Sometimes I think how relieved the world must be that we live such short lives.

metal god

 

Amenomahitotsu no Kami (天目一箇神)

Amenomahitotsu no Kami is a Shinto god of iron manufacture and blacksmiths who appears in Japanese mythology. He appears in the "Kogoshui" (History of the Inbe Clan), the "Nihonshoki" (Chronicles of Japan), and the "Harimanokuni Fudoki" (Records of the Culture and Geography of Harima Province). He is also known as Amenomahitotsune no Mikoto and Amenokushimahitotsu no Mikoto. He has something to do with Daidara-bocchi (a giant in Japanese mythology).

Summary

According to the "Kogoshui," Amenomahitotsu no Kami is a child of Amatsuhikone no Mikoto. He made swords, axes, and bronze bells during the 'iwato-gakure,' when Amaterasu Omikami, the sun goddess, hid herself in a cave after a fight with her brother. He worked as a blacksmith to make the necessary items when the god Omononushi was enshrined. The document also says that during the reign of Emperor Sujin, a descendant of Amenomahitotsu no Kami and a descendant of Ishikoridome (the ancestral goddess of mirror makers) recast the sacred mirror. In the "Nihonshoki," the second issho (addendum) in the section on the pacification of Ashihara no Nakatsukuni (the Central Land of Reed Plains) says that Takamimusubi (one of the three creator gods of Japanese mythology) designated Amenomahitotsu no Kami as the blacksmith when they enshrined the gods of Izumo. In the "Kogoshui," he is described as the ancestor of the Inbe Clans in Tsukushi Province and Ise Province, and it also mentions some relationship to Futodama (another ancestral deity of the Inbe Clan).

He is a god of blacksmithing and is thought to be the same god as Amatsumara, who is described as a smith in the iwato-gakure section of the "Kojiki" (the Records of Ancient Matters). The 'mahitotsu' part of his name means 'one eye,' and it is said this was derived from the fact that blacksmiths closed one eye to judge the temperature of iron from its color, or another story that blacksmiths had an industrial disease which made one eye blind. The same thing can be said about Amatsumara because the 'mara' in 'Amatsumara' is derived from the word 'meura,' which also means 'one eye'.

Amenomahitotsu no Kami appears under the name of Amenomahitotsu no Mikoto in the section on the Takanokori region in the "Harimanokuni Fudoki" (the topography of Harima Province). The story has it that Michinushihime no Mikoto, the local guardian goddess, gave birth to a child whose father was unknown, but when she let the child choose which god out of the many he would pour ukeizake (sake which is offered to a deity to ask his or her will) for and the child chose Amenomahitotsu no Mikoto, she realized that Amenomahitotsu no Mikoto was the father. It is believed that this myth represents a close relationship between agricultural people and metalworkers. Amenomahitotsu no Kami is enshrined at Amenomahitotsu-jinja Shrine (Ogi-cho, Nishiwaki City, Hyogo Prefecture (formerly Ogi, Hino Village, Taka District), the current shrine building is a reconstruction), where he was worshipped as a god of iron manufacturing.

Ichimokuren

Although Ichimokuren, also known as Hitotsume no Muraji, is thought to be the same as the Amenomahitotsu no Kami enshrined at Ichimokuren-jinja Shrine, which is an annex shrine of Tado Taisha Shrine (Tado-cho, Kuwana City, Mie Prefecture), this deity was originally a dragon which had lost one eye and this led people to eventually identify him with Amenomahitotsu no Kami.

Ichimokuren is regarded as a god who controls the weather and, in the Edo period, people frequently prayed to him for rain and for protection against shipwrecks in Ise Bay. Kunio YANAGIDA concludes that this belief originated in sailors at sea on Ise Bay using the appearance of Mt. Tado to predict changes in the weather. Mt. Tado, which is at the southern tip of the Yoro Mountains, must have been a good mountain for predicting the weather because, of the mountains to the north of Ise Bay, it is the closest to the bay and changes in the weather, such as fog on the mountain, can easily be seen.

The section on 'umi no okase' (whirlwind) in the "Wakan Sansai Zue" (an encyclopedia compiled in the Edo period) says 'Well, unexpected windstorms sometimes occur in Sei-shu (Ise Province), Bi-shu (Owari Province), No-shu (Mino Province), and Tan-shu (Hida Province), and such storms are generally called Ichimokuren and considered as a divine wind. Once this wind blows, it destroys everything: it pulls out trees, makes big rocks fall, and breaks houses. However, this occurs just along a narrow corridor and it does not damage any other places. A shrine for Ichimokuren is located on Mt. Tado, in Kuwana District, Sei-shu.'
According to a legend from Ise, Owari, Mino, and Hida Provinces, a windstorm occurred when Ichimokuren left the shrine and ran wild, and it is believed that the description in the encyclopedia was derived from this folklore. The main building of Ichimokuren-jinja Shrine does not have a door, and it is said this is to enable Ichimokuren to go in and out of the shrine anytime he wants in order to show his divine power. 

https://japanese-wiki-corpus.github.io/Shinto/Amenomahitotsu%20no%20Kami.html

 

relic

 This is a WWll rosary ring ring made from an artillery shell case. I find it a very disturbing object.

the hen

 

Called you.

Talked about your friend,  a hen.

Three years old, this friend!

You worried when

you saw her stumble 

and the pet peacock, close,

began pecking at her eyes

(surprised at such cruelty).

You rescued her, unharmed,

made a hay bed in the barn,

where she lay all night.

She died.

You cried.

After our talk,

you'll bury her.

 

What kind of alliances do I wish for, build?

Do I transact or transform? 

 

Remember to keep 

compassion

at the center

of....

small acts

 1

Along the river,

wrote "vote"

(cursive)

with a finger in the sky.

2

I've learned 

that weeks of

hoaxes coax

the worst from us.

Told jokes because

extremism lacks them.

3

Somewhere someone's

burning books -

I salvage one in my mind,

a  justice manual ,

look up "resistance".

Ramana Maharshi

 

EIGHT POINTS

 

1. Turn the mind inward and rest in your own Self.

2. Mind is the cause of bondage.

3. Give up one thing after another and rest in peace.

4. What we get, we shall lose, so desire not.

5. There are two kinds of meditation. The first is to be practised by advanced aspirants — nirguna dhyana — where one seeks to know the Meditator himself. The second kind is to be practised by those less advanced — a some what round about course — saguna dhyana — where the meditator, meditation and the object of meditation get merged ultimately into one.

6. When I come to know that I was never born, I shall never die. Death is for one who is born. I was never born. I have no body and so I shall never die. I am everywhere; where am I to go and where am I to come?

7. When a man’s mind is dead, he will not die again.

8. Attain the sushupti (state of sleep) in the jagrat (waking) state, and you become a jnani.

 

Recorded in June 1918 By C.V. Subramania Aiyer

 

"Everybody knew that Sri Ramana was very careful with everything, particularly with food, and never wasted anything. This was, of course, especially noticeable in the kitchen. When once some mustard seeds fell on the floor, the cooks took no notice, but Ramana picked them up one by one with his fingernails and placed them in a small bowl.

Raja Iyer reports that Ramana had shown him how to use the ladle in such a way as to avoid a single morsel of food falling on the floor, how to pour without spilling anything and how to make a fire with only a few drops of kerosene.

For each vegetable Ramana knew a special kind of preparation.

Nothing was thrown away. If he cut spinach, he separated the leaves, the stalks and the roots. With the leaves he made the curry,

the stalks were bound together, cooked and put into the sambar and the roots were washed carefully, squeezed and their juice put into the rasam. Any orange peel or apple peel was put into the chutney. The leftovers from the previous day were warmed up and served at the following breakfast, along with the iddlies. If there was any soup or vegetables left, they were put into the sambar. This was against the caste rules of the Brahmins, according to which leftovers may not be used the following day. But Ramana insisted that the avoidance of waste was more important than anything else. To give the leftovers to beggars was also not practicable, as they had to have the same as everyone else and not be given poor quality food.

One evening Ramana had cut spinach and brinjal (aubergines) and laid aside the pieces which he could not use so as to make use of them the following day. The next morning, when he came into the kitchen as usual and asked for the pieces he had put aside, he was told that they had already been thrown away. He therefore went outside, found them, cleaned them, cut them into smaller pieces and used them.

Sampurnamma recounted another story along the same lines,

“Once a feast was being prepared for his birthday. Devotees sent food in large quantities: some sent rice, some sugar, some fruits.

Someone sent a huge load of brinjals and we ate brinjals day after day. The stalks alone made a big heap which was lying in a corner.

Bhagavan asked us to cook them as a curry! I was stunned, for even cattle would refuse to eat such useless stalks. Bhagavan insisted that the stalks were edible, and we put them in a pot to boil along with dry peas. After six hours of boiling they were as hard as ever. We were at a loss what to do, yet we did not dare to disturb Bhagavan. But he always knew when he was needed in the kitchen and he would leave the Hall even in the middle of a discussion. A casual visitor would think that his mind was all on cooking. …

‘How is the curry getting on?’ he asked.

‘Is it a curry we are cooking? We are boiling steel nails!’ I exclaimed, laughing.

He stirred the stalks with the ladle and went away without saying anything.

Soon after we found them quite tender. The dish was simply delicious and everybody was asking for a second helping. Bhagavan challenged the diners to guess what vegetable they were eating.

Everybody praised the curry and the cook, except Bhagavan. He swallowed the little he was served in one mouth-full like a medicine and refused a second helping. I was very disappointed, for I had taken so much trouble to cook his stalks and he would not even taste them properly.

The next day he was telling somebody, ‘Sampurnam was distressed that I did not eat her wonderful curry. Can she not see that every-one who eats is myself? And what does it matter who eats the food?

It is the cooking that matters, not the cook or the eater. A thing done well, with love and devotion, is its own reward. What happens to it later matters little, for it is out of our hands.”

 

- Ramana Maharshi: His Life

 

things

1

not alone

stone in water

tree in sea

 

 2

bird (s)

verb

noun

sound  

of river

lessons

Bull and cow elk make a whistle (descending) and a whistle roar (clear your throat)

Kaixo (kigh show) is hello in Euskara

Tony's grandmother was mugged

Paul gives excellent advice

Tim has more work

Travis the poodle visits even if I don't give him eggs

My sister Maureen gives 150% of herself to her family

I couldn't call Gyongyi but we'll talk next week

The squirrels are very fat now

I think I saw a beaver marks on a felled tree along the river greenway

 

 

What bird represents hope to you? To me, it is the slate-colored junco. I found a nearly mature fledgling hopping about on the greenway path along the river. I thought it hurt, but discovered juncos build their nests on the ground. I caused the poor thing such a fright it sighed and went limp. I thought I had killed it! Yet its heart said no. I put it near the ground, off the path, in a safer place. Came later to find it gone! Trickster! You gave me grief and joy, taught me to not underestimate the wit and wiles of small things.!

 

Time to focus on the last green things of the season, and small, dark birds. Words and images. Hope.

 

Let's say the weekend proper starts on Thursday during the pandemic.  I am going to do a bit of magical thinking on this, and declare it so. Three sabbaths and an eve. How Abrahamic of me!

Amabie アマビエ

 

 アマビエ

Give illness a face,

frightening and funny,

a strong-smelling

charm of the

sea.

 

 

We wanted

a faith healer,

a gatekeeper, 

but got instead what we forgot - how to live with death.

Between

sickness and health,

island wisdom

still rises from the sea.

Amabie 

meets spirits and earth,

dives

into

hope,

lives underneath

this epidemic,

in  our dreams.

Seems she's especially 

seen in hard times.

Why not?

We always  welcome

a storyteller

who makes

fun of our

scared  faces,

our races for cures.

 Peak and trough -

sit still,

give it time.

peace cage

 

 from Louise Glück (All Hallows):

toothed moon

seeds

and the soul creeps out of the tree

quill

 main tail or wing things

hollow feathers, sharp spines or a bird-birthed pen, 

yet again an old word for pan pipes, or the weaver's spindle

fabric in cylindrical folds molded

or old porcupine spines finely hand-worked

into boxes

a beautiful and appeasing thing 

can spring

from a word 

fixed on 

flight and protection

connected

deeply

to creating

as 

some words

are

quote verse

 quote verse (poem made of heard quotes, those in italics)

 

a period of liminality

where

a committment to memory

overwhelms numbness

becomes

restorative

initiates a

reimagining of place

 

 

 

 

 When did it first arrive

this feeling

that whatever happens

won't be enough

 dreams

heavy as lead

on this

The

Day

of the 

Dead

 

 quiet 

driven 

riven 

sieved

hours