jewelry

Yasakani no Magatama

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Description

Comma jewels on the sacred tree

In the same cave episode, Tamanooya's yasakani magatama hang with the mirror to bait Amaterasu. Magatama are real Jōmon and Kofun jewels; the named Grand Jewel is the imperial set, said to stay with the court. "Benevolence" as the jewel's virtue is later didactic overlay on the three treasures. The Kojiki needs jewelry as lure for the hidden sun. Oral court tradition sits behind an eighth-century text; the object is not a public exhibit.

Primary Sources

“They hung the Yasakani jewels and the eight-span mirror on the branches of the sakaki before the heavenly rock-cave.”
Kojiki (Ame-no-Iwato)(712 CE)

Powers & Abilities

Benevolent BlessingImperial AuthoritySpiritual ProtectionDivine Connection