Amaterasu is the Goddess of the Sun, still worshipped in the Shinto Temples in Japan today. She is the Goddess of Beauty. One day she came home to find that her temple had been vandalized by her brother, the storm god Susano’o. All her handmaidens had been slaughtered, their bodies left to decimate her sacred space.
Outraged, she withdrew into a cave, pulling a big boulder over the opening to seal it shut. Now, as you can imagine, if the sun seals herself tight inside a cave, darkness falls all over the land. Soon the plants began to die, then the animals. The people came to plead and weep outside the cave, crying, “Amaterasu! Amaterasu! Come shine your face!” But she would have nothing of it.
The people appealed to the other deities, and 800 gods and goddesses gathered outside the cave. They cried and pleaded, “Amaterasu! Amaterasu! Come shine your face!” But she would have nothing of it.
The goddess Uzume stepped up to the cave, flipped over a sake barrel, and began a sexy and bawdy dance. She opened her kimono and exposed her breasts, flashed her genitals, and made fun of traditional shamanic rituals All the other deities began to laugh and laugh.
Amaterasu heard the laughter and became quite intrigued. The moment she rolled away the boulder, Uzume handed her a mirror, where she could see how beautiful she was. And in that moment she decided to burst forth and illuminate the day again.
---
I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a sexy and bawdy dance to bring me out of my cave. Are you ready to change? I invite you to become curious and full of wonder, discover and explore your own inner landscape, and be fluid in transforming as you go through morphosis. Cultivating lightheartedness is a serious practice.
