Editing Amaterasu (section)

=== Other worshiped forms ===

==== Snake ====
Outside of being worshiped as a sun goddess, some{{who|date=September 2019}} have argued that Amaterasu was once related to snakes.<ref name=":1" /> There was a legend circulating among the Ise Priests that essentially described an encounter of Amaterasu sleeping with the [[Saiō]] every night in the form of a snake or lizard, evidenced by fallen scales in the priestess' bed.<ref name=":1" /> This was recorded by a medieval monk in his diary, which stated that "in ancient times Amaterasu was regarded as a snake deity or as a sun deity."<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Kidder|first=Jonathan Edward|title=Himiko and Japan's Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: Archaeology, History, and Mythology|date=2007|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|isbn=978-0-8248-3035-9|location=Honolulu|pages=265}}</ref> In the Ise kanjō, the god's snake form is considered an embodiment of the "three poisons", namely greed, anger, and ignorance.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Breen|first1=John|title=Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami|last2=Teeuwen|first2=Mark|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-82704-4|location=Oxon|pages=109}}</ref> Amaterasu is also linked to a snake cult, which is also tied to the theory that the initial gender of the goddess was male.<ref name=":3" />

==== Dragon ====
[[File:Mahavairocana.jpg|thumb|Amaterasu was identified with [[Mahavairocana]]]]
In general, some of these Amaterasu–dragon associations have been in reference to Japanese plays. One example has been within the [[Chikubushima]] tradition in which the dragon goddess [[Benzaiten]] was the emanation of Amaterasu.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Protectors and Predators: Gods of Medieval Japan, Volume 2|last=Faure|first=Bernard|s2cid=132415496|date=2015-12-31|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|isbn=9780824839314|doi=10.21313/hawaii/9780824839314.001.0001}}</ref> Following that, in the Japanese epic, [[Taiheiki|Taiheki]], one of the characters, [[Nitta Yoshisada]] ({{lang|ja|新田義貞}}{{lrm}}), made comparisons with Amaterasu and a dragon [[Ryūjin]] with the quote: "I have heard that the Sun Goddess of Ise … conceals her true being in the august image of [[Vairocana]], and that she has appeared in this world in the guise of a dragon god of the blue ocean."<ref name=":4" />

Another tradition of the Heavenly Cave story depicts Amaterasu as a "dragon-fox" ({{Lang|ja-latn|shinko}} or {{Lang|ja-latn|tatsugitsune}}) during her descent to the famed cave because it is a type of animal/[[kami]] that emits light from its entire body.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MADlfH002mAC&q=Amaterasu+and+dragon+myth&pg=PA95|title=Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami|last1=Breen|first1=John|last2=Teeuwen|first2=Mark|date=2000|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=9780824823634|language=en}}</ref>

The connection between the fox, [[Dakiniten]], and Amaterasu can also be seen in the ''Keiran Shūyōshū'', which features the following retelling of the myth of [[Amaterasu#The Heavenly Rock Cave|Amaterasu's hiding]]:

{{blockquote|Question: What was the appearance of Amaterasu when she was hiding in the Rock-Cave of Heaven?
Answer: Since Amaterasu is the sun deity, she had the appearance of the sun-disc. Another tradition says: When Amaterasu retired into the Rock-Cave of Heaven after her descent from Heaven (sic), she took on the appearance of a dragon-fox (''shinko''). Uniquely among all animals, the dragon-fox is a kami that emits light from its body; this is the reason why she took on this appearance.

Question: Why does the dragon-fox emit light?

Answer: The dragon-fox is an expedient body of Nyoirin [[Kannon]]. It takes the wish-fulfilling gem as its body, and is therefore called King [[Cintāmaṇi]]. ... Further, one tradition says that one becomes a king by revering the dragon-fox because the dragon-fox is an expedient body of Amaterasu.{{sfnp|Breen|Teeuwen|2013|p=114}}}}

Commenting on the ''sokui kanjō'', [[Bernard Faure]] writes:{{sfnp|Faure|2015|p=127}}<blockquote>under the name "Fox King," Dakiniten became a manifestation of the sun goddess Amaterasu, with whom the new emperor united during the enthronement ritual. [...] The Buddhist ritual allowed the ruler to symbolically cross over the limits separating the human and animal realms to harness the wild and properly superhuman energy of the "infrahuman" world, so as to gain full control of the human sphere.</blockquote>