The Realm of the Sea God (Re-post)

I originally posted this several years ago, but it's so interesting to me, especially in light of what appears to be ruins of a great city, located on the ocean floor off the coast of Japan. 

The Great Fire-Glow was a prince who was adept at fishing in the ocean, and caught all manner of sea life.  His younger brother, Fire-Fade, was a mountain man, skilled at hunting the wildlife of the earth.  The two brothers one day decided to try their hands at the other brother's occupation.  Fire-Fade took to the sea, but was unable to catch any fish.  In fact, at one point, he even lost his brother's fishing hook beneath the waves!  When his brother, Fire-Glow, requested his hook back, Fire-Fade responded, "I was unable to to catch anything, and, alas! lost your hook in the sea."

Fire-Glow was angry, because he had taken great care to return his brother's bow and arrows.  He demanded that his brother retrieve the hook from the bottom of the ocean.  Unable to comply, Fire-Fade fashioned another hook for his brother, but Fire-Glow demanded the original hook once more.

So Fire-Fade melted down his sword and, with it, fashioned five-hundred hooks for his brother, but Fire-Glow would not take them.  Fire-Fade then made a thousand hooks for his elder brother, but this was not good enough.  "I want my hook back," Fire-Glow demanded.

In his frustration, Fire-Fade stood at the edge of the ocean and cried out to the sea spirits.  At last, Shihi-tsutsu no Oji stood by him and asked, "What is wrong, that you grieve so?"  Fire-Fade told him the story, and the old man responded, "Do not worry, for I will help you."  So he fashioned a water-tight basket for the hapless brother, and lowered it into the ocean with Fire-Fade inside (for the basket was lowered upside-down, so as to be filled with air).

In time he found himself situated on the bottom of the ocean near a pathway, where, leaving the basket, he soon found himself at the Palace of the Sea God.  The palace was adorned with towers, battlements, and fierce means of defense.  Fire-Fade, afraid to enter uninvited, stood next to the gate until the princess invited him in.  She took him before the Sea God, who asked Fire-Fade his purpose there.  Fire-Fade told the story of the fishing hook, and the Sea God questioned all of the fishes, to see whether they had seen Fire-Fade's missing hook.

They had not, they responded, but one of their kind had suffered with a wound in her mouth for quite some time.  The Sea God called her forward, and, upon examination, it was discovered that the hook was caught in her mouth.  It was removed, and returned to Fire-Fade.

However, having seen the beautiful daughter of the Sea God, Fire-Fade desired to remain in the kingdom.  So he married her, and they lived in the palace for three years.  Eventually, Fire-Fade began to miss his home, and his wife, the princess, saw his distress.  She told her father of Fire-Fade's deep sighs, and the Sea God granted her husband permission to return to his home.  Upon his departure, Fire-Fade received two magical stones, which would allow him to control the waves, causing them to ebb and flow at his desire.  The Sea God suggested that he use the stones to drown his older brother, who was most unreasonable about the ordeal with the fishing hook.

Before he could leave, however, Fire-Fade's wife informed him that she was with child, and would soon join him on land to give birth to their child.  "When the waves and sea are stormy," she told him, "I will come and wait for you on the seashore."

Fire-Fade returned to his home, and, with the stones, convinced his brother to repent.  Soon afterward, Fire-Fade's wife emerged from the depths to give birth to their child.  As she was about to deliver, she told her husband that she would have to take her natural form, and begged him not to look at her in that condition.

However, as he stood in the hallway awaiting the birth, Fire-Fade looked in upon his wife, and lo! she was a dragon!  She was saddened and ashamed at this, and told him, "If you had listened, I would have made the sea and land peaceful with each other.  As it is, the two kingdoms shall never be at peace again."  And so she abandoned her child and descended into the depths, barring the way to the castle.

-Found in the Kojiki and Nihongi, Japan




The most interesting part of this story is the existence of what appears to be an actual city on the ocean floor off of the coast of Japan (don't worry, it's uninhabited!).  Could an adventurous person have made a rather primitive sort of submarine, as depicted in the story, and actually seen these ruins?   

Izanagi and Izanami

Izanagi and Izanami came to earth over the Rainbow Bridge, and Izanagi brought his jeweled spear with him.  The earth was not as we know it now, however, but was a deep, oily ocean.  Izanagi plunged his spear into the chaos, and stirred it.  When it stirred around and around, he drew out the spear and let a single drop of water fall from the tip.  The water turned into an island.

They stepped off of the bridge and onto the island.  On this island, they created a tall stone column.  The column was sacred, and contained the sacred stories of the ancients.  Izanagi walked around the column in one direction, and Izanami walked around the column in the opposite direction.  They met, and the two were married, and they consummated that marriage.  From this coupling, Izanami gave birth to everything in the world:  the eight islands of The Empire, the gods and goddesses of water and nature, the mountains, streams, plants, animals, and even the mountains.  At long last, Izanami gave birth to fire, but the fire consumed her as a fever, and she died, descending into the Underworld.

Izanagi was grief-stricken and chased after her.  It was dark, and he was unable to see, so he pulled a comb from his hair.  The comb was wooden, and very ornate, but he did not care.  He lit it on fire, hoping to see his bride.  What he saw was terrifying, and he recoiled.

She was a rotting corpse, her flesh hanging off of her bones, her mouth agape.  Issuing from that dreadful mouth was a scream vile enough to cause Izanagi to turn and flee.  She flew after him, shrieking all the while, her demons and minions joining in the chase.

Izanagi made it to the entrance of the Underworld, and rolled a stone over the opening, trapping his corpse-bride and her demons inside.  She vowed that, as an act of revenge, she would steal 1,000 people a day in death.  Izanagi replied that he would cause 1,500 people to be born each day.  And so it was that, just as the two were married at a stone column, so did that marriage end at a stone, and thus are the living and dead forever separate.

-Japanese Folklore

So many parallels here, it's odd, to say the least.  There's a Rainbow Bridge (Norse), a deep, chaotic Ocean (Hebrew, Sumerian, Greek) the birth of gods and goddesses (Greece, Sumerian, Norse, etc.), Death and Pursuit to the Underworld (Greece), demons (most ancient religions everywhere).  It's almost as if the world's cultures were derived from, and spread from, a single origin.  It's almost as if one culture divided into several, and each of those divided into several more, and each of those divided, and so on, carrying parts of their ancient stories with them.  Just file that away under things that make you go "hmmmmm."

The Ghostly Dance

Near Fushimi stands an old, abandoned temple.  Known as the Shozenji temple, for many centuries it has been believed that the temple was occupied by hundreds - if not thousands - of spirits.  The story comes from an old vagabond priest who, needing a place to stay, sought shelter in the deserted temple one rainy evening.

The sound of the rain and wind, which usually lulled him to sleep, only kept the priest awake.  Soon, however, another sound drifted from the upper room of the temple, a sound which filled the old priest with a growing dread, for though the temple seemed unoccupied, he clearly heard the sound of shuffling feet.  Grabbing a torch, the priest said a prayer and slowly climbed the steps to the upper room.

When he got to the room, the priest let out a shriek.  There, in the darkness of the temple, were ghostly, glowing shapes of hideous demons and deformed spirits.  The priest, not wishing to encounter one of them, fled from the temple and, that very night, warned everyone in the town of his supernatural visions.

-Japanese Legend


As it turns out, this story is true . . . from a certain point of view.  There really was a monk who spent the night in the temple, who really heard sounds, and who really saw ghostly visions.

But they were not, of course, ghosts.

The world-famous painter and artist, Tosa Mitsunobu, heard the monk's story, and went to investigate.  As it was daylight, he saw the room clearly, and he noticed  that someone had drawn figures of ghosts and horrible demons.  Through cracks in the wall, a phosphorescent mildew had grown, lighting the figures with an unearthly glow.  Settling down amidst the rat droppings that covered the floor (thus indicating that the monk was hearing rats, not ghosts), the artist began to sketch these figures, becoming one of the most celebrated artists in Japanese history.