The story of Izanami and Izanagi Many years ago, when the universe was just created, seven

divine generations of deities appeared. Gods and goddesses came to being. Among these deities were Izanagi (in Japanese, he who invites) and Izanami (she who invites). The older gods assigned them the task of bringing order and structure to the shapeless chaos that the world was. To help the couple accomplish this, the older deities gave them a jewelled spear called ana no Nuboko, with which they stirred the surface of the ocean. Upon lifting its tip, drops fell from it and formed the island of Oragoro, wehere Izanami and Izanagi made their home. One day, each of the deitites realized that their bodies were made different. Izanami said that her body was not fully formed in one place and Izanagi said that his body had been formed in excess in one place. Izanagi, then, suggested they brought their parts together. They circled the pillar (?) until they met one another and iun spontaneous delight she said What a fine youn man! . What a fine young woman said Izanagi in response. Immediately, they joined their bodies, and soon Izanami gave birth to a deofrmed child, whom the couple immediately abbandoned at sea. Bearing this in mind, the two young gods returned to heaven to ask the elder kami where they had gone wrong. Their answer was that the child had been born imperfect as a result of Izanami having spoken first during the coulpe's courting ritual. Afterwards, Izanami and Izanagi tried again and gave birth to the islands of Japan. After these and many other births, which included many other gods, Izanami died due to the wounds inflicted to her by one of her sons, the god of fire, Kagutsuchi. Devastated by the fact, Izanagi cried his wife and from his tears other gods were born. Also, in a fit of rage, he cut Kagutsuchi's head, and from the blood that dripped from his sword, other gods came into being. Unable to separate from his partner, Izanagi descended into Yomotsukuni or Yomi, which is the underworld that awaits the dead. There, Izanagi begged Izanami to return to his side, in the world of the living, but he then got horrified by the sight of his wife and fled. The goddess, mad, sent the Shikome, horrible demons, to hunt for her husband but he managed to escape the realm of the dead and blocked the access with a giant stone. Still furious, Izanami yelled at his former couple that she would kill one thousand men and women everyday from that day on. The brave god, in response, exclaimed that he would give life to a thousand and five hundred everyday, also. After this, the god purified hiumself in the waters of a nearby river. From the pollution he pulled off of his body were born bad spirits who would haunt people but also protective spirits. Ultimately, three main gods were born from Izanagi: Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun; Susano-wo-no-Mikoto, the god of Storms; and Tsuki-yomi.