RiceSakeThe first rice of the yearA bowl set at the hearthA coin kept in the houseSweet cakes
Invocation Approach
Tone
Hearty practical grounded
Address
DaikokutenDaikokuLord of the KitchenGod of Wealth
Relationship
The god who stands on the rice bales in the kitchen
Warning
He is the household s fortune and a household s fortune is what is actually shared in it
Resonance
Householders cooks shopkeepers farmers those who keep a hearth
Symbols
MalletRice balesCloth sackThe smileThe hearthThe rat
Mythology Summary
Daikokuten is the Japanese form of Mahakala (Dahei Tian), brought with Esoteric Buddhism in the Heian period, where he began as a fierce protector; by the medieval period he is a smiling god of wealth and of the kitchen, with a mallet that brings forth coins, rice bales to stand on and a sack of treasure. He was then identified with Okuninushi, the earth god of Izumo, through the shared characters 大黒 and 大国, an identification that is Japanese and medieval and not part of the Indian figure. He is one of the Seven Lucky Gods.
Modern Practice
His altar is the kitchen and the shop: rice, sake, a bowl set at the hearth, the first rice of the year, a coin kept rather than spent. The practice is the prosperity of a household that actually eats together, and the mallet is shaken rather than swung.