to every one who acquaints himself with
their popular speech and literature.

How closely and directly phallicism is connected with the god-way, and
why there were so many Shint[=o] temples devoted to this latter cult and
furnished with symbols, is shown by study of the "Kojiki." The two
opening sections of this book treat of kami that were in the minds even
of the makers of the myths little more than mud and water[13]--the mere
bioplasm of deity. The seven divine generations are "born," but do
nothing except that they give Izanagi and Izanami a jewelled spear. With
this pair come differentiation of sex. It is immediately on the
apparition of the consciousness of sex that motion, action and creation
begin, and the progress of things visible ensues. The details cannot be
put into English, but it is enough, besides noting the conversation and
union of the pair, to say that the term meaning giving birth to, refers
to inanimate as well as animate things. It is used in reference to the
islands which compose the archipelago as well as to the various kami
which seem, in many cases, to be nothing more than the names of things
or places.

Fire-myths and Ritual.

Fire is, in a sense, the foundation and first necessity of civilization,
and it is interesting to study the myths as to the origin of fire, and
possibly even more interesting to compare the Greek and Japanese
stories. As we know, old-time popular etymology makes Prometheus the
fore-thinker and brother of Epimetheus the after-thinker. He is the
stealer of the fire from heaven, in order to make men share the secret
of the gods. Comparative philology tells us, however, that the Sanskrit
_Pramantha_ is a stick that produces fire. The "Kojiki" does indeed
contain what is probably the later form of the fire-myth about two
brothers, Prince Fire-Shine and Fire-Fade, which suggests both the later
Greek myth of the fore- and after-thinker and a tradition of a flood.
The first, and most probably older, myth in giving the origin of fire
does it in true Japanese style, with details of parturition. After
numerous other deities had been born of Izanagi and Izanami, it is said
"that they gave birth to the Fire-Burning-Swift-Male-Deity, another name
for whom is the Deity-Fire-Shining-Prince, and another name is the
Deity-Fire-Shining-Elder." In the other ancient literature this fire-god
is called Ho-musubi, the Fire-Producer.

Izanami yielded up her life upon the birth of her so