ABSTRACT
There was no definite theogony in Shinto, yet a certain cycle of cosmological myths may be discerned. Three deities are said to have sprung out of the primeval chaos which was like an ocean of mud veiled in darkness. The head of the triad was the Heavenly-Central-Lord, or the Eternal-Land-Ruler, while the two subordinates were the High-Producing, and the Divine or Mysterious-Producing. The last couple of the series were the Male-who-Invites and the Female-who-Invites. They are said to have descended to earth by order of the celestial deities, in order to produce the terrestrial world. The contest of the two deities is depicted in two scenes, one on the Heavenly River-basin of Peace and the other in the arbour where the Sun-goddess was preparing for the great feast of harvest, the foremost of Shinto festivals.
