Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

14 Ama-Tsu-MaraSusano-Wo ascends with her to heaven but isthrown out after trying to enter her house andcommitting various excesses. Amaterasu refusesto be sullied and obstinately hides herself away ina cave. It requires the combined diplomacy andcraft of many other deities to persuade her tocome out. The lure is the “perfect divine mirror”in which she sees her reflection. The birth of thetwo deities is considered to mark the transitionbetween cosmic and material genesis.The Ise Naiku sanctuary is visited by about fivemillion devotees each year and Amaterasu takespride of place in every family shrine. Sometimesher shrines are placed adjacent to those ofSusano-Wo. She is also the tutelary goddess ofthe emperor. Hers tends to be a monotheistic cultin which all other deities take a subservient place.Though powerful she does not always succeedand is often subject to attack. She has beenarguably identified with the god VAIROCANA inBuddhist religion.Ama-Tsu-MaraGod of smiths. Shinto [Japan]. Depicted as aone-eyed ithyphallic god comparable to theGreek Cyclopes. He is strongly instrumental infashioning the “perfect divine mirror” with whichthe sun goddess, AMATERASU, is lured from hercave. Also Ma-Hiko-Tsu-No-Kami.Amaunet (the hidden one)Fertility goddess. Egyptian (Upper). Amaunetseems to have a taken a role as an early consort ofAMUN, one of the eight deities of the OGDOAD andrepresenting hidden power. In that context she isdepicted anthropomorphically but with the headof a snake. She is shown in reliefs and as the subjectof a notable statue from the Record Hall ofTuthmosis III at the Karnak complex of Thebes,where she was recognized as a benign protectivedeity especially called on at times of royal accession.As a fertility goddess she was largely eclipsedby the goddess MUT. She is sometimes equatedwith NEITH, the creator goddess of Sais, and herattributes may include the red crown of the Delta.Ame-No-Kagase-WoAstral deity. Shinto [Japan]. The most importantof the star KAMI said to have been executed by thegod FUTSU-NUSHI because he would not be pacifiedduring the process of cosmic genesis.Ame-No-Mi-Kumari-No-KamiWater goddess. Shinto [Japan]. One of the daughtersof MINATO-NO-KAMI, the god of river mouthsand estuaries, she is known as the “heavenly waterdivider” and her cult is linked with that of Kuni-No-Mi-Kumari-No-Kami.AME-NO-MINAKA-NUSHI-NO-KAMI (the deity master of the august centerof heaven)ORIGIN Shinto [Japan]. Supreme god.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa AD 600 untilpresent.SYNONYMS none significant.CENTER(S) OF CULT none.ART REFERENCES none.LITERARY SOURCES Kojiki (Japanese sacred text).The highest deity of the Shinto pantheon and thefirst to emerge in Takama-No-Hara (the plain ofhigh heaven) when heaven and earth were fashioned.He was born alone, resides in the ninthheaven and has always hidden himself from mortaleyes. A remote and vague figure of whom noimages are ever made and toward whom no cult isdirected. His name only appears once in the Kojikiand never in the Nihongi. Originally his identity