In the East it is perhaps the Hindu, Chinese and Japanese deities that the general public will recognise more than the native gods and goddesses from Central Asia or in other parts of Asia. However, there is a rich mythology belonging to different countries that offers us a great deal of information on the cultural elements of these people and an insight to their history.
For example, the god Qormusta Tengri, also known as Chormusta (to the Buriats he is called Esege, the Malan calls him Tengeri and the Yakut’s call him by the name Tangara), is the supreme god of the Mongolian deities. We know that Qormusta Tengri is the king of the Tengri, the realms of heaven where he rules supreme over the other deities, not unlike that of Zeus, of the ancient Greek religion.
There are not many reliable sources of information on Qormusta Tengri, since he comes from a shamanistic religion where myths and legends and stories are passed down orally. We do know that, according to Mongolian belief that Qormusta Tengri lives in the centre of the world and is the consort of Itugen (an earth or fertility goddess) or Umai (a mother goddess).
Qormusta Tengri is said to be a creator god and populated the world with humans by combining fire, water and wind. He then populated the world with his own offspring who eventually became the rivers, trees, mountains and everything else in the world.
In recent decades there has been a sharp increase in the interest of shamanistic religions, especially in the Mongolian region where the faith is still going strong and continues to be practiced, despite the exorcising of Lamas (Tibetan Buddhist priests) after 1945 and after the Cultural Revolution in China.
During the 1970’s a scholar journeyed to East Mongolia to record shamanistic practices since no records were ever produced in this region. He records that “The prayers and incantations of the above-mentioned Khortsin shamans invoke Tngri for help, with Qormusta tngri as the highest embodiment of charismatic power; they further address spirits (sunesun) of ancestors, other objects of veneration (situgen), Ongghot and descending helpful spirits”. It is only the most powerful shamans who can communication with the god.
In shamanistic belief there are three realms – earth, heaven and the underworld. In both heaven and the underworld there are nine realms, the highest realm in heaven is where Qormusta Tengri dwells, where he is said to be without anthropomorphic form.
Qormusta Tengri was worshipped fervently by the great Genghis Khan who regarded him (or the Everlasting Blue Sky) as “the supreme deity above the gods he worshipped”.
There is a source which mentions his great belief in Tengri before his campaigns into China. “On one occasion before starting for a campaign into China, Chingis Khan consecrated himself by shutting himself up in his tent, remaining there for three days, the surrounding soldiers and people exclaiming at intervals in the meanwhile "Tengri!, Tengri! Sky! Sky !". On the 4th day he came out of his tent and announced that the Everlasting Sky granted him victory, and that now they were to go and punish the Kins”.
Genghis Khan’s belief in Qormusta Tengri can be summed up in his own phrase – “The Sky has ordered me to rule all nations”.
Bibliography:
Earthy, Dora E. (1955) The Religion of Genghis Khan (A.D. 1162 – 1227), Numen, BRILL.
Heissig, Walther (1990) New Material on East Mongolian Shamanism, Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.
Moses, Larry (1986) Triplicated Triplets: The Number Nine in the “Secret History” of the Mongols, Asian Folklore Studies, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
The History and Significance of the goddess Benten
Japanese mythology is full of interesting deities; for the scholar it can be somewhat difficult to unravel the ties between Shinto, the native religion of Japan, and the Indian gods that travelled with Buddhism to the country during the sixth century CE.
One of the most interesting goddesses in the Shinto pantheon is Benten, who is also known as Benzai-ten. She was a sea-goddess, a goddess of music and one of the seven Shinto deities of good fortune known as the Shichi Fukujin.
The Shichi Fukujin was a group of seven deities that were assembled sometime during the 17th century CE by a monk; it was his intention to present them as a symbol of all the virtues that a man of his time should inspire to.
Benten can be compared to that of the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite and the Hindu Sarasvati, in that she was known as the Queen of Love. She is believed to help humans in acquiring material gains and to bring good fortune in marriage. Benten is also the patron of geishas and worshipped by gamblers and jealous women. As well as this, she is the goddess of oratory, happy wisdom, longevity, freedom from harm, and victory. The island of Enoshima is sacred to her and, according to the noh drama Chikubushima, is where the goddess resides.
According to mythology, Benten was said to have descended to earth where she met and married a dragon in order to stop him eating young children. Because of this, she is sometimes depicted as riding a dragon in art.
Another legend tells of how the goddess helped the young poet Baishu. He had found a poem written by a maiden and had fallen in love with her, despite never having seen what she looked like. Praying to the goddess for help, Benten arranged for the young poet and the girl to meet outside the shrine. Later, it turned out that the young girl Baishu had fallen in love with was actually the soul of the women he later met and married.
In art, Benten is sometimes shown with snakes. Some statues of her reveal eight arms, six of these which are raised and the hands holding different objects. These include a bow and arrow and two hands are folded in prayer.
Bibliography:
Shokyu, Arii and Sato, Hiroaki (2002) Record of an Autumn Wind: The Travel Diary of Arii Shokya, Monumenta Nipponica.
One of the most interesting goddesses in the Shinto pantheon is Benten, who is also known as Benzai-ten. She was a sea-goddess, a goddess of music and one of the seven Shinto deities of good fortune known as the Shichi Fukujin.
The Shichi Fukujin was a group of seven deities that were assembled sometime during the 17th century CE by a monk; it was his intention to present them as a symbol of all the virtues that a man of his time should inspire to.
Benten can be compared to that of the ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite and the Hindu Sarasvati, in that she was known as the Queen of Love. She is believed to help humans in acquiring material gains and to bring good fortune in marriage. Benten is also the patron of geishas and worshipped by gamblers and jealous women. As well as this, she is the goddess of oratory, happy wisdom, longevity, freedom from harm, and victory. The island of Enoshima is sacred to her and, according to the noh drama Chikubushima, is where the goddess resides.
According to mythology, Benten was said to have descended to earth where she met and married a dragon in order to stop him eating young children. Because of this, she is sometimes depicted as riding a dragon in art.
Another legend tells of how the goddess helped the young poet Baishu. He had found a poem written by a maiden and had fallen in love with her, despite never having seen what she looked like. Praying to the goddess for help, Benten arranged for the young poet and the girl to meet outside the shrine. Later, it turned out that the young girl Baishu had fallen in love with was actually the soul of the women he later met and married.
In art, Benten is sometimes shown with snakes. Some statues of her reveal eight arms, six of these which are raised and the hands holding different objects. These include a bow and arrow and two hands are folded in prayer.
Bibliography:
Shokyu, Arii and Sato, Hiroaki (2002) Record of an Autumn Wind: The Travel Diary of Arii Shokya, Monumenta Nipponica.
Welcome to The Archaeology Queen!
Welcome to everyone who has stumbled into The Archaeology Queen....
This is a site dedicated to archaeology, anthropolgy, history, art history, mythology, religion and everything else that has links to the past. It is intended to be a haven of information for all age ranges, for those pursuing a career in history and for those who are just interested in the subject.
Let me introduce myself; my name is Lian Slayford and I am an archaeology student as well as an editor and freelance writer. I am continuing to study at university in order to specialise in religious archaeology; more specifically, symbolism in ancient religions. Think of me as Dan Brown's character, Robert Langdon, in the Da Vinci Code - only blonde, female and a lovely English accent!
Archaeology has always fascinated me since I was a little girl and I have devoured books on mythology and history since then. Because of this, I know (for the most part) nearly all the myths and legends that have emerged from the Classical world. In recent years, however, I have found myself being drawn to the east, to the worlds of ancient China, Korea and Japan (and it's not just because of the gorgeous men!).
I currently live in Birmingham, UK, although I was born and raised in Woking, Surrey. I moved to the West Midlands last year and although I miss having the British Museum on my doorstep, I must admit I do live living in Birmingham. I have 2 dogs - Medea, a pure white Siberian husky girl (who was, yes, named after the Greek Medea - my favourite mythological character) and Thorne, a massive Northern Inuit, who, like most male dogs, is a big wimp!
I intend to post articles relating to the subjects that hold my heart; you will find many articles on the world's different deities, civilizations and specific incidents. You will also find that I will post places of interest to the subject of archaeology and sites where I believe offer interesting, insightful and reliable information.
You can find many of my articles on Helium.com where I am the sub-channel steward for the Asian, African and Middle Eastern History channels, as well as the Asian Languages channel due to my knowledge on these subjects. You can go straight to my profile there by here www.helium.com/users/508025
Well, that's all I think I should state at this moment in time. New articles will be posted regularly and I hope that you, the reader, will enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them.
The Archaeology Queen.
aka Lian.
This is a site dedicated to archaeology, anthropolgy, history, art history, mythology, religion and everything else that has links to the past. It is intended to be a haven of information for all age ranges, for those pursuing a career in history and for those who are just interested in the subject.
Let me introduce myself; my name is Lian Slayford and I am an archaeology student as well as an editor and freelance writer. I am continuing to study at university in order to specialise in religious archaeology; more specifically, symbolism in ancient religions. Think of me as Dan Brown's character, Robert Langdon, in the Da Vinci Code - only blonde, female and a lovely English accent!
Archaeology has always fascinated me since I was a little girl and I have devoured books on mythology and history since then. Because of this, I know (for the most part) nearly all the myths and legends that have emerged from the Classical world. In recent years, however, I have found myself being drawn to the east, to the worlds of ancient China, Korea and Japan (and it's not just because of the gorgeous men!).
I currently live in Birmingham, UK, although I was born and raised in Woking, Surrey. I moved to the West Midlands last year and although I miss having the British Museum on my doorstep, I must admit I do live living in Birmingham. I have 2 dogs - Medea, a pure white Siberian husky girl (who was, yes, named after the Greek Medea - my favourite mythological character) and Thorne, a massive Northern Inuit, who, like most male dogs, is a big wimp!
I intend to post articles relating to the subjects that hold my heart; you will find many articles on the world's different deities, civilizations and specific incidents. You will also find that I will post places of interest to the subject of archaeology and sites where I believe offer interesting, insightful and reliable information.
You can find many of my articles on Helium.com where I am the sub-channel steward for the Asian, African and Middle Eastern History channels, as well as the Asian Languages channel due to my knowledge on these subjects. You can go straight to my profile there by here www.helium.com/users/508025
Well, that's all I think I should state at this moment in time. New articles will be posted regularly and I hope that you, the reader, will enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them.
The Archaeology Queen.
aka Lian.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)