Susanoo-no-MikotoThe Impetuous MaleSlayer of the Serpent
Relationship
The outcast who does the work no one else will
Warning
His grief is weather get out of its way
Resonance
The expelled the grieving those who act before they think
Symbols
Kusanagi no tsurugiEight headed serpentSake jarsStorm cloudThe suga palaceThe first wakaThe cave door
Mythology Summary
Susanoo is the storm kami born from Izanagi's nose during his purification. In the Kojiki his endless weeping for his dead mother Izanami withers the mountains and the seas, and he is sent away; at Takamagahara he wreaks havoc, breaking the rice-field ridges, fouling the hall and flaying a piebald horse, and Amaterasu withdraws into the rock cave. Expelled again, he descends to Izumo, kills the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi with sake and the sword Kusanagi, marries Kushinada-hime and builds the palace at Suga, where he composes the first waka. His descendants include Okuninushi, the master of Izumo.
Modern Practice
He is honoured at the Yasaka and other Gion shrines, where his festival is loud and processional, and he is approached by people in a rage or under expulsion: the offering is sake and salt, and the request is for the storm to pass through rather than settle.