I was linked to a blog which has a few Kunitsu-Gami theories by the owner of this blog who is a big fan like me. I posted about their theory before and they recently updated it. (if you would like to peek at it)
As for this new blog, I want to make individual posts looking at all of their ideas. They have a background in Shinto!
I'll start with the aforementioned ones in the title because my previous post was about foxes!
Their post
They mentioned Soh is a fox spirit, an animal messenger of the Goddess.
They don't agree with Soh being a previous Maiden. But it confuses me on why Yoshiro inherits the mask then if not to imply this is a normal cycle of the mask being passed along.
Or is it to say that Yoshiro is now the Goddess and the mask has been returned to her?
I think I mentioned this idea before, of the the mask being returned to the Goddess.
Even more interesting...this blog has confirmation from the game Soh is female, confirming my 'they Samus'd us' belief.
So, let's look at this theory!
As usual, we need to translate things a second time to get a proper idea of what's being said.
The bit about it not being politically correct is funny. Are they implying it's a love story between Soh and Yoshiro? If Soh is not the previous Maiden, it may very well be a love story but one of divine love.(my opinion)
But you could make the claim there's something between them if you wanted to, just by the tent interactions and the way Yoshiro looks at Soh, and how Soh, at times, looks at Yoshiro. It's entirely up to you on how to interpret it. But if it was romantic, it's a chaste love, as Yoshiro is a Maiden. A pure love, if you will. One between a knight and Maiden, perhaps?
(Let's not forget all the images I've posted of intimate poses of the two...)
Owari is 'Yoshiro' and Mune/Sect is Soh. Just translation things.
The first thing to catch my attention is this: 宗御前
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| そうごぜん |
This is from 'Soh under the moonlight'.
The title attached to Soh is 'gozen', meaning female samurai warrior. The kanji used to write Gozen is the same one used to write 'animal messenger of the Gods'.
So, it actually says 'Gozen Soh under the Moonlight' (or however you put these words together...), written with kanji for animal messenger. (I hope I'm understanding this correctly.)
The hidden details in the kanji always fascinate me.
So, we confirm she's female and perhaps we can confirm she's a fox spirit, if we look at the implication of the kanji and evidence of her being related to foxes.
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| Soh puts red markings on Yoshiro. |
The red markings on fox masks is to show it represents the deity. Covering Yoshiro in these marks to help ward off evil but maybe also to mark her as being protected by Soh? Who appears to be a fox god or spirit.
Yoshiro wears red on her eyes and her lips.
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| A beauty icon. An inspiration. |
When I wrote my post on Soh's mask being lupine and was looking for photos, I found a very interesting image. When I saw it, I saw Soh yet it was an image of a fox.
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| A beautiful moment |
This is...Soh under the moonlight. Even the pose is similar, with the face turning away from the body. (More on Soh's pose in the next post.)
It's called 'The moon on Musashi Plain (fox)' by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi.
WhenI first saw Soh's face, I thought she's a 'fox-like' beauty.
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| This is a fox taking the form of a woman |
Soh is a fox deity kitsune(?) who takes on the form of a beautiful female samurai and is a messenger of the Goddess. The power of the Goddess lies in the mask she wears.
Remember how we saw the Maiden wear a fox mask? Soh herself wears the Goddess's mask and Yoshiro 'acts' as the Goddess. Could this be the relationship hinted at regarding Soh's mask?
Does this mean Soh leads every Maiden down the Path? If so, Soh is the nameless Soh in the very beginning.
But why is she called 'Soh' now?
Needless to say, this changes everything.
I love Soh as the previous shrine maiden but I also love Soh as a fox messenger of the Gods. Whichever is true, I love it. But the latter seems far more likely now.
I am sad to let go of 'Soh as the previous Maiden'...
One extra thing to add: The ancestral deity masks, some of them are in the shape of animals.
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| Red panda? |
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| Boar? |
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| Rat? |
