The GODDESS CIRCLE Goddess 5 - Amaterasu, Shinto Goddess of the Sun, Celestial Power, Beauty & Generosity
Amataerasu is the Shinto Goddess of the Sun, Celestial Power, Beauty, Generosity, Good Fortune & Happiness. Her name means ‘Great Shining Heaven’, literally translating as ‘Ama’ meaning heavenly and ‘terasu’ is a verb meaning to shine. Her full name Amaterasu Omikami means ‘Goddess of the most high who shines on the world’ and she is often referred to as the Queen of Heaven. She was believed to be the highest manifestation of Kunitokotachi, the unseen, transcendent yet immanent, spirit of the universe.
She is the fifth Goddess we’ll be working with in my upcoming ‘Light Goddess Circle’ for the New Moon in Leo circle on ‘Come out of Hiding & Shine Your Light’ - more details at the end of this post.
She is a very beautiful Goddess with long, silken black hair and generous, almond-shaped eyes and was seen as an embodiment of the Rising Sun and Japan itself - she is represented by the sun disc on the Japanese national flag. Japanese emperors are said to be descended from Amaterasu and she’s the highest deity in Japan. Japan's most important Shinto shrine, the Grand Shrine of Ise, is dedicated to her.
She is the daughter of the creator god Izanagi and sister of the Storm god Susanoo and the Moon god Tsukiyomi (in a twist on the more typical dynamic in which the bright, golden sun is the male god and the retiring, mysterious moon is the female goddess.)
Another weaving Goddess (like Frigg and Arianrhod ), she wove the garments of the gods. Cocks and horses are her sacred animals, kites and heavenly arrows are her symbols - also the beads, mirror and sword which are the ‘Three Holy Articles’ of Japanese royal regalia. Her festival is 17 July.
HER MYTH
The delightful myth about Amaterasu goes as follows:
Amaterasu’s brother, the storm-god Susanoo, had neglected his divine role and was acting up terribly, playing all sorts of practical jokes, destroying Amaterasu’s weaving room, desecrating her temple and killing a horse which was sacred to her. Horrified at his behaviour, Amaterasu retreats into her cave to hide, drawing a large stone over the entrance to seal herself off inside.
This had the unfortunate effect of plunging the world into darkness, her being the embodiment of the sun and all. So naturally the other deities, the kami, are very concerned and try to do everything they can to lure her out. To no avail.
Eventually, Uzume, Shinto Goddess of Humour, comes along with a foolproof plan: she tips a bathtub upside down right outside the cave as a makeshift stage, hangs a mirror on a nearby tree facing the cave and dresses up in a theatrical outfit of moss belt and leaf headdress. She then launches into a high energy dance on her bathtub stage, stomping up a frenzy and flashing her top and skirt. The highlight of her dance was baring her genitalia (brilliantly known as “the heavenly gate” in Japanese) to all and sundry.
This elicits uproarious laughter amongst the other kami, and Amaterasu, whose curiosity is now piqued by all the hilarity, peeks out of the cave to see what all the ruckus is about.
Uzume’s revelation of her feminine glory stuns Amaterasu out of her gloom. She then catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror Uzume had hung right outside the cave and is stunned by her own radiance.
After being worshipped for her life-giving radiance by all present, she vows never to deprive the world of her warmth and light again. She also be-friends Uzume, appointing her Goddess of Dawn as she had initiated Amaterasu, the Sun, into a new day.
The story of Amaterasu and Uzume closely mirrors that of Demeter and Baubo when Demeter goes into a deep grief over the loss of her daughter Persephone, and plunges the world into perpetual winter and no crops. Just as with Amaterasu and Uzume, none of the other gods can get Demeter out of her depression, until Baubo, also the Goddess of Humour in the Greek pantheon, comes to cheer her up. Which, funnily enough, she achieves in the exact same fashion - by flashing her bits which made Demeter giggle. Demeter’s spirits restored, she manages to persuade Zeus to command his brother Hades to return Persephone and promises to return the fertility of the land when she returns. Interesting that in completely different parts of the world such a strangely specific parallel myth exists.
WAYS TO WORK WITH HER
Come out of Hiding & Shine Your Light
Often when we’re introverts, empaths, ‘light-workers’ or energetically very sensitive we may need a lot of time to retreat to our metaphorical ‘cave’, like Amaterasu, to process all the energy we might have absorbed and to protect ourselves from the intensity of the world.
Just like Amaterasu’s reaction to her brother who was causing mayhem, the instinct is often to retreat and hide away from the world when, likewise, we witness all the mayhem on Earth - wars, the destruction of Nature, corrupt institutions and politicians and the like.
Whilst it can feel safe and familiar to retreat, to keep yourself hidden away and to avoid being seen, you’re depriving the Earth of your much-needed and unique light, beauty, wisdom and brilliance.
Amaterasu understands our tendency to want to stay hidden from the world and our fears about coming out of the cave - that we may be hurt, judged or misunderstood. But just as Amaterasu glimpsed herself in the mirror and realised her own radiance, vowing never to withdraw it again from the world and just as she made a new friend in Uzume, so she can support us to know our unique brilliance and celebrate the light and beauty in ourselves, others and the world.
Whilst of course we might still need periods of withdrawal, self-reflection and contemplation, with Amaterasu’s support, we won’t fall into a chronic pattern of contraction and withdrawing our light from the world.
It’s predominantly in this aspect that we'll be working with Amaterasu in my upcoming ‘Light Goddess Circle’ - more details at the end of this post).
Shadow Artist
To begin to feel more comfortable being out in the limelight and radiating our gifts to the world, might require some ‘shadow work’ somewhat conversely - to revisit our past with patience and compassion to see where we may have repressed certain natural qualities, aspects of our personality, ways of expressing ourselves, as they may have been shamed or criticised by people around us and therefore pushed into the ‘Shadow Self’ as Jung refers to it. Whilst consciously we might say we believe in the value of our work and think we should put our work out in the world, subconsciously our Shadow may be holding us back and trying to keep us safe from projected ridicule, rejection, shame or criticism as we experienced it in childhood when we expressed our true nature.
Indeed, Julia Cameron, author of ‘The Artist’s Way’, refers to the concept of the ‘Shadow Artist’ where someone might take a job in the arts or a creative field, so they can be around other artists whilst supporting them. Cameron suggests that often people become a Shadow Artist because the artistic urges from their childhood were ignored, criticised or suppressed.
It’s likely that incredibly talented, posthumously famous Street Photographer, Vivian Maier who took hundreds of thousands of incredible photographs had a strong ‘shadow self’ that kept her chronically withdrawn. The fascinating documentary about her ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ chronicles how this mysterious, extremely introverted nanny had the most amazing talent and yet the majority of her photos just stayed on film roll hidden in lockers - never developed, never seeing the light of day, never bringing her any notice, money or acclaim in her life until antique-hunter and documentarian John Maloof discovered, developed and exhibited them. Once the world glimpsed her incredible talent, she shot to posthumous fame.
Perhaps it was due to childhood neglect as she was always doing the “seeing” through constantly looking out through her lens at the world and yet never allowing herself or her work to be seen. Of course there might have been many factors at play as to why she never showed her photographs to anyone, particularly financial, a lack of stability and the fact she was taking photographs in the 1950s and 60s, when, culturally-speaking, the majority of women were not exactly encouraged to have high creative (or otherwise) career aspirations.
Whilst it’s sad that many women like Vivian never had the opportunity to have their work receive the recognition it deserved, it’s encouraging that in very recent years there’s been this volcanic-like eruption in popular culture of the narratives of women’s incredible and varied contributions to History/Herstory that have for too long been suppressed (sites like Herstory being a notable example). It feels like Amaterasu (and perhaps Pele, Goddess of Volcanoes) are ensuring these talented women who have remained in the Collective Shadow, get their moment of glory in the sun, even if it is posthumous.
RITUALS TO CONNECT WITH HER
Set yourself a challenge to step into the light in a bigger way than you have been by a certain date - it should scare you a bit otherwise it means it’s still in your comfort zone! Set up that YouTube channel or podcast you’ve been talking about and record your first video or episode on something you’re passionate about. Or get your public speaking debut by joining a Meetup group or a Membership club that offers short introductory spots for newcomers to introduce their business or idea. If you’re a business-owner who’s a bit shy about promoting your work, sign up to have a stand at an expo or market in your industry. Goddess Amaterasu wants you to be seen!
Mirror work - mirrors are one of Amaterasu’s sacred symbols and doing mirror work - as popularised by Louise Hay - can be quite a profound ritual to shift your negative thinking about yourself and boost your self esteem. Sit yourself in front of a mirror and allow your eyes to just relax and your gaze to go all sortof misty. Allow yourself to look at yourself in the eyes for several minutes and just let your awareness settle - ignore all the ego/monkey-mind stuff your brain will try to throw at you like “your nose is too big!” or “omg is that a ZIT?!” etc - intentionally affirm positive statements about yourself and allow your inner radiance to shine through.
Celebrate beauty - buy or pick yourself a bouquet of flowers, pull out your favourite dress or outfit, pamper yourself, make yourself feel beautiful and allow yourself to emerge, shining your radiance - go for a spot of people-watching and admire others’ beauty too sat outside your favourite cafe or go for a promenade about a lovely park and admire the beauty of nature. (Paris, if you have the opportunity to visit, is a particularly excellent spot for people-watching and admiring beauty but you can embrace the spirit almost anywhere)
Journal around what makes you stay in hiding if you have a firm habit of keeping yourself and your work hidden from the world do some journalling around what might be holding you back from letting yourself and your work see the light of day? Were you shamed or told off in childhood (or as a part of your culture) about displaying confidence? We can often have such an ingrained fear about not wanting to appear ‘cocky’ or a ‘show-off’ that we may compulsively hide our light under a bushel to our detriment. There can be a fine line between arrogance and confidence however confidence usually comes from an innate sense of lived experience and is hard to fake whereas arrogance usually stems from low self-esteem but is trying to hide that by projecting that ‘you’re better than’. If you fear coming across as arrogant and are struggling to embody confidence in your work then try embodying enthusiasm about your subject - it’s usually easier to drum up enthusiasm than confidence - there’s usually less baggage around it - and it’s contagious!
If you’re feeling a bit down in the dumps, convinced it’s better to stay hiding in your metaphorical cave, perhaps send a close friend this blog… you never know, they might ‘pull an Uzume’ and come round and give you a bawdy dance to cheer you up. I mean, it worked for Amaterasu and Demeter, two pretty mega Goddesses so who are we mere mortals to judge 💁♀️
Watch my upcoming reading ‘Messages from Goddess Amaterasu on ‘No More Hiding - It’s Time to Shine Your Light’ released this Sunday 31st March on on my YouTube Channel.
To receive some personalised powerful energetic support with stepping into and shining your light, join my upcoming Goddess Circle (the second tier in my Moon Temple Membership) which begins with the New Moon in Aries and runs until the new Moon in Virgo.
Amaterasu is the fifth Goddess we’ll be working with for the New Moon in Leo circle on ‘Come Out of Hiding & Shine Your Light’. You can see the other Goddesses we’ll be working with in the Circle on the above page or in this Goddesses of the Circle blog series I’m releasing weekly in the lead-up to the Circle.
The Goddess Circle encompasses a live online monthly gathering where I’ll be introducing the themes of the New Moon & the associated Goddess, doing a short guided meditation to connect in with the themes, an intention-setting ritual together (which seriously amplifies the power of intention-setting!) and closing the circle with a powerful Goddess Activation/Path-working with that month’s Goddess to energetically anchor in your intentions and support you to actualise your potential. It’ll be magical! ✨
➡️You can get all the information about the Circle and my other Moon Temple Membership Tiers HERE