Ame no Uzume

posted on my blogspot on Jan 15th

Drumming That Evokes True (re)Source
dedicated to Ame no Uzume

the painting above ... it came from my great admiration to one of Shinto Gods, Ame no Uzume.

Shinto (神道 - way of God/gods) is believed as a religion of Japan by many but I don't really think Shinto is a religion. it is believed & worshiped as the Origin of Japan ( or even a world ) in Japan that there is no founder of Shinto. the basic of teaching of Shinto seems similar to Native Indians', like seeing a god in every breath ... like a mountain, river, rock, stone, breeze, wind, air, water, sea, flower, so on. ... if you go to Japan, you will see those Torii, shime nawa, jizou, (jizou is  more likely Buddhism) etc, to worship the spirit (god) in the area or the element.

 

Ame no Uzume is a female god ... a goddess, you would say, ... but in Japan, we barely use the word "goddess" to Japanese female gods somehow ... we use "god" to both male & female gods ... and use "goddess" when we refer western female gods such as Venus, Aphrodite, etc. ... I don't think Ame no Uzume is acknowledged as one of the higher gods in Japan and very known or believed as Okame or Otafuku who are like common human aspects and also who brings laughter, sensuality, and happiness.


if you are into some kind of Goddess perspectives of life, you might know Amaterasu (Oomikami) the Sun Goddess of Japan ... then you might also know the story that Amaterasu Sun Goddess hid herself in a cave because she was hurt by his rambunctious brother Susano-o, that the world went into dark as the Sun god hid herself. ... Amaterasu  Sun Goddess is a very sensitive subject to bring about as she belongs to the ancestor of Imperial Family of Japan. so I would like to speak of Amaterasu Sun Goddess here as a Myth, ... that Ame no Uzume is the one who made the great contribution to bring Amaterasu Sun Goddess  out of the cave, thus, the world has Sun again. (some readers shared that many gods with Japanese names here thus so confusing, so I decided to repeat Amaterasu with Sun Goddess in my hope to make less confusion with Ame no Uzume)


the story of Ame no Uzume goes like this, ... while Amaterasu Sun Goddess hid herself in a cave, so many gods gathered & tried to bring Amaterasu Sun Goddess out of the cave but none succeeded. then here came Ame no Uzume, and she totally made herself useful & resourceful to just have thrown herself in the spot to gather all the attentions from all the gods around her, except Amaterasu Sun Goddess. Ame no Uzume turned a little tub on the ground and started dancing & drumming with her feet on the tub. she was just performing on the tub which was exposing her breasts & her kimono was tagged up to her hip which was also exposing her genital. her performance was simply erotic yet funny that pleased all the gods around her to relieve the great laughter ... Amaterasu Sun Goddess wondered why all gods were having such great enthusiasm without her that she peeked the outside. all gods of course noticed the leak/stream of the light came out of the cave, that they were able to bring Amaterasu the Sun back to the world.


there is the another story of Ame no Uzume, that she was also tasked another one to accomplish. when the grandson of Amaterasu Sun Goddess was to go down to check the world between Heaven & the world of Death (or Dreams) which was Japan (Earth) and they saw the huge streak of light from the world below them. Amaterasu Sun Goddess told Ame no Uzume to find out who the light/god was because Ame no Uzume was taoyame [手弱女] which means a woman who is sweet & humble but also easy-going, however, not a great word to describe a woman but Ame no Uzume was not a god who minds, thus, the god below wouldn't feel intimidated by how Ame no Uzume looked. and it was a god of Land, Saru ta Hiko who was there to guide Heaven gods to the path to the world of Land.  ... some area of Japan also consider Saru ta Hiko as a Sun God as he was emitting such stream of bright light in the Myth. ... later in the Myth, Ame no Uzume married to Saru ta Hiko ... which is worshiped in some areas of Japan as the first international (dimensional) marriage.


..... here, my story begins ...

at some point of my life after I came to the united states, I suddenly began to hear about Amaterasu Sun Goddess so often. people started asking me about Japanese God & Amaterasu Sun Goddess, some others started referring me as Amaterasu Sun Goddess who just stayed in her own cave holding her light ... yes, I was having a difficult time to meet who I really was myself. during such time, I was seeing those healers and channelers to heal myself. one day, when I was seeing one of the counselors, she was questioning me who Amaterasu Sun Goddess was as she was channeling, and as soon as she said it, she was having goose bumps all over on her that she just knew it was something great spirit although she had no idea who Amaterasu Sun Goddess was, then told me that Amaterasu Sun Goddess was around me. ... I kind of puzzled a bit then remembered I was crying & feeling her agony & relief when I was reading the article about Amaterasu Sun Goddess a couple of years before the counseling, that somehow I became so tuned in with the Amaterasu Sun Goddess in the article I was reading ( link to the article ) ... that I was somehow able to accept that she was around me (& us) ... but that moment with the channeler led my thought further what this Amaterasu Sun Goddess showing up in my life really meant. and I began to re-read about Amaterasu Sun Goddess again, and there Ame no Uzume jumped into my spirit and my heart, and to evoke the deeper meaning of the soul I chose.


each god in Shinto has their unique quality & personality, they hold kind of one world or a story or an image with them ... but Ame no Uzume seems different, at least to me, that she holds such flow compare to other gods who hold much in solid & stubborn image & dignity. (if you read about Shinto gods, you might find them all immature as they hadn't experienced the lives on Earth much) but Ame no Uzume seems as if she was just open to the (re)quest of the environment, to adjust & adapt, holding no judgment & no attachment, making herself just so useful & resourceful to the (re)quest, the environment. ... what she did was, she just overturned the tub & tapping the tub with her feet, but that is said to be the origin of drumming in Japan, and her performance is said to be the origin of theatrical arts, include traditional & comedy, the show business, of Japan, ... the traditional ones such as kyogen (狂言), Kagura (神楽) and Kabuki (歌舞伎) Noh (能) etc ... she also is believed as the original form of Shamanism of Japan. her influence is also permeated into the striptease business in Japan ( reference link ) that her influence has evoked great enthusiasm & joy of show business/rituals, & performing art, of Japan. she did not only brought back the light into the world by having gotten Amaterasu Sun Goddess out of a cave, but also planted the seed to unfold the pleasure within the world by just being attuned with the environment & dancing with the flow. and marrying with Saru ta Hiko also seems to me is the marrying between Heaven & Earth. ... to me, Ame no Uzume holds such a key for all the humanity to liberate the true pleasure, the sacred pure ecstasy, to dig into our potentials on Earth. not to dig into Earth for our true creativity but to dig deeper within oneself to be useful & resourceful to its own quest, ... that I have painted my wish into my painting with my total admiration to the role of Ame no Uzume for the world to be open to seek true bliss in every (re)quest ... as I do know for sure that I was not only one who resonate with Amaterasu Sun Goddess in this inhumane world in which we hold the cave within our hearts to hide & trap our true beauty & pure enthusiasm of bright joyful beings ...


... as I decided to write about what's behind my painting of Ame no Uzume ... "drumming" began to show up ... like ... information of drumming & drumming videos & drummer began to jump into my days, ...as Ame no Uzume was to be the origin of drumming in Japan, in where I envision as if she was awakening the light that buried deep inside the Earth by drumming on the planet ... as many of our hearts need the profound beats to awaken the true light within every single cell in a body, our true spiritual creative being-ness to liberate from every cell within our souls ...


wishing everyone to hold Ame no Uzume ... to dance within and with the flow ... to meet the pure ecstasy of the embodied being on this beautiful sensual planet Earth ... so I also contained the Japanese letter, dance (舞) in the painting ...

May True Health, Wealth & Intelligence be Back to Earth


all rights reserved & deserved
m e r m a i d s u t r a . n e t

michael jackson - they don't care about us
he was really holding the bright will
to share his even-more love with the world
he was about to expose that ...


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sudan 365 - a beat for peace
"Sudan365 is a year of campaigning for Sudan.
It has been organised by a coalition of groups
including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
Save Darfur, FIDH, Refugees International,
Darfur Consortium and Arab Coalition for Darfur."
More info at http://www.sudan365.org/

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also http://www.drummingforpeace.com/

http://www.drumminganendtopoverty.org/


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Japanese Taiko Drumming (Kodo)
there are many Japanese Taiko performers
Kodo is quite sophisticated
[ wiki & official site ]


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amaterasu by tamasaburo + kodo
video supposed to be part 1 but there seems no part 2 up loaded yet
so there is no Ame no Uzume part in this video.
their performance is very serene,
although not eventful & you wouldn't understand Japanese
but I am sure it will grab your very deep attention
... & 10 minute would feel so short to you
tamasaburo the japanese famous kabuki actor plays amaterasu ...

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shinto
[ wiki ]

[Japan shinto] on Youtube
The Japan that Japanese don't know
-The Kumano Kodo (Kumano Ancient Path)

1 - 1/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efaQbCKUQUk

1 - 2/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg8aQlyKkYQ

2 - 1/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VceMprT4I7E

2 - 2/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJnG_KBu8Hk

3 - 1/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnI3hitMQ9s

3 - 2/2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JZNYpSzl6U






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