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yamatodamashii
8th July 2000, 04:15
I was in another forum, and ran across a reference to "Amaterasu Omikami". I have always heard this deity referred to as Amaterasu no kami, and wondered what "Omi" means.

hoshizawa
8th July 2000, 18:10
My best guess is that omi in front of kami indicates she is a goddess. Hopefully helpful.

Earnie Warnick

hoshizawa
8th July 2000, 22:26
Originally posted by hoshizawa
My best guess is that omi in front of kami indicates she is a goddess. Hopefully helpful.

Earnie Warnick

Also, that she is the senior deity in Shinto as posted in the koryu section. Maybe someone else can shed a bit more light on Amaterasu Omikami, no pun intended.

Earnie Warnick

John Lindsey
9th July 2000, 05:02
I think her status as a senior deity in Shinto has only become popular over the past 200 years or so. It is not as old as most of us think, and is linked with the end of the Edo period if I remember correctly.

Also, one old record that I know of says that she was originally a he!

ghp
20th July 2000, 07:11
http://www.trifox.com/aux/kenshinkan/photos/amaterasu.jpg


The ofuda above is from the Ise Grand Shrine and states "Amaterasu Dai Jingu" [Amaterasu Great Shrine]. Amaterasu Omikami is broken down as:

“V -- Ama [Heaven -- also pronounced "ten"]
?Æ -- tera [Bright]
?c -- su [Shining]
"Heavenly Bright Shining"

‘å -- O [Great]
Ί -- mi [Honored -- also pronounced "go" or "o"]
?_ -- kami [deity]
"Illustrious goddess"

Regards,
Guy

[hmmmmmm -- I notice the kanji did not transfer. Sorry]

Shinobi
20th July 2000, 08:56
[hmmmmmm -- I notice the kanji did not transfer. Sorry]

Kanji worked fine on my end, thanks!