At the behest of the other gods these two stood on the floating bridge of heaven, and thrusting down the jewel-spear of heaven groped about with it in the chaos below. When it was drawn up again some brine dripped down, and, coagulating, formed an island which received the name of Onogoro-shima, or the "Self-coagulating island." The divine pair descended, and erected there an eight-fathom house of which the jewel-spear was made the central pillar. Then, the male deity turning by the left and the female deity turning by the right, they went round this central pillar until they met at the other side. The female deity thereupon spoke first and exclaimed: "How delightful! a lovely youth!" The male deity was displeased at the woman for having spoken first, so they went round the pillar a second time, and having met anew, the male deity spoke first and said: "How delightful! a lovely maiden!" Thereupon they became united as husband and wife. Another account says that in consequence of the ill-luck produced by the female deity having been the first to speak, the child which was born to them was a leech, which they placed in a reed-boat and sent adrift.
The accepted etymology of the names Izanagi and Izanami derives them from a verb izanaü, to invite. The terminations gi and mi mean respectively male deity and female deity. Hence the descriptive appellations "Male who invites" and "Female who invites," used by Mr. Chamberlain in his translation of the Kojiki. I have a strong suspicion that Iza is really the name of a place; but the ordinary derivation has an obvious pertinence, and it was probably present to the minds of the myth-makers.
The jewel-spear of Heaven (which reminds us of Maui's enchanted hook) is with some probability identified by native writers with the lingam. This is not the only evidence of the existence of phallic worship in ancient Japan. In modern times this cult has been notoriously prevalent there.
The phrase used in this passage of the original for "two
