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Kami Focus - Inari-Okami
11 years ago
General
I wanted to share an excellent article my close friend Myoubu has written regarding Inari-Okami :)
He has posted this in our group: International Association for Inari Faith: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ina.....faith/?fref=ts
Enjoy!
- Rin
"In this article I want to start to really get into some meat-and-potatoes, and ask the questions: “Who is Inari Ōkami?” and even “‘What’ is Inari Ōkami?”.
First of all, everyone agrees that Inari Ōkami can be regarded as a single, autonomous spirit. (For example, although Fushimi Inari Taisha holds that Inari comprises five individual kami, the wakemitama from Fushimi that I enshrine is a single collective spirit named Shōichii-Inari-Ōmitama.) That single spirit can be prayed to, enshrined, revered, and followed. In fact, there is no necessary need to ever look at or understand Inari Ōkami in any other way.
But if we take a moment to look at some of the underlying theology behind Inari, we can gain some understanding of who Inari is and what Inari represents.
Today, there are several Shintō understandings behind Inari’s theology. Different institutions take different stances. The key thing to remember here is that they do not necessarily conflict with each other. None of them are “right” or “wrong”. We are talking about things ultimately way beyond our comprehension here. The two most common understandings are:
That Inari Ōkami is an informal alias for Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami (宇迦之御魂大神). An example of this approach is found at Kasama Inari Jinja, which enshrines Inari solely as Uka-no-mitama-no-ōkami: http://kasama.or.jp/english/index3.html
That Inari Ōkami is a composite deity (comprised of a number of kami). The two other kami most frequently included are Satahiko-Ōkami (佐田彦大神) (aka Sarutahiko-Ōkami) and Ōmiyanome-Ōkami (大宮能売大神) (aka Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto) (example: Fushimi Inari Taisha, which originally enshrined only these two kami plus Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami.
Many other Inari shrines also include these two kami, such as the Inari shrine of Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha: http://www.e-shrine.org/history.html )
Basically, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami, Satahiko-Ōkami, and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami are very commonly considered part of Inari Ōkami (not just by Fushimi Inari Taisha, but many others).
Furthermore, Fushimi — which is the original site of Inari worship — has included the worship of these three kami since the beginning of Inari worship in ancient times. For these reasons, let us look at these three kami in particular to gain a better understanding of Inari’s essence and meaning…
Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami is the kami of life's sustenance, the root of life. Kasama Inari Jinja’s English website describes this thus:
Ukanomitama no Kami is a deity which presides over the root of life. … We are given life by the workings of this kami’s spirit, which has an intimate relation to all aspects of our life as human beings.
As the deity presiding over the root of life, it should be no wonder, then, that the kami is also strongly associated with foodstuffs, one of the things that sustains our lives as humans:
The “Uka” in the name means foodstuffs, indicating the “mysterious spirit dwelling in the grain.” In short, Ukanomitama no kami is known as the kami with jurisdiction over the five grains and foodstuffs, the life-root kami having mastery over the sources of life itself.
The second and third kami are a wedded pair, Satahiko-Ōkami (aka Sarutahiko-Ōkami) and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami (aka Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto). Of note, first of all, is the fact that Satahiko-Ōkami is also regarded as Ta-no-kami — the kami of the rice fields (there we have the sustenance of life again). In fact the kanji "田" in Satahiko-Ōkami's name means "rice paddy". But let’s look at Satahiko-Ōkami and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami as a couple here. They’re a wedded pair, and not just that, they are a fertility couple. From A New History of Shinto by Dr. Mark Teeuwen:
[Saruta-hiko] has markedly phallic features. His long nose is one such trait; also, Saruta-hiko has been closely associated with phallic markers (called dōsojin) placed at crossroads. … Like Ame-no-Uzume, Saruta-hiko is a deity of sex and fertility, and his appeasement in midwinter may well have been a local rite to secure renewed fecundity in the coming spring season. The combination of the phallic Saruta-hiko and Ame-no-Uzume’s exposure of her breasts and genitals makes for a striking fertility ritual.
Few things could be said to represent the source of life more than fertility. So these two kami, either on their own or even more-so together, have a huge role in the source of life.
So let’s combine these things:
- The life root and sustenance of Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami
- The spirit of the food we rely on to survive with both Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami and Satahiko-no-Ōkami (Ta-no-kami)
- The sexual union and fertility of Satahiko-no-Ōkami and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami
These are among the most powerful traits of the three most recognized kami that constitute Inari Ōkami. As it turns out, "Source of Life" is really one of the best phrases to describe what Inari Ōkami as a whole is all about. That's why when Tsubaki Grand Shrine opened its first American branch in 1987, their English signage described Inari Ōkami as the “Kami of Source of Life”.
To put it simply, Inari Ōkami is one of the most fundamental forces of the universe: The prime animator, the sustainer, The Source of Life."
To find out more about Inari Okami please check out:
# http://www.inarishrine.com/
International Association for Inari Faith: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ina.....faith/?fref=ts
He has posted this in our group: International Association for Inari Faith: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ina.....faith/?fref=ts
Enjoy!
- Rin
"In this article I want to start to really get into some meat-and-potatoes, and ask the questions: “Who is Inari Ōkami?” and even “‘What’ is Inari Ōkami?”.
First of all, everyone agrees that Inari Ōkami can be regarded as a single, autonomous spirit. (For example, although Fushimi Inari Taisha holds that Inari comprises five individual kami, the wakemitama from Fushimi that I enshrine is a single collective spirit named Shōichii-Inari-Ōmitama.) That single spirit can be prayed to, enshrined, revered, and followed. In fact, there is no necessary need to ever look at or understand Inari Ōkami in any other way.
But if we take a moment to look at some of the underlying theology behind Inari, we can gain some understanding of who Inari is and what Inari represents.
Today, there are several Shintō understandings behind Inari’s theology. Different institutions take different stances. The key thing to remember here is that they do not necessarily conflict with each other. None of them are “right” or “wrong”. We are talking about things ultimately way beyond our comprehension here. The two most common understandings are:
That Inari Ōkami is an informal alias for Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami (宇迦之御魂大神). An example of this approach is found at Kasama Inari Jinja, which enshrines Inari solely as Uka-no-mitama-no-ōkami: http://kasama.or.jp/english/index3.html
That Inari Ōkami is a composite deity (comprised of a number of kami). The two other kami most frequently included are Satahiko-Ōkami (佐田彦大神) (aka Sarutahiko-Ōkami) and Ōmiyanome-Ōkami (大宮能売大神) (aka Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto) (example: Fushimi Inari Taisha, which originally enshrined only these two kami plus Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami.
Many other Inari shrines also include these two kami, such as the Inari shrine of Hawaii Kotohira Jinsha: http://www.e-shrine.org/history.html )
Basically, Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami, Satahiko-Ōkami, and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami are very commonly considered part of Inari Ōkami (not just by Fushimi Inari Taisha, but many others).
Furthermore, Fushimi — which is the original site of Inari worship — has included the worship of these three kami since the beginning of Inari worship in ancient times. For these reasons, let us look at these three kami in particular to gain a better understanding of Inari’s essence and meaning…
Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami is the kami of life's sustenance, the root of life. Kasama Inari Jinja’s English website describes this thus:
Ukanomitama no Kami is a deity which presides over the root of life. … We are given life by the workings of this kami’s spirit, which has an intimate relation to all aspects of our life as human beings.
As the deity presiding over the root of life, it should be no wonder, then, that the kami is also strongly associated with foodstuffs, one of the things that sustains our lives as humans:
The “Uka” in the name means foodstuffs, indicating the “mysterious spirit dwelling in the grain.” In short, Ukanomitama no kami is known as the kami with jurisdiction over the five grains and foodstuffs, the life-root kami having mastery over the sources of life itself.
The second and third kami are a wedded pair, Satahiko-Ōkami (aka Sarutahiko-Ōkami) and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami (aka Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto). Of note, first of all, is the fact that Satahiko-Ōkami is also regarded as Ta-no-kami — the kami of the rice fields (there we have the sustenance of life again). In fact the kanji "田" in Satahiko-Ōkami's name means "rice paddy". But let’s look at Satahiko-Ōkami and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami as a couple here. They’re a wedded pair, and not just that, they are a fertility couple. From A New History of Shinto by Dr. Mark Teeuwen:
[Saruta-hiko] has markedly phallic features. His long nose is one such trait; also, Saruta-hiko has been closely associated with phallic markers (called dōsojin) placed at crossroads. … Like Ame-no-Uzume, Saruta-hiko is a deity of sex and fertility, and his appeasement in midwinter may well have been a local rite to secure renewed fecundity in the coming spring season. The combination of the phallic Saruta-hiko and Ame-no-Uzume’s exposure of her breasts and genitals makes for a striking fertility ritual.
Few things could be said to represent the source of life more than fertility. So these two kami, either on their own or even more-so together, have a huge role in the source of life.
So let’s combine these things:
- The life root and sustenance of Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami
- The spirit of the food we rely on to survive with both Uka-no-Mitama-no-Ōkami and Satahiko-no-Ōkami (Ta-no-kami)
- The sexual union and fertility of Satahiko-no-Ōkami and Ōmiyanome-no-Ōkami
These are among the most powerful traits of the three most recognized kami that constitute Inari Ōkami. As it turns out, "Source of Life" is really one of the best phrases to describe what Inari Ōkami as a whole is all about. That's why when Tsubaki Grand Shrine opened its first American branch in 1987, their English signage described Inari Ōkami as the “Kami of Source of Life”.
To put it simply, Inari Ōkami is one of the most fundamental forces of the universe: The prime animator, the sustainer, The Source of Life."
To find out more about Inari Okami please check out:
# http://www.inarishrine.com/
International Association for Inari Faith: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ina.....faith/?fref=ts
