Enshrined Deities

The origins of Okinogu begin with the enshrinement of a sacred spirit tree that appeared at Naha Port.

The root source of that spirit tree is said to be Tentozan Utaki on Onoyama. The deity who dwells there is praised in Japanese Shinto as Amaterasu Omikami, and in Okinawan divine names as Tenjukume Ryuguo Ongami.

At Okinogu, Tentozan Utaki serves as the inner sanctuary while the shrine hall serves as the outer worship. Utaki and shrine are enshrined together as one.

The Utaki is the sacred ground where the Divine Age and the age of the kami dwell—the root of all divinity. The shrine is the place of prayer where that divine virtue is honored outwardly.

To understand the enshrined deities of Okinogu, it is essential first to know this principle: the Utaki as root, and the shrine as outer worship.

At the central seat of the main hall, three heavenly goddesses of the Divine Age are enshrined.

Tenjinndai refers to the deities who, in the Divine Age before human birth, shine the divine light from heaven and protect and nurture life.

The three heavenly goddesses are the central deities expressing yang divine light in the system of enshrined deities at Okinogu.

Each is honored as divine light of the source, divine light that bestows wisdom, and divine light that bestows fortune and virtue.

The twelve earthly branches are not merely marks of birth year. They are the twelve directions and twelve gates through which the will of heaven appears on earth, giving birth to and nurturing all things in nature, showing the order of transformation and the cycles of time and season.

At Okinogu, the deities of the Second and Third Divine Ages are enshrined as deities of the Divine Age who guard these twelve gates.

The source of these twelve directions belonging to the Divine Age is called the Heavenly Twelve Directions.

Through these twelve gates, Okinogu teaches that we are protected in birth year, daily cycles, directional guardianship, and the path of life and mission inherited from our ancestors.

At the auxiliary shrine Sumiyoshi of Okinogu, deities of the Second Divine Age are enshrined as divine couples.

The Second Divine Age refers to the three male deities who appeared on earth and their divine spouses, inheriting life from the parent deities of the First Divine Age.

The three deities of the Second Divine Age are honored as the first child deities on earth who appear the will of heaven.

The three deities of the Second Divine Age are also connected with the directions of Rat, Ox, and Tiger.

Rat, Ox, and Tiger are the directions from north toward northeast—the kimon direction—which has long been treasured as the boundary connecting this world and the hidden world (kakuriyo).

Starting from this kimon direction, divine virtue spreads to the deities of the Third Divine Age, and the Heavenly Twelve Directions are arranged.

The Third Divine Age refers to the deities born from the divine couples of the Second Divine Age.

When the deities of the Third Divine Age are added to the three deities of Rat, Ox, and Tiger of the Second Divine Age, the guardianship of the twelve directions connected with the twelve earthly branches—the Heavenly Twelve Directions—is complete.

At Okinogu, deities of the Third Divine Age are enshrined at the auxiliary Benzaiten Shrine and the auxiliary Yasaka Shrine.

Gongendo is an important hall that enshrines as the principal image the ancestral deities who protect guardian stars (miboshi) and the path of mission based on the twelve earthly branches, connected with Nirai and Kanai.

At Okinogu, the source of the twelve directions belonging to the Divine Age is called the Heavenly Twelve Directions. The Earthly Twelve Directions that support that mission on earth are called the Earthly Branch Twelve Directions.

Miyo refers to the path of ancestral elders who inherited the work of the kami on earth and guided the people.

Therefore, at Gongendo, we revere guardian stars, human mission, and the connection of the path of life through the twelve earthly branches.

The Earthly Branch Twelve Directions are enshrined in four groups of three combined earthly branches.

These four groups correspond to the combinations called sangou in Onmyodo. Each guardian star resonates with the others, expressing the principle that supports human life and mission.

Whereas the shrine is the place that enshrines deities of the Divine Age, Gongendo is treasured as the place to revere ancestral deities of Miyo.