Benzaiten
Benzaiten is the Japanese form of the Indian goddess Sarasvati, carried through Chinese Buddhism as Biancaitian, and she keeps Sarasvati's office — rivers, speech, music, learning — while becoming a bringer of wealth: in the Edo period the characters of her name were rewritten from goddess of eloquence (弁才天) to.
Benzaiten is a living popular devotion and at the same time an esoteric Buddhist deity: the 天 suffix marks a deva, and her cult is a genuine syncretism of Indian Sarasvati, Chinese Buddhism and Japanese snake worship (Ugajin), which should be recorded rather than dissolved into a single origin. The Seven Lucky Gods she belongs to are a Muromachi-to-Edo popular set with no scripture and no founder, not an ancient pantheon. The planetary, zodiac, tarot and sabbat correspondences are modern Western overlays; the tradition's own calendar is the shrine's festival days and the New Year visit.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Venus
Offerings
- Offerings
- SakeRiceSaltFresh waterFlowersA piece of music actually playedCoins washed in her spring
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- BentenDabenzaitenBiancaitianSarasvatiMyoonten
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- Goddess of the Flowing WaterLady of Music and EloquenceBringer of WealthThe Only Goddess among the Seven
- Symbols
- BiwaWhite serpentWish granting jewelLotusTorii in the waterThe island shrine
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneGracious fluent prosperousAddressBenzaitenBentenDabenzaitenGoddess of the Flowing WaterRelationshipThe goddess at the spring who answers with the voice she is givenWarningShe is asked for eloquence and she will hold you to what you say with itResonanceMusicians writers speakers those who live by water those keeping a shrine to fortune
- Modern Practice
She is asked for a voice, for a performance, for the water to keep running, and for money that comes in with the work rather than instead of it. The offering is sake, rice, salt and water, a flower, and a piece of music actually played rather than promised; at the island shrines the practice is the walk to the water and the coin washed in it.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WaterMusicEloquenceThe artsWealthWisdomThe riversFortune
- Mythology Summary
Benzaiten is the Japanese form of the Indian goddess Sarasvati, carried through Chinese Buddhism as Biancaitian, and she keeps Sarasvati's office — rivers, speech, music, learning — while becoming a bringer of wealth: in the Edo period the characters of her name were rewritten from goddess of eloquence (弁才天) to goddess of fortune (弁財天). She is the only goddess among the Seven Lucky Gods, and she is identified with the snake deity Ugajin, which is why her shrines stand on islands and springs and keep a white serpent as her messenger. Her great shrines are Enoshima, Chikubu Island and Itsukushima, and the washing of coins in her spring water (zeniarai) at Kamakura is one of her most crowded living practices.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsWhiteBlueGoldScentsLotusJasmineSandalwood whiteMetalsGoldSilverAnimalsSerpentSwanFish
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