6/7/10

Goddess of the Week: Amaterasu

Japanese Sun goddess Amaterasu emerging from a...Image via Wikipedia

I hope no one minds, but I'm going to break the queue and bring Rois right up to the top of the line. She needs Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess, because the rain in Oregon is wrecking havoc on their homestead. (Really, it's a homestead. Check it out.)

Clearly, Amaterasu's annoying brother Susano-Wo has been messing with the folks in Oregon. Talk about your sibling rivalry. He's been trying to prove he's more powerful than Amaterasu since the beginning of time.

Once, he made a bet with Amaterasu that he could produce more male gods than she could. So Amaterasu took her brother's sword, chewed it up, spit out the pieces and --wham -- out came these three goddesses. Then it was Susano-Wo's turn. He took these really cool fertility beads that Amaterasu tied up her hair with and smashed them with his teeth producing five itty bitty male gods.

"Ha! I win! I win. I am so totally awesome and you are so totally lame," he said.

"Dude," said Amaterasu. "You only won because you used MY beads. MY beads won, which means I am the one who won. So there."

Despite the stunning clarity of this logic, Susano-Wo was not convinced. He kept going on about how he won and then he got all crazy and flooded the irrigation ditches and the rice fields and -- just to be mean -- he skinned a pony and threw it into the sacred weaving hall. Well, you can imagine. It landed on one of Amaterasu's handmaidens, who totally freaked her out and died. Amaterasu was so stressed she went and hid in a cave, which wasn't so good for the peoples. That meant there was nothing to stop Susano-Wo, so it rained and rained, and all was dark, and all the evil gods came out and created chaos. It was worse than the pony.

Finally, the goddess Ame-No-Uzume danced this crazy dance that was so wild that all the other gods and goddesses started laughing, which lured Amaterasu out of her cave and made everything right. The rained stopped, the sun came out and Susano-Wo went to Oregon to see what he could do there.

So here's what you've got to do, Rois, you've got to find a way to make Amaterasu laugh. In the immortal words of Princess Leia, "It's your only hope." You can do it. I have total faith in you.

Channel this goddess: When the rain won't stop, when all is darkness, either literally or metaphorically. When you need to laugh.

Need a goddess: I got goddesses! Post a comment telling me what you need and I'll see what I can do.

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15 comments:

Joanne said...

Maybe Rois needs to tell a joke to get Amaterasu to laugh. She can use my joke:

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!"

The husband said, "Oh my gosh! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?"

"Doesn't matter," she said. "Just get out."

:)

Curly said...

I know now why it stopped raining...!!! I usually make myself ridiculous but lately... my talent increased to such a degree... :-D I've always wanted a brother even though I know it's only trouble... a pony??? @_@
Big hug!

Rois said...

Oh Wow! I needed this today.I am feeling so low that a good laugh is just what I need to kick myself into gear.
Joanne- I love you joke.it took my rain soaked head a beat to catch the kicker but once it hit me I burst out laughing so loud our little dog started yapping and dancing around which made the whole thing even funnier.
Good medicine!

Desiree said...

Once again, great fun.. But I am disappointed there is no youtube clip of you telling a joke.

Shell Sherree said...

Oh, poor little pony. I was hoping there would be some comeuppance for nasty Susano-Wo at the end of the tale. Good on Amaterasu, though.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

Ah yes, laughter truly is the best medicine. Great take on this Goddess, Margaret. :o)!!!

Anonymous said...

Well told, as always. Looks like Amaterasu started laughing a little too early and a little too hard around these parts...

Margaret said...

Joanne: I love that joke. Thanks for telling it.

Rois: You got a goddessa and a joke -- bonus.

Dez: Ah, yes, well the you tube clips will be infrequent and worth waiting for.

Watson said...

Susano-Wo has also been hammering us just north of you, Rois. Perhaps we should form a laugh chain from Oregon to B.C! :-D

Loved the joke Joanne!

Petrea Burchard said...

I wanted to think of a joke, too, but I can't top Joanne's. I think Rois should have some Amatiramisu to go with her joke and her goddess. That'll cheer her up.

Anonymous said...

Good one, Margaret!

I hope Ameratsu intervenes in Oregon before a skinned pony lands on the homestead....

Pasadena Adjacent said...

So let me get this straight, in order to bring back blue skies, Rois is going to have to post Charlton Heston imitations on you-tube?

Margaret said...

Yes. PA has it right. The more atrocious the imitation the better. And this, right here, PA is a challenge to you: Give me your worst Heston imitation. Just see if you can beat me.

Maria said...

I'm totally at sea when it comes to Asian goddesses other than Indian. Your post was terrific! Thanks!

Pasadena Adjacent said...

The challenge was sitting through that movie. The grand moment didn't occur till the last minute. I did appreciate seeing Edward G Robinson (and his death request...orange and light classical)