Amaterasu Omikami Mask

AMATERASU

 by Mary Kay Landon 

Hail and Awake!

You children of the blue, brown and green earth,

You who tread in space and time.

I come to you today from My shining abode

In heaven

Far away yet so close.

I am Amaterasu Omikami,

The Great Woman Who Possesses Noon,

Ruler of heaven,

Queen of all nature’s forces,

Goddess that is the Sun.

Golden, gleaming,

Startling, luminous,

Fierce — and gentle,

I light your way,

I warm your bones,

I stoke your tired feet,

I fire your imagination.

Without Me

And My brilliance that is so benificent,

The rice and all the other green things of the earth

Would wilt and die.

And there you would squat

At death’s door

Cold — hungry — wicked —

Doomed —

To a fate as premature shadow

In the valley of the dead.

I know, for it almost happened —

Just once.

My drunken brother Susanowo

So angered Me with his bloated pride

I took leave of you.

And hid My light self in a cave,

Refusing to move,

Refusing to come out

Even though outside

I knew

The dark air grew cold,

The plants no longer yielded fruit,

And the World began to die.

All this I nearly allowed —

But the other gods and goddesses,

Facing death, as well,

Gathered outside My cave.

They summoned forth an eight-armed mirror

And hung strings of jewels on the branches of the Sakaki tree,

They muttered ritual sayings,

And the voluptuous young goddess Ama no Uzume began to dance.

She danced —

And danced,

And danced

Whipping up an ecstasy so great among the gods and goddesses

That they began to laugh

And laugh —

Louder and louder

Hahahahaha

Hahahahahahahahha

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Finally I peeked out of the cave,

Demanding to know —

What the fuss was all about,

And then I saw Myself.

In the mirror.

Amazed by My beauty,

Stunned by the luminescence

Streaming off My brow and filling the world

Turning it once again green,

And coming back to Me

In this reflection.

Today I, Amaterasu,

Goddess of the Sun,

Come to you from My shining abode

To bestow upon you two gifts:

But with these gifts

You must also take

The eight-armed mirror.

Hang it outside your cave.

And aim it directly at your soul.

Then,

As I had done before you,

You must venture out of your cave,

Out into My light, My air.

And you must open your eyes,

Into that mirror,

And allow ME

To introduce

YOU  To  YOURSELF

As if, 
For the first time.

Welcome home.

Sayonara.