Goddess collection: Me-no-Uzume - The Japanese Goddess of Dawn and Dance

me-no-Uzume - The Japanese Goddess of Dawn and Dance

The youthful female deity of dawn (which made her something of an assistant to Amaterasu, the sun deity), Ame-no-Uzume also embraced the spontaneity of nature. This last aspect made her the patron goddess of creativity and the performing arts, including dance. To that end, one of Shinto's central myths concerns how Amaterasu, the sun goddess, locked herself in a dark cave after falling out with Susanoo, the storm god. This resulted in the coming of darkness over the heavens and the earth.