Divinity

Chapter Twelve

Divinity (kami no chikara)

“What makes God God?...”

Finding that her mind was easily distracted by things she saw such as a book whose cover had faded into a strange hue, or, outside the window, what the squirrel might be saying to the magpie, Kagami removed herself to a dark quiet corner and started to speak in a barely audible tone to improve her focus and mental processing.

“People will say, well, God is the creator, so that’s that, the end of our discussion. But so many religions and cultures don’t worship the creator...”

“Zeus was not the creator of the universe in Greek mythology, nor were any of the worshiped deities. Hindus have Brahma as the creator, but I am fairly certain that according to most online sources -- if I choose to believe them, since I don’t have anything better -- out of maybe a million Hindu temples and shrines, anthropologists only found two that were dedicated to Brahma. Most temples worship Shiva, the destroyer, and Vishnu, along with the myriad of identities this deity had, whose role is to maintain the world.”

Likewise, the Chinese viewed the Great Dipper with high regards, since it was viewed as a god who would control the date of death. The southern dipper of six stars was just considered auspicious and not worshiped, since it was viewed as a god who controlled birth.

People fear death, so naturally a great deal of religious effort would be directed to the one who would end lives, compared to whoever started the whole thing.

“Do the Taoists and Confucianists even have an official temple for Pan’Gu? Anywhere?”

Pan’gu, according to Chinese mythology, separated the chaos and caused the heaven and earth to take shape. Pan’gu also maintained the heaven and earth for millions of years until their form was finalized. Pan’gu even morphed his body into the sun and moon, the stars and the wind, the mountains and rivers, the metals and minerals, the animals and plants. Pan’gu gave up his entire being for the universe in Chinese mythology, and yet, no official temple or shrine anywhere.

“I always felt bad for Izanami, the Goddess of the Underworld. She gave birth to so many major deities in Japanese mythology, and went to the netherworld after dying in childbirth, when she gave birth to the god of fire. Not only did her husband desert her for the shallow reason of her youthful beauty having passed, but upon seeing that Izanami, who had moved to the underworld, was no longer as pretty as she once was, Izanami’s husband blocked the Road of Hirasaka so that Izanami could never come out of the underworld to visit him.”

“I don’t like him...” sighed Kagami. “People just called her Izanami no mikoto, oh yes, she’s one of those deities, sure. But I want to call her Izanami Ōmigami, the great goddess. But that would be against the official Shinto designation, and I have zero influence on that matter. Had one of the ancient houses of royalty or nobility requested it two hundred years ago... maybe, but there’s nothing I could have done to change Her official title.”

“Izanami the great goddess”, Kagami indulged a little in her fantasy, “Queen of darkness, Lord of Underworld...”

[yami no jō’ō heika, myōkai no shujō, Izanami Ōmigami-sama]

“well, well, back to the present.”

Kagami found mythologies to be less helpful than she had anticipated. If she ever had a chance to somehow bring divine forces to her aid, probably she didn’t have a choice but to dive into systematic theology, a subject in which Hitomi read nothing, and a topic which books Kagami had no access to in a different universe.

“Ick...”

“Well, wasn’t there a saying... if two people arrive at some real piece of truth, the findings shouldn’t oppose each other?”

Kagami decided to overcome her shortcomings in theology by listing all the ‘gems of religion’ that she could think of, and maybe deduce from the list.

......

“In those days, the believers were of one heart and spirit... they shared everything in the common and distributed resources... and there was no one in need...” [Acts of the Holy Apostles]

“...Charity is the greatest social commandment... Charity inspires a life of self-giving...” [Catechism of the Catholic Church]

“...The state authority must promote the common good...the well being of all people, food, health, education,...alleviating miseries......” [Catechism of the Catholic Church]

“...Under no circumstances can homosexuals be approved, but they must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided...” [Catechism of the Catholic Church]

“...treat well the foreigners in your land who settle and raise family, and give to them a share in the land to inherit, for once you, too, were foreigners in Egypt...” [Leviticus and Ezekiel]

“...God doesn’t want to burden you with rules; God just wants to help you live a clean life...” [Islam]

“...To every nation in the world God has given a direction of prayer. Don’t change other people’s prayer direction, nor let them change yours...” [Islam]

“...Paradise is when you bring peace to those around you, give help to the poor, and support widows...” [Islam]

“...The best place for you to live, is the place where you decide to take on responsibility for society...” [Islam]

“...the most beautiful names of God: the Gracious, the Merciful...” [Islam]

“...the best king: people say ‘we have a king? Huh, maybe. What does he do... I don’t know. Do we actually have one? What IS his name again?’”

“The ordinary good king: ‘oh, we have a great king, he is kind and has done a lot for us.’”

“The usual king: ‘I should not say much. We are all quite afraid of him...’”

“The bad king: ‘we’ve had enough. Better to die in battle than to endure this nonsense.’” [Taoism]

“...The fuller the grain, the lower the head...” [Shinto]

“...to love all regardless of species, to mourn as if you share the same body...” [Buddhism]

“...the great mandate from Heaven is to strive toward the Great Unity, forsaking self and treating others like your own family. Until everyone lives for the goal of humanity, that people share food and wealth, and volunteer to help out with others’ work, seeking no payments. Until all children are like my own children, and all seniors are like my own parents. Until everyone is a saint and we give responsibilities and tasks according to one’s virtue and ability, and each person has fitting work to do...” [Confucianism]

...

Kagami’s list went on and on, as she tried to recall everything she could possibly remember from all the religious books that Hitomi once had read.

A theme started emerging, from what religious sayings managed to leave an impression on Hitomi’s mind.

“God is good, and God cares, for everyone.”

“Maybe for certain people, God the creator is the most important thing, and for others, God the judge on the Last Day.”

“For some, the virgin birth is the life line, and for some, Gospel miracles.”

“I know people whose faith is based on the promise of reward and punishment, of paradise and hell, but not for me.”

Kagami left the library and slowly walked to the west cliff where she had once spent an early evening being together with Arashi.

She looked out to the distance, and watched the outlines of towns and villages, silhouettes of hills and woods. Cattle and horses were in the field, farmers were checking their crop for harvest, and carts were on the road, loaded with goods, with people chatting and resting on the sacks.

“This is a good world, with people enjoying their lives in it. Plants and animals thrive. Mountains look joyful and streams dance. Soft wind plays with fluffy clouds. Despite magic elements raging in their own madness, the world manages to exist and be relaxing.”

“The love for all, the desire to see everything thrive, the urge to embrace this world with loving care... This is my purpose, of bringing the power of holiness into this world, the power that brings sunshine to warm the good and the bad, the holiness that sends rain to the fields of the just and the unjust.”

Knowing what she wanted to give to this world, Kagami went to the section of the library that housed titles which explored ‘materialized seeing’.

“After the question of ‘what’, is the question ‘how’.”