Izanami

In Japanese mythology, Izanami (J:イザナミ meaning "She who invites") is a goddess of both creation and death, as well as the former wife of the god Izanagi. She is also referred to as Izana-mi or Izanami-no-kami.

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The first gods summoned two divine beings into existence, the male Izanagi and the female Izanami, and charged them with creating the first land. To help them do this, Izanagi and Izanami were given a spear decorated with jewels, named Amenonuhoko (heavenly spear). The two deities then went to the bridge between heaven and earth, Amenoukihashi (floating bridge of heaven), and churned the sea below with the spear. When drops of salty water fell from the spear, they formed into the island Onogoro (self-forming). They descended from the bridge of heaven and made their home on the island. Eventually they wished to be mated, so they built a pillar called Amenomihashira and around it they built a palace called Yahirodono (the room of eight footsteps?). Izanagi and Izanami circled the pillar in opposite directions, and when they met on the other side, Izanami spoke first in greeting. Izanagi didn't think that this was the proper thing to do, but they mated anyhow. They had two children, Hiruko (watery child) and Awashima (island of bubbles) but they were badly-made and are not considered deities.

Japanese mythology: Japanese mythology is an extremely complex system of beliefs. The Shinto pantheon alone boasts a collection of more than 8000 kami (Japanese for "gods" or "spirits"). Despite the influence of the ancient Chinese civilization, much of Japanese mythology and religion is uniquely their own. It embraces...

J: For the programming language, see J programming language....

Goddess: A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a "god". A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic (or gender neutral) deities....