BENZAITEN-Japanese Gods and Goddesses

0

Posted on November 15, 2015 by

Benzaiten 
(an Edo painting)

I’m delving into the paranormal life and times of Japanese Gods and Goddesses. Not delving, let’s just say putting my toes into the ocean.

So the first one of these series of blogs, one of the main ones  for my sequel to Pillow Book of the Flower Samurai, is Benzaiten, or Benten. She is amazing. As  you can see, women tattoo their bodies with her image.

benzaiten

Why is she so popular? As a Goddesses, they don’t get much better. Even her name:

       BEN or = Discourse, Discuss, Argue

        ZAI = Talent, Eloquence, Skill

        TEN = Celestial Being; Sanskrit = Deva

Benten

Benzaiten with biwa

She is the goddess of literature, music, wealth, and  femininity. She plays the biwa, a Japanese lute. Oh yes, below she brandishes a sword, too.

Benzaiten

Benzaiten

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Associated with the Japanese Luck Gods (there are  7 of them), Benzaiten also connects with the sea.  So much so, she is frequently portrayed riding or traveling with a sea dragon.

Benzaiten with a sea dragon

Benzaiten with a sea dragon and biwa

 

 

 

 

 

 

According to some sources, there are 800 or more Gods and Goddesses, some sources say thousands, yes, thousands of Gods and Goddesses. That’s not the focus here. Here I’m doing one God or Goddess per blog. Today it’s Benzaiten. There is little She cannot do.

Benzaiten with many hands & talents

Benzaiten with many hands & talents

My thanks to Mark Schumacher for his assistance and his fabulous website:  http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml

Tune in later, for a trip to the King of Hell…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CAPTCHA
Change the CAPTCHA codeSpeak the CAPTCHA code