musubi

musubi, in the Shintō religion of Japan, the power of becoming or creation. A number of deities are associated with musubi. In the accounts of the creation of heaven and earth in the Kojiki (“Records of Ancient Matters”), the three deities first named are Takami-musubi no Kami (“Exalted Musubi Deity”), who is later related to the gods of the heaven; Kami-musubi no Kami (“Sacred Musubi Deity”), related to the gods of the earth; and Ame no Minaka-nushi no Kami (“Heavenly Centre-Ruling Deity”). Some Shintō scholars hold that all Shintō deities are manifestations of Ame no Minaka-nushi no Kami.