She is the undisputed Japaneses Goddess of the underworld(Yomotsu-Kuni, land of the dead)
She was wife to Izanagi, and together they were given the task of bringing life to the world. All was going well until she gave birth to the god of fire(ouch), and she died from her injuries.
Her husband was devastated, and rushed to the gates of the land of the dead to retrieve her.
There are numerous versions of what happened next, but basically he failed to follow one simple request...
...not to look at her until they were back in the land of the living.
He looked, and saw her in her maggoty state of decomposition.....and ran away...
pushing a boulder across the gateway to stop her getting out! Understandably,(in my opinion) Izanami felt rejected and angry....took over as Queen of the underworld, and cried a curse on his creation(mankind). Every day she would claim 1000 souls, and Izanagi swore in return to create 1500.
Thus together they brought the cycle of life and death to mankind.My image is of her standing in the doorway of the underworld, with her back to the land of the living.
Fascinating story Gina - another goddess I didn't know. Great picture too and I agree with your assessment - she was understandably angry and right to do what she did .
ReplyDeleteHugs xx
Wow, the parallels to that story and the one in the bible about Lot and then the boulder too. Makes me wonder about all the same creation stories and myths around the world having such strangely similar threads. Love the artwork.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa,I too am fascinated by the similarities in the creation stories of different cultures. :D
DeleteShe is soooo wonderful. And her story, yoo!
ReplyDeleteI think that mankind has a common remembrance of its very ancient past, and that in all creation myths we find a piece of a common birth.
I personally believe in the collective conciousness, which would go towards explaining how all the differing cultures seem to share an origin story :D
DeleteYes, undoubtedly the goddess of the underworld looks very hard. Greetings.
ReplyDeleteFascinating story!
ReplyDeleteAgree with Gina, personally. Love your Art m'dear! Always so enjoy my visit here. hugs, Donna
ReplyDeleteFantastic painting and interesting story.
ReplyDeleteThis is powerful Gina and sad too! Another great Goddess you did!
ReplyDeleteOMG Gina, nothing worse than a woman scorned... LOVE the background story & LOVE the goddess artwork you created - cool, very cool!
ReplyDeleteThat was a great story to read. :) Great goddess!
ReplyDeleteShe's great?.. I had never heard this story!
ReplyDeleteWhat a interesting rendition! Love it.
ReplyDeletePlease may I use http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eLoyPc_KxJw/T1S1RAOwJbI/AAAAAAAAE54/DIRiRX5R7M4/s320/Photo2615.jpg on my blog?
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