Tengu: The Best Myth Creature

The Tengu (天狗) myth from Japanese Shinto is my personal favorite mythical creature out there. The crow is my favorite bird out there, so that is my bias. Crow (カラス) (עוֹרֵב) is the elegant black bird, smart, and cunning.

I live in the the region of New England, a place you will see crows a lot. I will pass by a few murders (group of crows) just by going outside. The crow we know does hold a secret language and abilities. How in my culture of crows compares to the Shinto's as always interested me, since I always loved the crows in mine and theirs.

Mention of the crow in Judaism comes from Noah's ark, when he sends out a crow and a dove to check the water. While in the most basic of interpretation, the birds just circle around checking to see if the world would dry up, there is said to be more meaning. In the midrash text 'Bereshit Rabbah 33:5', Noah sends out the crow because he sees no use for the bird, for the bird is not kosher nor is an offering. The Holy Blessed One; the lord, tells Noah not to undermine the bird, for the crow will feed the righteous, refering to how the crows brought bread and meat to Eliyahu. This is a twist on Jewish thought on the unimportance of unclean animals like pigs or birds. How the lord cares for the people and animals, allowing the crow to feed them; even the cunning crow has it sweet side.

Now for a more humorous story from the Talmund. In Sanhedrin 108b:12, the crow speaks to Noah (Oh how we love talking animals, right she-ass?). The crow questions Noah's reasons for sending out it. The crow speaks how the lord and Noah hates the crow for simply being non-kosher, reflecting how we view non-kosher animals and only having two of them on the ark. The crow warns that an angel of heat or cold could harm him, leaving his bird wife widow, accusing Noah of trying to get with his bird wife. Noah yells to the bird calling him wicked, saying such a suggestion is forbidden. In this story we get more of the crow's behavoir, more of a pest.

Going off the midrash and talmund, we see Noah's carelessness for the bird at first and the crow annoy. Which is why the lord intervenes telling Noah of the bird's importance and will feed the righteous. The lord is taking away the crow's worry of God hating him for not being kosher and gives Noah reason to not want the bird to die. We have the crow in these texts show its special abilities and language with Noah.

Now to the Tengu, the crow creatures of Japan. I will acknowledge the elefant in the room with tengu and Jews, the long nose, the hats, and the clothes. How suspicious...

The Tengu do have very cool designs, and I always love seeing them in media. Most notable tengu in media is Aya from Touhou Project, the best character. Tengu is early writings are seen as evil spirits, they rob and turn things unholy. Tengu will possesse women to seduce men, targeting priets. These crows are close to people's idea of the malicious crow, who is arrogant and takes away.

Later texts like the Genpei Josuiki has tengu has ghosts of those who are prideful, resulting in different types of tengu that are greater or smaller.

The last development of tengu are as more benefictal creature. They are spirits that aid humans and live on mountains. They now took form of priets to teach the buddha way. While still told to be mischeif creatures, also benefit us in Buddhism. In the Jewish text and the Japanese text, we develop a story of a wicked crow, who attacks the good. But as we know them better from the divine, we are told they benefit and will bring good, aid the good in need.

I'll say I am a good Jew. I read my torah and pray to the lord. I'm not one to make idols. I will admit my faults, for I do have a figure of Aya, which could be said to be an idol of tengu. I don't see it as an idol, I don't pray to my figure nor worship it. I at most autistically stare at it for too long. My beliefs are way much the way of mysticalism, occult, and buddhaism. I am a kabbalahist and buddhist after all. The lord is in everything, and I don't make idols of him. I find enjoyment is celebrating more pagan beliefs and the such, for the lord is in everything. I don't worship the sun, but worship the lord who is the sun. Angels are part of god after all, and I think other deities are just at least misguided interpretations of the lord or other forms of worship he encompasses. I have no bad blood with the Christian, Muslim, Pagan, or Atheist. While I am none of those things, I sitll believe they are holy and worship the lord, for he created science and is in all.

This belief may be very out of traditional Judaism, but hey, what kabbalah stuff isn't. I think tengu are related to the crow from the ark. The lord does send stories to others besides Jews, and maybe this was a result of that. The lord loves making stories you have to interpert hard, and maybe he was hinting to the ark crow. The crow I view as an important part of the lord, repersenting his careness for us, even in the most unusual ways. I mean isn't the lord unusual? Being seen as originally a pagan god of the levant, giving us the torah to interpret, and flooding us.

Notes on this writing on my: I use the pronoun 'he' because of Hebrew, but the lord is genderless and is both masculine and feminine. I do of course believe in the one lord who is infinite, my point is his infinity comes in many ways, just like angels, maybe he allows us to have these mythical creatures, but looking for us to acknowledge he made them and to pray to him. As how we ask his angels to help, but we pray to the lord, for he is the god.