AMATSUKAMI

   The kami of heaven (ama/ame). In Shinto theology drawing on the Nihongi and Kojiki accounts of creation the ama-tsu-kami or heavenly kami are usually compared and contrasted with the kuni-tsu-kami or kami of the land. Both types of kami stem from the same source at the beginning of creation; the heavenly kami Amaterasu and the prototypical earthly kami Susano-o are sister and brother. Broadly speaking, the ama-tsu-kami descend to pacify the world occupied by the kuni-tsu-kami, a myth which suggests that this world embodies heavenly and earthly influences all ultimately of divine origin. There is however no consistent distinction between the two types of kami in the myths, and the distinctions that are made have little practical significance in shrine worship where the kami of particular locations receive equal regard according to their special merits (shintoku, mi-itsu) whether they belong to one, both or neither of these categories.