Deities

What is a God, What is a Deity, What is a Kami?

  • Gods (Kotomatsukami and Zōkasanshin): The primordial beings. They are self-existent, born at the dawn of the cosmos, not from mortal worship. They represent cosmic principles (order, chaos, birth, death, permanence) and do not depend on mortals. They are rare, almost alien in thought, embodying inevitability itself.

  • Deities: Secondary beings, shaped from the collective belief of mortals and the echo of primordial divine essence. They emerge when mortals attach reverence, fear, vice or awe to forces of nature, ideals, or myths. For example, the sun itself was luminous, but only through generations of devotion did it become Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. Deities are deeply tied to their domains and can grow stronger or weaker depending on mortal faith.

  • Kami: A broader category, encompassing all spirits of significance — from mighty deities like Susanoo to small local presences: the spirit of a waterfall, the guardian of a household shrine, or the lingering ghost of an ancestor. All deities are Kami, but not all Kami are deities. Kami vary in strength: some can shape storms, others only bless a rice field.

How Gods and Deities Come Into Being

  • Primordial Birth (Gods): The Kotomatsukami emerged spontaneously at creation’s dawn, sparks of cosmic principle. The Zōkasanshin followed, tasked with shaping matter and life.

  • Mythic Birth (Deities): Some deities are born from the actions of primordial gods. Example: Kagutsuchi, god of fire, came forth from Izanami’s death.

  • Belief Birth (Deities/Kami): Mortal faith and storytelling can crystallize a divine presence. When countless generations revere the spirit of a mountain, it awakens as a deity embodying its majesty.

  • Transformation: A mortal of great virtue, power, or tragedy can ascend into Kamihood. Ancestral spirits sometimes rise into local gods when remembered for centuries.

The Life of the Gods

Their Realm – Seihō, the Floating Island

The gods reside on Seihō, a celestial island removed from mortal sight. It is a land of eternal spring, shimmering with silver petals, where the great Celestial Cherry Tree stands at its center. Its branches are so vast that entire divine palaces are built within them. Pools reflect not the sky, but the cosmos. Time here is fluid: a century in the mortal world may feel like a week on Seihō.

Divine Culture

Gods and deities are not idle. They live much as mortals do, but in exalted, eternal forms.

  • Feasts and Councils: Deities gather beneath the Celestial Tree for great banquets. Here, they weave alliances, tell myths, and debate mortal destinies.

  • Rivalries and Clans: Much like Ryujin clans beneath the seas, gods form divine households — Amaterasu’s radiant court, Susanoo’s stormy host, Inari’s fox-spirits. Rivalries flare, sometimes spilling into mortal affairs as gods contest influence.

  • Rites of Honor: They engage in contests of poetry, combat, or artistry, each showcasing the ideal of their domain. These acts ripple down into mortal culture, inspiring the same traditions.

  • Isolation or Immersion: Some gods dwell among their peers, others retreat into shrines within Seihō, or even descend to the mortal world in disguise to walk unseen.

Divine Society and Hierarchy

  • The Kotomatsukami: The silent, first-born, beyond politics. They are rarely seen, but their will underpins all. Their mere presence in Seihō bends reality.

  • The Zōkasanshin: The highest acting authorities. Izanagi, Izanami (though estranged in Yomi), and Amenominakanushi. They are revered as the ultimate arbiters of creation.

  • The Five Kotomatsukami: Often ruling as a distant council, but three of them — the Zōkasanshin — take precedence in creation matters.

  • The Great Kami: Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo, Ryujin, Hachiman, etc. They are the “ministers” of the divine order, overseeing great aspects of mortal life.

  • Lesser Kami: Thousands of regional spirits, shrine-guardians, yokai-lords, and ancestral protectors. They are loosely overseen by their greater patron.

Gods and deities govern themselves as a courtly aristocracy, mirroring Yamato’s mortal society. Each has dignity, territory, and voice in divine councils, but their influence is proportional to their worship.

How Gods Commune with Mortals

  • Shrines & Priests: Mortals build shrines, where rituals and prayers create a bridge for the Kami to listen. Priests serve as interpreters, conveying divine will.

  • Dreams & Omens: Deities may whisper in dreams, cause unusual weather, or manifest animal messengers to guide their followers.

  • Avatars & Incarnations: Some deities take humanlike forms and walk among mortals — sometimes openly, sometimes disguised.

  • Chosen Heroes: A deity may bless a champion with a shard of their essence, creating saints, avatars, or demigods.

  • Silence: Importantly, the gods are often silent. Mortals pray, but divine will is not always clear — leading to interpretation, myth-making, and conflict.

Death of a God or Deity

  • Can a God Die?

    • Primordial gods (Kotomatsukami, Zōkasanshin) cannot truly “die,” though they may withdraw from reality or become imprisoned. Their essence is eternal.

  • Deities and Kami: They can die — but death for them is different.

    • If forgotten, a deity withers. Worship fuels their form.

    • If slain in battle (rare but possible by other gods or cosmic forces), their essence disperses into their domain.

  • What Happens When They Die?

    • They return to Yomi, as pale echoes. A dead god becomes part of the underworld’s vast spirit-tide, unless their memory rekindles them.

    • Some may transform into yokai or curses, twisted by bitterness.

    • Occasionally, mortals or gods can resurrect a deity through ritual, rebuilding them with faith and offering.

A god is “officially dead” when no mortal remembers or venerates them, and their essence has dispersed fully. But myths are stubborn — sometimes a single song or story can rekindle a divine spark.

Administration of the Divine Order

  • The Celestial Court of Seihō: The gods rule themselves much like an imperial court. Amaterasu presides over the solar council, Susanoo leads the tempestuous faction of warriors, Ryujin maintain the seas, and so forth.

  • Laws and Oaths: The gods bind themselves by divine oaths. Breaking an oath unravels their honor and weakens their essence.

  • Divine Messengers: Foxes, dragons, crows, and spirits serve as go-betweens, carrying decrees to mortals.

  • Consensus: Many decisions are reached by councils beneath the Celestial Tree, where gods debate. When consensus fails, contests of power or artistry settle disputes.

  • Balance with Mortals: Gods must avoid overstepping into mortal affairs, lest they upset the Wheel of Rebirth. Mortal faith must remain a choice, not enforced tyranny.

Philosophy of the Divine

The gods are both exalted and flawed. They embody ideals, yet often display human emotions — pride, jealousy, love, wrath. They live long but not changeless lives, and their society mirrors the very mortals who created them.

To mortals, the gods are:

  • Guardians (protecting rivers, crops, seas).

  • Judges (punishing hubris, rewarding devotion).

  • Teachers (inspiring arts, codes of honor, rituals).

  • Rivals (for one god’s blessing may bring another’s wrath).

This tension is what makes the Yamato pantheon alive: not distant abstractions, but beings who care, argue, love, and wound — shaping the world with every action.

✨ In short:
A god is a primordial force.
A deity is a powerful being shaped by belief and myth.
A kami is any spirit or divine essence, from household protectors to great lords.
They live in a divine aristocracy on Seihō, communing with mortals through shrines, dreams, and incarnations. They grow with worship, wither when forgotten, and die when memory and essence both are lost. Their culture mirrors mortal courts: full of councils, rivalries, artistry, and oaths.