A
Figure of Shinto
Amaterasu — the sun.
The great kami of the sun, enshrined at Ise, ancestress of the imperial line — the closest Shinto comes to a center.
DomainThe sun; ancestress of the imperial line
RelationsSister of Susanoo the storm and Tsukuyomi the moon
Depicted asThe mirror at Ise stands in her place
StandingEnshrined at Ise, whose buildings are rebuilt every twenty years
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
Amaterasu is the sun kami, the most prominent figure in the pantheon, and the ancestor from whom the imperial house traces descent — a claim renounced by Emperor Hirohito in 1946 under Occupation pressure. Her shrine at Ise is rebuilt from scratch every twenty years, next door and then back again, a practice running for over 1,300 years: the building is always new and always the same, which is a fair image of the religion's relationship with continuity.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
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The family deity, and the goddess at the edge of the village.
Hinduism
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The devas — gods, and beside the point.
Buddhism
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Life is everywhere, and it is graded.
Jainism · core tenet
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The jinn.
Islam
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Everything is qi.
Taoism · core tenet
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Six creations, six guardians.
Zoroastrianism · core tenet
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