Kumano Gongen Legends

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. Shinto Shrines (jinja　神社) - Introduction .
. kami　神　Shinto deities .
. Japanese Legends - 伝説　民話　昔話 – ABC-List .
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Kumano Gongen 熊野権現 Legends about Kumano Gongen
Kumano no Kami / Kumano no Okami / the Kumano Gongen Deity

. Kumano 熊野と伝説 Legends about Kumano .

- quote -
Kumano Gongen is deities enshrined in Kumano Sanzan.
The shusaijin (main enshrined deities) Ketsumimiko, Hayatama, and Fusubi (also called Musubi, spelled 牟須美 or 結) are called Kumano sanjo gongen, and other deities together with Kumano sanjo gongen are called Kumano junisho gongen.
- source : japanese-wiki-corpus.org ... -

. karasu　鴉 / 烏 the crow, raven - Messenger of Kumano Gongen .

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. Legends and Tales from Japan　伝説 - Introduction .


.......................................................................　Fukui 福井県 .....
三方上中郡 Mikatakaminaka district 若狭町 Wakasa town

karasu 烏 crows
In the early morning of the first day of the New Year, there is a ritual called
senjiki センジキ, 握り飯 roasted rice cakes.
On a rock formation people bring offerings of karasu mochi カラス餅 rice cakes for crows.
Very soon a couple of crows come down from the mountain and take the rice cakes away.
The crows are messengers of Kumano Gongen.
If they are coming, there will be a good harvest and good fishing.
If they do not come, there will be a poor fishing catch.

A similar story is told at 八幡神社 the Shrine Hachiman Jinja in 滋賀県 Shiga, 多賀町 Taga town.




.......................................................................　Iwate 岩手県 .....

熊野権現 the Kumano Gongen Deity is venerated 光興寺 at the Temple Koko-Ji.
Once an itinerant priest from Kyoto stayed over night in the hall.
When the priest lit a fire, the flames came over tho the hall.
The statue of the deity flew out of the hall and into a field far away.
It was stopped in a huge itayakaede イタヤカエデ Acer pictum tree.
The statue of Kumano Gongen is now at 柳玄寺 the Temple Ryugen-Ji.
The temple provides an amulet with yatagarasu 八咫烏 the three-legged crow.

. hakuryuu 白竜 Hakuryu, a white dragon at Ryugen-Ji .

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Iwate 花巻市 Ishinomaki town

. daija, orochi 大蛇 the huge serpent, great snake legends .
Once a girl washed her face in the clear water of the forest and soon became very weak.
Her parents got worried and prayed to 熊野権現 the Kumano Gongen Deity for help.
Then therer was a thunder and trembling of the earth, with strange light in the sky.
Eventually it became calm and clear again.
There were two huge dead serpents on the gruond, hugging each other.
The male serpent had fallen in love with the daughter,
but the female serpent became very jealous.
The serpents had a fight and finally fell down dead.




.......................................................................　Kagawa 香川県 .....
高松市 Takamatsu city 塩江町 Shionoe town

. Saint Gyoki Bosatsu 行基菩薩 (668 - 749) .
Gyoki Bosatsu stayed at 最明寺 the Temple Saimyo-Ji.




.......................................................................　Nara 奈良県 .....
葛城市 Katsuragi city

The famous 当麻寺の曼荼羅 Taima Mandala from Temple Taimadera had become quite old and needed repair.
A high priest came to do the work, but the colors he used did not fit.
At that time, his apprentice met an old man from 二上岳 Mount Futakamigake.
The old man told him to dig in the back of 熊野新宮社 Kumano Shingusha.
When he did so, he found a bundle with just the right colors.
The old man must have been 熊野権現 the Kumano Gongen Deity himself.
. Taimadera 当麻寺 / 當麻寺 Temple Taima-Dera.

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奈良市 Nara city

. Kokūzō Bosatsu 虚空蔵菩薩 Kokuzo Bosatsu .
When making mochi 餅 rice cakes at the temple for Kokuzo Bosatsu,
people used two small red plates and placed 12 Mochi on them.
The plates were placed outside on straw and people begun to chant.
In no time the karasu 烏 crows came to eat them.
Crows were seen as gongen no tsukai 権現の使い the messenger of Gongen.
. mochi 餅と伝説 Legends about rice cakes .




.......................................................................　Okinawa 沖縄県 .....
宜野湾市 Ginowan city

In 安谷屋村 the village Adania there lived a couple who could not pay their taxes.
So the wife had to go out for work.
The couple shared a contract to stay togeher for eternity
and then the wife left the village.
The woman cut hair long hair and sold it.
Then she bought some fragrant flowers and visite a temple.
On her way she met an old man and asked him to look after her luggage.
On the way back she could not find the old man any more.
She asked the Deity to show her the way.
In a dream she learned that the old man was
Kumano Gongen 熊野権現 The Kumano Deity.
When she opened the luggage found at the temple,
she saw that many cold coins had been put inside.




.......................................................................　Yamaguchi 山口県 .....

There is 熊野神社　a Kumano Shrine at 野上町 Nogami town.
Every year on the last day at ushi no koku 丑の刻 the hour of the ox, around 3 at night,
from 龍ノ口山 Mount Tatsunokuchi, there comes shinka 神火 a light looking like being shot from an arrow.
When the farmers see it, they feel blessed at the end of the year.
. shinka 神火と伝説 Legends about　"divine fire" .
shinka 神火 / シンカ "fire of the gods", "light of the gods"

. ushi no koku 丑の刻 hour of the ox .
This time was the best to make a wish or place a curse with the help of the deities, be it Buddhist or Shinto.

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- reference : nichibun yokai database -

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. tera　寺と伝説 Buddhist Temples and their legends .
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