Tenko's Sacrifice: Benzaiten

 A discovery made while researching Goddesses!

Tenko's Sacrifice

Tenko is not a woman, it's a heavenly fox. That's what I thought this tsuba guard referenced.

Depicted is Benzaiten, considered to be a manifestation of Amaterasu.

Soh is sacrificing herself when she uses this tsuba guard. She's 'tenko'.

We also receive Tenko's Sacrifice in it the Narusawa Wind Caves, where the Maiden is sacrificed.

However, in Japanese, it's only called Tenko(天后 ). Which means Queen of Heaven. This is a title for Amaterasu! It does not use the kanji for fox.

后 (kō): Means empress or queen
狐 (kō / kitsune): Means fox.

This title 'Tianhou' is also for the Chinese Goddess Mazu. But it's also what Amaterasu is referred to many times. (Mazu is also depicted as wearing red, just like in the tsuba guard)

BUT Tenko is a divine general, one of 12. 

All in all, might be a little hint at the who the Goddess is.

Soul Division.

 The Tsuba Guard Kijin's specter shows Soh can divide her soul.

The created spirit uses the same model as the dark Cursed Soh.

(In the files, they are (basically)the same model)

Spot the difference(the little flap one is Soh's spectre. Why? Who knows)

When the Goddess possess Yoshiro, she splits her soul and puts a piece of her inside the Maiden.

For the Ritual, the Goddess possesses a Maiden, enabling the Maiden to use her purifying power. Overtime, it caused her spirit to become cursed because of the Maiden also doubling as a katashiro. The Maiden absorbs defilement, affecting her body and eventually the spirit within. But it's only a piece of the Goddess, this is why we have Soh and Cursed Soh.

It's all because of the Goddess dividing her soul.

Cursed Soh is the Goddess. Soh is the Goddess.
Cursed Soh has the halo. Not Soh.

Yoshiro is also drawn with a halo and she has the ability to affect Cursed Soh's power. Yoshiro, too, is a vessel for the Goddess. Just like Cursed Soh is.

The vessel of the Goddess is drawn with the halo because that's where she actually resides. The Messenger is but a physical manifestation of her.

The Goddess is present in both Yoshiro and the corrupted body of the previous Maiden.

Soh is the Goddess given physical form through Yoshiro serving as an abode.

Cursed Soh is a version of Soh that materializes when the vessel is defiled/extremely impure.

But in Cursed Soh's case, she's merged with her vessel. This is why it says Cursed Soh is the Goddess who's become 'twisted with the impurities of the people' and why she has a halo.

If we consider artwork showing the Maiden physically changes upon becoming an abode, then we can assume in Cursed Soh's case, the opposite occurred: the vessel changed the spirit.

If the Normal Ending broke the cycle, we can speculate it's because:

Soh left her mask with Yoshiro, causing Cursed Soh because the two merged.
After several generations, the impurity is so potent within the 7th Maiden's body that the Goddess becomes cursed.

(I use abode=yorishiro)

Tsuba Guard Replicas.

【開発スタッフの日常🍵】

ディレクターのデスクに行ってみると、開発チームの打ち上げ用の景品を作っておりました…
『深世海』の時にも、ディレクター自身が立体物を制作、打ち上げの景品としていましたが、好評だったので今回も準備しております！✨#くにつがみ #祇 pic.twitter.com/YbkwiLqYL1

— 【公式】 祇（くにつがみ）：Path of the Goddess (@Kunitsu_Gami_JP) November 12, 2024

From the Kunitsu-Gami twitter. They appear to be actual metal replicas? Or just the appearance of metal...?

Incense and the Tsuba Guards.

While doing some Taoism research, I discovered incense is a way to communicate with the 12 Divine Generals.

 In Taoism you can use incense to communicate with the Divine generals. The Tsuba guards(containing the divine generals' powers) charge with incense! 

That's how I learnt that the 12 Divine Generals are associated with the animal zodiac and that it's a very common idea in Eastern myth!

Soh's sword is said contain the power of the 12 generals. Remember how she can fast forward and rewind time using it? And we see the animal zodiac?

But, more on incense...

Ten has a post on the Tsuba Guard power.

The world of "Kunitsugami" (Path of the Goddess) as seen through its design: The spiritual power of the tsuba.

Isn't that beautiful?

The 12 Tsuba Guards are the 12 divine general's powers. Incense is used to communicate with them.

So the Tsuba Guard gauge being incense fits perfectly because we need it to be 'full' in order to use the power of the generals! (We are offering incense to them)

Taoist Incense Culture

Shinto has its roots in Taoism so they have much in common. That's why I wonder if the Shinto present in Kunitsu-Gami is closer to Taoism.

(I know it's correct English to write out 'twelve' but that's just for books, right? I prefer using 12.)

Taion's Lightning (Ten's post)

I made a previous post about the mythology behind the tsuba guards and how I want to make a post about it but I have to do a lot of research.

Ten made a short post about 'Taion's Lightning'! It's beautiful...

Link here.

Many people may have read "Taion" as "Koion", but the furigana is "Taion".

'lunar shade'

The front of "Taion" has a design of a five-story pagoda and a red moon like those in Kyoto.

You can see the back side by viewing the model of the tsuba.

This is a famous poem by Fujiwara no Michinaga.

"I think of this world as my own, as if the full moon were never cresting."

This was once interpreted as Michinaga's arrogance, as if he had made this world his own, but

"I am content with this world tonight. Though the moon before me is waning, my moon - the one I shared with my queen and all the people at the banquet - is not waning."

Recent studies seem to suggest this is the case.

There's a poem on the back of the guard!

「此の世をばわが世とぞ思ふ望月のかけたることのなしと思へば」

[この世をばわが世とぞ思ふ望月の欠けたることもなしと思へば]

Cursed Soh kills Yoshiro always with Taion's Lightning.

I wonder if there's some kind of implication?

This is one of my favorite tsuba guards because of the design.

I thought it was a sun...and yet it's a red moon!

Soh is frequently associated with the moon.

That's a full moon!

Is there an implication of Cursed Soh killing Yoshiro with the tsuba guard that has such a poem on it?

More translations:

X: This world / belongs to me— / lacking in / nothing like the / full moon.

X: This world, I think, Is indeed my world. / Like the full moon / I shine, / Uncovered by any cloud.

X: The world is my oyster, I lack for nothing like the full moon.

If we consider Soh is the full moon, and the poem is 'I think of this world as my own world. I think of the full moon as never waning' then Cursed Soh antagonizing Yoshiro and wanting to kill her is the Goddess trying to hold onto her own identity(full moon)? 

Or she's now complete, like a full moon, as she presents the merging of Soh and Yoshiro?

Yet the sun is associated with the power of purification...

Further reading on the poem: Wikipedia article

"Who is Tenko?" Tsuba Guards and Villager roles.

Update: A new post on Tenko is here: Tenko's Sacrifice: Benzaiten