Pact with the Goddess: Nanamagari, 7 Maidens, 8 Cycles

This theory is all about Nanamagari and how this boss is important in the lore. Why is it the final boss? Why do we fight it's true form alone? Why do I suspect 7 Maidens were sacrificed, with our Yoshiro being the 8th? The pact with the Goddess...how does it work?

First, the intro:

The Goddess has Shaman Buns

The figure in white is the priest. 

Notice how the goddess has slit her wrist? This represents the Maiden who walks the Path sacrifices herself. To walk the Path of the Goddess is to surrender your life willingly. When Yoshiro in the intro speaks of devoting herself, she's actually becoming a human sacrifice. As a curse, the humans had to offer up a Maiden every generation from the descendants of those who caused the original defilement. All Maidens come from the same lineage. Because of humanity's actions, the defilement will return every time.

The figure is this man here, a priest:

'Human Sacrifice'

The one who performs the sacrifice ritual. It's why the Seethe's true appearance holds the Spirit Stone inside its belly, like a womb holding a baby. (The defilement itself around the mountain resembles Nanamagari)

It 'creates'. the Maiden and thus Soh. In the scroll image, there's a circle right by the man's midsection, circles represent wombs and creation. 

七曲り

The name and kanji...7 turns/twists. 

Why 7 Maidens?

The 7 in its name, the Seven Woes is the battle track's name, 8 cycles(9 playthroughs) needed to unlock everything(because the final is the 8th and we save our Yoshiro) and Cursed Soh's plaque.

'twisted and twined over time'

The building up of defilement through generations.

Even Soh's plaque mentions 'a shadow growing' with every victory. Because once a Maiden finishes the Path, she absorbs all defilement and her Spirit Stone, pure defilement, is eventually absorbed in the next cycle by Nanamagari who's then absorbed by the next Maiden. Each cycle is building massive amounts of defilement.

The first phase is called 'Pact with the Goddess', the second 'Nanamagari's True Appearance'.

When Nanamagari appears, it hides itself within the form of 'The Pact with the Goddess'. Then it emerges. Because it's the creation of the Pact and the true evil is the defilement and actions caused by humanity, not the Pact itself. 

The lore on Nanamagari's true appearance is interesting. It represents the Priest and his actions of human sacrifice and the festering of defilement in such actions. But this is one boss, not two. The pact brought about the need for the priest and the sacrifices. It created the second form.

But I don't believe this lore is talking about this creature. I think it's talking about Cursed Soh in its belly.
Think about what Cursed Soh is. An accumulation of 7 cycles of defilement and 7 girls having died for it. Humanity did not get better. Who better to place humanity on trial than her? She could be a god(as Maidens walk the Path and gain god-like abilities) or a vengeful spirit(from the tragedy of dead girls).

The phases mean something too, I suspect.

We fight the first phase with the villagers. Because together, we want to defeat defilement. Simple enough. But we fight the true form alone. Because the true form possibly represents two things.

The man in charge of performing the sacrificial ritual. The priest. They won't fight against the priest because they won't fight against customs and tradition but also the inevitable need for this. Without a Maiden offered up, the Seethe will continue. This is why we must fight this battle alone.
Soh, deep down, wants to end the cycle. This is why Cursed Soh emerges in the NG+. But why not in NG? Probably gameplay, for the normal ending to explain what happens during a cycle.
It's the 8th cycle, without intervention on Soh's behalf. It's Soh not wanting to do something.

Secondly, because humanity is weak against its own vices. They never change. They can't stand against this mass of defilement. If they could, we wouldn't be here! But Soh, a previously Pure Maiden now armed with Divine Power, absolutely can.

8 Cycles...

We are on the 8th cycle in NG+, the true ending. 

The logo shows this is the 8th one. On your save file, there's a little flower that becomes fully red once you do all 8. (Was this always the Goddess's emblem, implying the 8th cycle was significant? Or did they add those curves with every Maiden?)

If we beat the game 9 times(the first playthrough is the normal/bad ending to the 8th cycle), we get Cursed Soh, because the 8th cycle is the final one. It's the cycle Cursed Soh emerges from Nanamagari.

But why does Nanamagari take the Spirit Stone?

From the glimmers of white light within the liquidized spirit stone, it seems it still holds the power of the Goddess. The Seethe try to attack Yoshiro to steal her power, remember? This is the same with the Spirit Stone. It still holds the Goddess's power and the Seethe try to steal it. 
The Seethe are called the defiled Goddess's underlings and seek out her power. Killing them drops crystal orbs that seem to be...the Goddess's power? Or some kind of spiritual power.

In the True Ending, purifying Cursed Soh gives Soh all of the previous Maidens' power, allowing her to become a Goddess. 

In the Normal/Bad Ending, Soh just poofs into light. In the true end, she returns to her spirit form then ascends into the heavens.

Soh, like the ancestral deities, is considered a kami...
She's specifically called 'kunitsukami' in the scroll where she defeats Batsu and regains her powers. A God created here on Earth.

Buuut this is all theory. I'm still putting things together in my head.

In my previous post, I mentioned the Maiden and the villager's ancestors cultivated the land and made a pact with the Goddess. But I'm claiming the Maidens all share a lineage because Yoshiro and Soh look too similar. In actuality(lore), the mask a villager can wear depends entirely on whether it's their ancestor or not. It's why the masks must be recovered from different places. Those who live in that village/area are the ancestors of the deity whose mask we recover.

But I don't think this was implicated because it would be too frustrating. The only restrictions given are that only women can become shamans and only men can become sumo-wrestlers.

Something interesting...

In the development videos, 'the nanamagari' seems to be the name originally given to the Seethe.
Can we assume the final boss represents the Seethe in general and the source(broke pact)? Or was it just a placeholder term?

If you saw my defilement post...much of the defilement looks like Nanamagari!

The Kanji for the Seethe is 畏哭 and it seems to mean wailing/crying/lamentation. Why was it translated as 'Seethe'? But I don't understand kanji so maybe the kanji uses had an implication of anger.

I call them the Ailing Ones sometimes. (Bloodborne reference)

This is just a theory and I'm not entirely sure of it just yet. There's something missing...