Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1904-09-30

iu the Chicago RecOrd-Heruld. AMI
they seem TO take delight in manu-
featuring new ones OH the slightest
pretext But of all the host Of delties
there are seven that never change and
whose glories never wane. These sey-
en- are the gods of luck. Every .iara
nese child is taught their names and
attributes even before ii learns TO
walk.
They consist of Fukurokuju. who
has an enormously elongated head.
IMPLYING longevity and wisdom; Dai-
koku, whose rice bales show him to
be the god of wealth and before whose
shrines. dotted here and there through
out the island empire, the poor OF the
land have been prostrating themselves
since before the Christian era: Eb!su,
bearing a fish the patron of honest
toll; Hotel. whose pictures and idols
show him to be a mild looking gentle
man. with an enormous abdomen, a
bag on his back and n fan in his hand.
signifying contentment ana good ma
ture; Benten. goddess of love, the only
female in the group: Jur0jin, with a
stag at one side and a crane perched
ON the other. the god OF the chase
and last, but greatest and most ven
Grated of all, the mighty Blshambn.
god of war; armor clad with a spear
and a mace in one hand and his other
resting on the Pagoda Of Seventy
Bones. in symbol of lis prowess in
the capture of great cities.
Bishamon's tempies-that is to say,
the temples of which lie is the princi-
pal enshrined deity - number over
forty, and in addition To these there
are thousands of ways!de groitoes that
bear his idols. These are carved ont
of wood. cast in bronze ar worked il
papier mache; but, whatever their Ma.
terial and whatever their size, they
all bear the same unmistakab.e DIS
torted countenance. Picture 10 your
self the uglieSt human Icing you ever
saw. give him the added attribute OF
an attack Of violent SpasmS and you
nave lHe ldCt Va blAt 444Aill1' ''4 A'4'i'
mon.
Once upon time-this may sound
like the beginning of a fairy tale but
if you value your peace of mind never
tell a Japanese so-thc goddess of tie
sun and Schiyoto, god OF agriculture
fell in love with one another, ana for
years after that happy event the rice
fields yielded abundant harve&ts and
all Japan was glad. One day the god
of the silver sea met the 'ddeSs and
told her of his love. Schiyoto swort
revenge He took a thunderb0it, filled
it with mighty weapons, threw in i
golden signet that carried with it the
power to suDdle the world and created
Bishamon out of the heap, This was
in 1214 b. G. y century later all ia
pan gave homage to the new deity
who by that time had both his creator
the god of agriculture. the goddess OF
the sun and the goddess of the silver
sea in his retinue of vassals.
His fame grew rapidly. Ever!
sword before being carried into battle
was laid for weeks at the feet of one
of the idols. The wooden figures of the
god in every one of the shTineS was
hung with gems. Whenever the say
age hill men We're near a village threat
ening its peace and the husbands, IA
the enemy all the young maidens OF
the settlement marched in troops I.
the town shrine of the Bishamon
hung beautiful blossoms about his
neck and prayed that he might Civ,
the victory into their hands.
AS the hill men had not neglected
the similar precaution of appealing t,
the same god at his Shrlnes up IL
their Businesses, he must have had r
difficult time deciding which way somt
of the battles Were to 20.
Today. over 5000 years after this
god was added to the many thousands
of deities already in existence. ths
Japanese are still appealing to him 70.
aid. Instead of meeting the enemy
with bows and arrows they are goins
forth to battle armed with the moSt
modern weapons known to present day
warfare. Instead of fighting hill tribes
they are waging a desperate strulgl,
outside of the limits of their own ter
ritory with a power that few years
ago caused Japan to tremhle at hel
very name And still they worship. II,
of old at the feet of Bishamon. iayin.
their modern magazine rifles down il
his temples for his blessing and beg
ging him to direct their shrapncl firj
straight and true
The Japanese all hold themselves I,
be descendants of their own gods. ant
there are number of mobiles wht
claim klnship with Bishamon ant
whose families spend part Of their in
come every year in keeping his shrine>
in order and Offering up incense be
fore his idols
B:shamon is supposed to smile oil
his votaries rs long as they conten
themselves with killing their enemies
but If they attempt to visit theil
wrath on the helpless families of .thost
who oppose them they are condemned
when they die to everlasting life il
Shurado, the world of fighting ans
slaughter. Indeed. on many of tn,
shrines of the war god are the words
carved into the pedestal ''Oni nj kama
no. which is a proverb meaning if til,
Russians act like demons they mus
perish like demons by an iron club il
the hands Of some avenging deity.