We call God the Parent, Tenri-O-no-Mikoto. God the Parent created human beings and everything else from where there was no form. God the Parent provided us with the Cosmos, the Earth, and the natural environment that makes life possible. God the Parent oversees the laws of nature and is also its source. God is also our Parent who relieves human beings of our troubles and guides us to the Joyous Life.

In order for us to better understand God the Parent’s providence, each particular working of God was assigned a sacred name and explained. This is the “ten aspects of God’s complete providence.”

We learn this exposition of the providence in order to build genuine faith to the teaching of God the Parent, appreciate the providence by chanting the sacred names, and learn the intention of God the Parent shown through illness and calamities.

Izanami-no-Mikoto: the model of woman, the seedplot.

This aspect of the complete providence is female and represented in the heavens as the Weaver Star (Vega); its direction is the center (bottom, facing north). At human creation, its symbolic form in the muddy ocean was a serpent. (This is a white serpent with a human face and skin without scales). Its counterpart in the Shinto tradition is the Outer Shrine of Ise Jingu.

This aspect of God’s providence served as the model of woman and the seedplot at creation. It addition to the protection of a woman’s womb, eggs, monthly period, and conception, it oversees all fields and seed nurseries in the world.

Children can be conceived and grow in their mothers’ womb and plants are able to spread their roots in the ground to grow all because of the protection provided by Izanami-no-Mikoto.

The quality of the mind that is associated with Izanami-no-Mikoto is one that plants a seed and protects it until it can take root. It is a sincere mind that gives birth even at the cost of one’s life. It is a mind that is compassionate and loving toward children.

To conform to this aspect of God’s providence, we should strive for single-hearted salvation even at the expense of undergoing hardship. It is a mind that does not allow seeds to decay; it nurtures them so they sprout buds and spread their roots.

Pretentious behavior, dishonesty and flattery, complaints to parents and/or to children, abortion/child destruction all run contrary to the protection of Izanami-no-Mikoto and may end up in infertility, morning sickness, or miscarriage. It also may cause domestic discord, emotional entanglements at work, family disruption, or unemployment. We are taught the importance of exerting motherly love in all matters and accepting both the good and bad as we pass through life.

*This exposition was written by Rev. Chuichi Fukaya, the second head minister of Yamatoyoki Branch Church, and translated by Roy Forbes.