Kumanokusubi- Japanese GodDeity
Also known as: 熊野久須毘命, Kumano-kusubi, and Kumanokusubi no Mikoto
Symbols
Description
When Susanoo ascended to heaven, Amaterasu armed herself and demanded a ritual trial. From her magatama beads, chewed and breathed upon, five male gods were born. Kumanokusubi was the youngest and last to emerge, the final proof that Susanoo's heart was pure.
Mythology & Lore
The Ukei Oath
When Susanoo ascended to Takamagahara, the High Celestial Plain, his sister Amaterasu suspected the worst. She bound her hair into warrior's knots, slung a thousand-arrow quiver on her back, and confronted him at the boundary of heaven. To prove that he had come in good faith, she demanded an ukei, a ritual oath trial in which the gods' true intentions would be revealed through the nature of what they produced.
Amaterasu took Susanoo's ten-span sword, snapped it into three pieces, rinsed them in the heavenly well, chewed them, and breathed out three goddesses: the Munakata sisters who would guard the sea lanes between Japan and the continent. Susanoo then took Amaterasu's string of five hundred magatama beads, wrapped them around his hand, chewed them, and breathed out five male deities in succession. First came Ame-no-Oshihomimi, ancestor of the imperial line. Last of all came Kumanokusubi no Mikoto (熊野久須毘命).
Since all five were produced from Amaterasu's own sacred jewels, she claimed them as her children. The birth of gentle male deities from her regalia proved Susanoo's heart was pure. The oath was fulfilled, and he was permitted to remain in heaven.
The Kojiki gives Kumanokusubi no clan genealogy and no deeds of his own. His elder brothers Oshihomimi and Hohi went on to found the imperial house and the Izumo priesthood. Kumanokusubi was the last to appear, and with his birth the oath was complete.