Shogun was the ultimate rank one could achieve in Japan. The Shogun was the Supreme Military Dictator. Only one Daimyo (feudal lord) at a time could obtain the title. And only the His Imperial Highness, the reigning Emperor, the Divine Son of Heaven, who lived in seclusion with the Imperial Families at Kyoto, could grant the title. With the appointment of Shogun went absolute power: the Emperor's seal and mandate. The Shogun ruled in the Emperor's name. All power was derived from the Emperor because he was directly descended from the gods. Therefore any daimyo who opposed the Shogun were automatically in rebellion against the throne, and at once outcast and all his lands forfeit. The reigning Emperor was worshipped as a divinity because he was descended in an unbroken line from the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Omikami, one of the children of the gods Izanagi and Izanami, who had formed the islands of Japan from the firmament. By divine right the ruling Emperor owned all the land and was obeyed without question. But in practice, for more than six centuries real power had rested behind the throne.
A Shogunate was the government, office, or rule of a Shogun. There was three shogunates in Japanese history.
1) Kamakura Shogunate (1192–1333)
2) Ashikaga Shogunate (1336–1573)
3) Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868)
1) Kamakura Shogunate (1192–1333)
2) Ashikaga Shogunate (1336–1573)
3) Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1868)
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ April 21, 2011
The Mensheviks were more focused on changing Russia peacefully through an evolutionary process, while the Bolsheviks wanted revolutionary, violent change.
On July 30, 1903, the second congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) was held in Brussels, Belgium. While the meeting was supposed to unite the party, instead it split in two. Lenin headed the Bolsheviks, who believed that violence was necessary for the revolution to succeed. The Bolsheviks thought that only a violent uprising in the proletariat can truly create a communist state, with the rebellion to be headed by a small number of intelligent revolutionaries. The Mensheviks, on the other hand, believed that reform and democracy would gradually bring Russia into communism. They thought that the formulation of a parliament and organization into different parties would allow Russia's working class to gain more power. Lenin gave his group the name "Bolshevik", which means majority-class. His opponents were called "Mensheviks", which means minority-class, although, at the congress in Brussels, there were more Mensheviks than Bolsheviks. During the civil war following the overthrow of Czar the Bolsheviks represented the red army and the Mensheviks represented the white army. The Mensheviks wanted to later establish a monarchy, which was not supported by the Mensheviks.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 05, 2011
A member of a group professing a polytheistic religion or any religion other than Christianity, Judaism, or Islam.
The word pagan can also be used to describe a person who has no religion or a hedonist, which is someone who is devoted to or pursues pleasure; especially the pleasures of the senses.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 28, 2010
Sequence of change, impermanence, the cycle of rebirth-redeath that afflicts every living being until release (Moksha).
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 04, 2010
A religion native to Japan, characterized by veneration of nature spirits and ancestors and by a lack of formal dogma. Shinto is actually from the Chinese word for Japanese religion, shen-dao, the Way of the Higher Gods. The Japanese term for traditional religion is kami-no-michi, the Way of the Kami. Kami are spirits, gods, sacred powers and so on. It is very animistic. All things derive from the power of the kami. Once, Japan was only inhabited by kami. As all things derive from the kami, so do human beings derive from the kami and may become kami upon death. This belief forms the traditional history of the origins of Japan and its people. In the beginning the kami were generated on the Plain of High Heaven. The most important were Izanagi and Izanami. Their creative power brought about the land of Japan and the people. Izanagi and Izanami descended to the Floating Bridge of Heaven and stirred the salt water to create an island to which they descended to give birth to the kami of the world. The universe is interpreted in terms of the power of the kami. The myths discuss 800 myriads of kami on the Plain of High Heaven, much less the kami of Earth, the Central Land of Reed Plains. The myths set the pattern for Japanese concerns for purity, the veneration of the sun kami, the festivals and rituals, and the traditions that provide the distinctive Japanese identity.
Izanami died after giving birth to Kaga-Tsuchi, the kami of fire and went to Yomi, the underworld. Izanagi tried to break in and bring her back. He was horrified at her appearance in death and repelled. Even more, she was angry that he had broken in to see her polluted by death and she pursued him to destroy him. Izanagi escaped and blocked the hole to the Underworld with a huge rock to prevent Izanami from being unleashed on the world. She threatened to bring death to all things. He responded that he would make sure that things were born faster than she could destroy them. He escaped but was now polluted by the experience and so washed in the ocean to purify himself and exorcise the evil. This set the pattern for purification rituals. Ritually unclean, Izanagi bathed in the ocean. When Izanagi washed his left eye, Amaterasu (the Heavenly Illuminating Kami, or Sun Kami) was born. In washing his right eye, Tsukiyomi (the Moon Kami) was born and in washing his nose Susanoo (Valiant Raging Male Kami, or Storm Kami) was born. Izanagi was pleased by these kami of sun, moon and storm. He placed Amaterasu to rule the Plain of High Heaven and gave her his sacred necklace. So she came to rule all the kami. Tsukiyomi was to rule the night and Susanoo the sea. Purification inside and out becomes important in Shinto and the model is Izanagi’s bath. Pollution comes from the darkness and the kami help take it back to the darkness.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 15, 2010
Shu (Su) was the god of dry air, wind and the atmosphere. He was also related to the sun, possibly as an aspect of sunlight. He was the son of the creator god, father of the twin sky and the earth deities and the one who held the sky off of the earth. He was one of the gods who protected Ra on his journey through the underworld, using magic spells to ward off Ra's enemy, the snake-demon Apep. As with other protector gods, he had a darker side - he was also a god of punishment in the land of the dead, leading executioners and torturers to kill off the corrupt souls. His name might be derived from the word for dryness - shu, the root of words such as 'dry', 'parched', 'withered', 'sunlight' and 'empty'. His name could also mean 'He who Rises Up'.
Shu was generally depicted as a man wearing an ostrich feather headdress, holding a sceptre and the ankh sign of life. Sometimes he is shown wearing the sun disk on his head, linking him to the sun. Occasionally, when shown with his sister-wife Tefnut, he is shown in lion form and the two were known as the "twin lion gods". At other times, he was shown with the hind part of a lion as his headdress, linking him to his leonine form. Mostly, he was shown with his arms raised, holding up the goddess Nut as the sky, standing on the body of Geb.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ August 04, 2010
The haori is a lightweight silk jacket used to help keep the kimono clean and dry. They vary in length and are considered an essential part of ceremonial kimono attire. They are meant to be worn open. It's usually taken off and folded up before one enters the place they are visiting.
by ♫ Highway to Hell ♫ July 19, 2011