Kamui

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kamui or Kamuy is the Ainu word for a spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology.

Contents 1 Concept 2 Oral history 3 Some notable kamui 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Concept

In concept, kamui are similar to the Japanese kami — the term is sometimes translated as god or divine spirit, but these translations may miss some of the nuances of the term.^[1] Kamui are numerous; some are delineated and named, such as Kamui Fuchi the hearth goddess, while others are not. Kamui often have very specific associations — for instance, there is a kamui of the undertow.^[1]

Personified deities of Ainu mythology often have the term Kamui applied as part of their names.

[edit] Oral history

The Ainu had no writing system of their own, and much of Ainu mythology was passed down as oral history in the form of kamui yukar (deity epics), long verses traditionally recounted by singers at a gathering. Each kamui yukar recounts a deity's or hero's adventures, usually in the first person, and some of them are of great length, containing as many as 7,000 verses^[2] Some yukar contradict each other, assigning the same events to different deities or heroes; this is primarily a result of the Ainu culture's organization into small, relatively isolated groups.^[3] Records of these poems began to be kept only in the late 19th century, by Western missionaries and Japanese ethnographers; however, the Ainu tradition of memorizing the yukar preserved many.

[edit] Some notable kamui

• Ae-oina Kamui, a culture hero who taught humans the domestic arts
• Apasam Kamui, kamui of the threshold
• Chikap Kamui, also called Kotonkor Kamui, god of owls and the land
• Chup Kamui, goddess of the sun
• Hash-Inau-uk Kamui or Hash-uk Kamui, goddess of the hunt
• Kamui Fuchi, goddess of the hearth
• Kandakoro Kamui, the prime originator, god of the sky
• Kenash Unarabe, a blood-drinking monster who preys upon hunters
• Kim-un Kamui, god of bears
• Kinashut Kamui, god of snakes
• Moshirikara Kamui, creator of the earth
• Nusakoro Kamui, messenger to the gods and representative of the dead
• Pauchi Kamui, an evil spirit responsible for insanity
• Repun Kamui, the killer whale, god of the sea
• Shiramba Kamui, god of wood, grains, and vegetation
• Waka-ush Kamui, goddess of fresh water
• Yushkep Kamui, the spider goddess

[edit] See also

• Kami

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Ashkenazy, Michael. Handbook of Japanese Mythology. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 187-188
2. ^ Etter, Carl. Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan. Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1949. 53
3. ^ Ashkenazy, Michael. Handbook of Japanese Mythology. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 68

[edit] References

• Ashkenazy, Michael. Handbook of Japanese Mythology. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003.
• Etter, Carl. Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan. Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1949.
• Munro, Neil Gordon. Ainu Creed and Cult. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.