implies a noun susa, impetuosity, which does not exist. Moreover, one of Susa no wo's wife's names was Susa no yatsu mimi, where it is not disputed that Susa is the name of a town in Idzumo. There is a legend which represents Susa no wo as giving his name to this place and allowing his mitama to rest here. Susa no wo would therefore be simply the male (God) of Susa, a territorial title (of Tsuki-yomi?) for which there are many parallels in Japanese mythology.[1]
The shintai of Susa no wo, or rather of his supposed modern representative, Godzu Tennô, is a naginata, or halbert. But there is some reason to think that the great festival of Goriōye, now held in his honour at Kioto, was originally that of the Sahe no kami, and that the hoko or naginata carried in procession on this occasion is a substitute for an older phallus.
Tsuki-yomi.—This God, although worshipped in many places, Ise and Kadono amongst others, is hardly one of the greater gods of Japan. The usual derivation of his name is from tsuki, moon, and yomi, darkness. It is to be observed, however, that this yomi is often written with a character which implies a derivation from yomu, to reckon, a word which contains the same root as yubi, finger. "Moon-reckoner" is not an inappropriate name for a luminary which is recognized in so many countries as a measurer of time. Tsuki-yomi was represented at Ise as a man riding on a horse, clad in purple and girt with a golden sword. Another shintai of his was a mirror. Live horses were offered to him annually. The Kiujiki mentions a Moon-God among the suite of Ninigi when he descended to earth, and states that he was the ancestor of the agata-nushi (local chiefs) of Iki. This was probably a local Moon-deity.
- ↑ I offer, for consideration only, two conjectures: first, that Tsuki-yomi was the Ise Moon-God, and Susa no wo the Idzumo lunar deity; and second, that Susa may possibly be an allotropic form of sasura, banish.
