カガメ
Kagame
Kei: Huh˜
It seems the kind of folktale a boy might like, with blood and guts spraying everywhere.
Kei: ......But, I didn't see a word of him being a snake god. Maybe the station worker-san had memorized it wrong?
Tsudzura: No no, it was merely that the word "snake god" was not written in this story. He is mountain god, and he even used lightning, so he is a snake god. Probably.
Kei: Really?
Tsudzura: That is how it is. Even the Oomononushi of Ninuriya was the god of Mt. Miwa, after all.
Tsudzura: You see, mountains in a clean, three-sided pyramid shape were called "Kannabi Mountains," and were objects of worship. This is because they resemble a coiled snake.
Kei: Now that I think of it, even in Jagansou they said, "a boa constrictor lived there and was called 'Master of the Mountain.' That sure was one big snake."
The joke story "Jagansou" is about a man whose belly hurt from eating too much mochi, so he ate the same grass the snakes eat when they swallow humans, and "ohmigod! He's in trouble now!" ...or so the story goes.
The grass he ate, thinking it helped digestion, was actually a grass that dissolved human beings, so all that was left was a blob of mochi in the shape of a man------ thus the punch line.
By the way, there is also a version about soba, called "Sobasei," and it's fairly popular.
Tsudzura: Incidentally, Onee-san, there is such an object of worship much closer to us than a pyramid mountain. Do you know what that is?
Kei: Eh---
However much thought I give it, mokugyo ringing in my head all the while, no such item comes to mind.
Kei: ......Hint.
Tsudzura: It is edible.
Kei: Something edible... that looks like a snake?
Now I'm even more confused.
Kei: Hint number two---!
Tsudzura: In the old tongue, snakes were called "kaka," "kaga" or the like------ Would you have heard of the "akakagachi," by any chance?
Kei: It's a type of snake...... right?
Tsudzura: Yes.
Kei: A type of food with "kaga" in the name......?
Tsudzura: And now for the last hint. Just a moment ago, Onee-san, you referenced "Jagansou."
Kei: Eh? It's appears in "Jagansou?"
Tsudzura: If I were to say any more, it would cease to be a hint, now˜
Kei: Mnmn!......
If there's any food that appears in "Jagansou," it's mochi. If we put that together with hint #2's "kaga," then...
What floats up in my head is two flat layers of mochi in different sizes, stacked together, with a mandarin orange set on top.
Kei: ......Kagami mochi?
Tsudzura: That's right. When layered correctly, it appears much akin to a coiled snake, does it not?
Kei: Now that you mention it, it does, kind of......
It's basically a lucky charm for the New Year holidays, so I guess you could call it an object of worship, but...
Kei: But, the "kagami" from "kagami mochi" refers to a mirror, so------
Of course, I'd be stumped when asked what kagami mochi has to do with a mirror, but------ there's no way.
Perhaps having guessed the direction of my tangled sentence, Tsudzura-chan waves her index finger side to side as if to say "That's where you're wrong, Watson."
Tsudzura: It is the mirror, in fact, that is the imposter here. All of the metallic mirrors back then were imported, first of all.
So, in other words, the "mirror" this item refers to must be something analogous to mirrors that was adapted into the ancient Japanese word, "kagami."
Tsudzura: So you see, "kagame" - in other words, a derivation from "a snake's eye" - is one theory of origin.
Kei: A snake's eye? (TN: "Me" is "eye" in Japanese. Put it together with the archaic word for snake mentioned before, "kaga," and you get "kagame.")
Tsudzura: Yes. After all, eyes reflect what they are watching.
Tsudzura-chan briskly stretches up and leans her face close. In her large eyes, I can see my face reflected.
Tsudzura: Before mirrors appeared in Japan, there weren't many reflective items, you see.
Such as a sparkling, polished stone.
Such as the water of a lake.
Such as eyes.
Tsudzura: Such items were steeped in spiritual significance. Often, they were made into sacred ground or ritual objects, as it were.
Objects that reflect one's appearance are given great mystery. It was scarcely a century and a few decades ago when rumors of people losing their souls by having their picture taken was the jingle of the jungle.
Kei: Ah... jingle of the jungle...... (TN: Kei just inadvertently uttered a pun in her mind. The original is "seiken wo sekken," which means "pervading the issues/gossip [of the times].")
Tsudzura: Onee-san, is there something funny?
Kei: Eh!? It's nothing, really! Just continue, continue...
Oops. Stop thinking about strange things, Kei, and concentrate on the lecture.
Tsudzura: The mirror is the foremost of the three sacred treasures. It is little surprise, seeing as it is the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu Oomikami's own physical avatar.
The brilliantly shining sun, and the glittering shine of a mirror.
Tsudzura: Not to mention, her younger brother, Tsukuyomi no Mikoto is, just as his name says, a god of the moon, but, the moon also has alternate names such as Tenkyou and Kinkyou, as well as many others that describe it as a mirror. (TN: Tenkyou (天鏡) - Heavenly mirror. Kinkyou (金鏡) - gold-plated mirror.)
The moon is a mirror that reflects the sunlight.
Tsudzura: Also, these two gods with a relevant connection to mirrors were both born from the two eyes of the father god, Izanagi no Mikoto, at the country's creation.
Kei: Mirrors born from eyes......
Tsudzura: Yes. Amaterasu from his left, and Tsukuyomi from his right.
If she's going that deep into it, I might as well accept it. The "mi" of "kagami" must have come from "me."
Kei: But...... why a snake, then?
I wonder why it couldn't have been from a human's eye.
Tsudzura: It is difficult to say why. After all, it is only one theory, so I cannot affirm it is so, but the snake has been respected and feared since long ago------
Tsudzura-chan's eyes reflect me silently within them.
Tsudzura: Above all, you see, snakes never blink their eyelids.
Kei: Ahh------
I find myself thinking, "no wonder."
And now that I think of it, the snake in chinese astrology is referred to as "mi," isn't it?