy mutilating his son’s body) the Mother goddess managed to withdraw from the scene and give birth to several more kami – the water kami Mizuhame-no-Mikoto, as well as minor kami of water reeds, gourd, and clay. The Last Births of IzanamiĮven though Izanami was technically killed by giving birth to Kagutsuchi, she still managed to give birth to several other kami before passing to the Underworld of Yomi. There are several other births that followed, however, which were in direct response to all that occurred in Kagutsuchi’s short life. Whether the birth of these two water kami was in response to Kagutsuchi’s birth is not really clear. But there were also two famous water kami born from Kagutsuchi’s blood – the sea god Watatsumi and the rain god and dragon Kuraokami. The most well-known of these new kami are Takemikazuchi, a god of swords and war, and Futsunushi, a kami of thunder and martial arts. Simply put, as Kagutsuchi’s blood was dripping from Izanagi’s sword, eight new kami were born from it. The way he did that was by “impregnating” his father’s sword with his own blood. A Post-Mortem Octodadĭespite being decapitated and chopped to pieces at birth, Kagutsuchi also found a creative way of giving birth to eight kami (in addition to the eight mountain kami that are his severed body parts). Together, however, they still formed a conscious and “alive” Kagutsuchi. To make matters even more complicated, the eight pieces of Kagutsuchi also became their own mountain kami deities, each associated with its mountain. Or rather, it killed him but he continued being worshipped by Shinto followers and anything from forest fires to volcanic eruptions was still attributed to him. What’s more, Izanagi then went on to chop Kagutsuchi into eight pieces and tossed them around the islands of Japan, forming the eight major volcanoes of the country.Ĭuriously enough, however, this didn’t really kill Kagutsuchi. Nevertheless, his father Izanagi was so furious and stricken with grief that he immediately took out his Totsuka-no-Tsurugi sword called Ame-no-o-habari-no-kami and decapitated his fiery newborn son. ![]() There doesn’t seem to have been any malice in this accident and Kagutsuchi can hardly be blamed for hurting and killing his own mother. Little did they know, however, that one of their children would be permanently engulfed in flames (or even made out of fire, depending on the myth).īeing a kami of fire, when Kagutsuchi was born he burned his mother Izanagi so badly that she died shortly after. The two major kami of the Shinto pantheon and Kagutsuchi’s parents, Izanagi and Izanagi were hard at work, populating the land with people, spirits, and gods. ![]() One of the first children of the Father and Mother deities of Shintoism, Izanami and Izanagi, Kagutsuchi changed the very landscape of Shinto mythology with his very birth. He’s also often called Homusubi or He who starts fires. The name of the fire kami Kagutsuchi, Kagu-tsuchi, or Kagutsuchi-no-kami literally translates as To shine powerfully. It is a rather short story too but, just like a raging forest fire, it has affected all of Shinto mythology and has made Kagutsuchi one of the best-known and most worshipped kami in Japan. Importance of Kagutsuchi in Modern CultureĪs the Japanese kami (orgod) of fire, Kagutsuchi has one of the most unique and fascinating stories in Shintoism. ![]()
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