Question: Hey, John and Anna. I wanted to ask you if you believed that Marishiten has any place being in the Amatsukami? She is a Buddhist and all, and it seemed that White Wolf just threw her in the Scion Companion. What's your opinion on the matter?
Hey, there! We've actually talked about Marishiten before, so I'm going to direct you on over to the previous blog post on the subject.
It's been a little while since we talked about Buddhism, but it's worth noting here that a god being Buddhist does not mean they shouldn't be allowed in a pantheon. Buddhism is a cross-cultural religious phenomenon that involves a lot of gods, and it would be just plain wrong to pretend that Buddhist gods weren't vibrant and important deities worshiped alongside the gods of Hinduism, Shinto, Bon, Shenism and everything else the eastern countries has to offer. Marishiten certainly isn't Shinto, but she is thoroughly Japanese, and it makes much more sense to put her in with the Japanese gods than in some weird, cobbled-together pantheon of Buddhist gods from eight different cultures.
Are there any myths about Marishiten where she interacts with the Shinto gods, like Tsuki-Yomi, Susano-o or Amaterasu?
ReplyDeleteNot to my knowledge. Most of her myths involve affecting the outcome of battles with mortals and Hero- to Demigod-level divinities, as well as other standard bodhisattva behavior.
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