Kamuy-huci (カムイフチ, ''Kamui Fuchi'') is the
Ainu ''
kamuy
A ''kamuy'' ( ain, カムィ; ja, カムイ, kamui) is a spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology, a term denoting a supernatural entity composed of or possessing spiritual energy.
The Ainu people have many myths about the ''kamuy'', passed ...
'' (''goddess'') of the
hearth
A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...
. Her full name is Apemerukoyan-mat Unamerukoyan-mat (''Rising Fire Sparks Woman/ Rising Cinder Sparks Woman''), and she is also known as Iresu Kamuy (''People Teacher''). She is among the most important ''kamuy'' of Ainu mythology, serving as keeper of the gateway between the world of humans and the world of ''kamuy''.
Depiction
Kamuy-huci is a woman who lives in the hearth. Her position is so important that she never leaves her home. Accordingly, the hearth
fire must never be extinguished completely.
[Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003. 191-192]
Mythology
There are a few myths of Kamuy-huci's origins. In the most common, she descends from the heavens, accompanied by
Kanna Kamuy
Kanna may refer to:
Plants
*'' Mesembryanthemum tortuosum'', syn. ''Sceletium tortuosum'', a Southern African succulent with psychoactive properties
*'' Platysace cirrosa'', a Western Australian perennial herb
*'' Caroxylon aphyllum'', a shrub
...
, the ''kamuy'' of thunder and lightning. In another version, she was born from the fire-producing drill and is the sister of
Hasinaw-uk-kamuy Hasinaw-uk-kamuy (ハシナウ・ウｸ・カムイ; also Hash-Inau-uk Kamuy, Hashinau-uk Kamuy or simply Hash-uk Kamuy) is the Ainu ''kamuy
A ''kamuy'' ( ain, カムィ; ja, カムイ, kamui) is a spiritual or divine being in Ainu mythology, a ...
, the goddess of the hunt. A third holds that she is the daughter of an elm tree by the prime originator
Kanda-koro-kamuy.
Kamuy-huci instructed Ainu women in the making of ''kut'' (''sacred girdles''). For this gift she earned the name ''Iresu Kamuy'' (''People Teacher'').
She is one of the most powerful ''kamuy'' in Ainu mythology. In one myth, her husband is seduced by
Wakka-us-kamuy, the deity of fresh water. Kamuy-huci, insulted, challenges her rival to a duel of sorcery, from which she emerges victorious with relative ease.
Her chastened husband returns home.
Kamuy-huci is a guardian of the home, and also the judge of domestic affairs. Those who pollute a hearth or fail to maintain proper domestic relationships are said to incur her punishment. To aid her in these duties, since she does not leave the hearth, she employs a number of other ''kamuy'', including Mintakoro-kamuy, the guardian of a home's premises, and Rukoro-kamuy, the ''kamuy'' of the privy.
In addition to being the center of the Ainu household, the hearth was considered a gateway by means of which humans and ''kamuy'' could communicate. It is also the abode of the dead; the Ainu word for ''ancestor'' translates as ''those who dwell in the hearth''.
Transmigration is a tenet of Ainu mythology, so it was doubly important for the hearth to be kept pure, because the souls of the departed who lived there would be assigned to new bodies in time.
In popular culture
*
Typhlosion's Hisuian Form is possibly based on a psychopomp. Due to the setting of
Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the first game it appeared in, in an
Ezo
(also spelled Yezo or Yeso) is the Japanese term historically used to refer to the lands to the north of the Japanese island of Honshu. It included the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, which changed its name from "Ezo" to "Hokkaidō" in 18 ...
-inspired region, it may be specifically inspired by Kamuy-huci.
See also
*
Kitchen god
The Kitchen deity – also known as the Stove God, named Zao Jun, Zao Shen, Zao kimjah, Cokimjah or Zhang Lang – is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. The Kitchen God is recognized in C ...
*
Zàojūn
The Kitchen deity – also known as the Stove God, named Zao Jun, Zao Shen, Zao kimjah, Cokimjah or Zhang Lang – is the most important of a plethora of Chinese domestic gods that protect the hearth and family. The Kitchen God is recognized in C ...
, Chinese kitchen god
*
Kōjin
Kōjin, also known as , is the Japanese ''kami'' (''god'') of fire, the hearth and the kitchen. He is sometimes called Kamado-gami ( 竃神), literally ''the god of the stove''. He represents violent forces that are turned toward the betterment ...
, Japanese kitchen god
*
Hestia
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Hestia (; grc-gre, Ἑστία, meaning "hearth" or "fireside") is the virgin goddess of the hearth, the right ordering of domesticity, the family, the home, and the state. In myth, she is the firstborn ...
, Greek goddess of the hearth
*
Vesta (mythology)
Vesta () is the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. She was rarely depicted in human form, and was more often represented by the fire of her temple in the Forum Romanum. Entry to her temple was permitted only to h ...
, Roman goddess of the hearth
Notes
References
*Ashkenazy, Michael. ''Handbook of Japanese Mythology''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2003.
*Etter, Carl. ''Ainu Folklore: Traditions and Culture of the Vanishing Aborigines of Japan''. Chicago: Wilcox and Follett, 1949.
*Munro, Neil Gordon. ''Ainu Creed and Cult''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1995.
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Domestic and hearth deities
Ainu kamuy
Fire goddesses