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#collectable deliveries (= a real job that has you create/interact respectfully with the world)
torque-witch · 7 years
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Delivery God Yato
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Image credit - x
Wiki credit - x 
So! I’ve decided to make a small Pop Culture Paganism informational post on Yato, God of War Delivery, from the Anime “Noragami.” I briefly mentioned before that working with this archetype/deity would be great for completing tasks - either physical or metaphysical/astral.
A brief backstory on Yato is that he is currently trying to sever ties with his past duties (god of calamity, war, depravity, etc.) and has given himself the title of “God of Fortune” and “Delivery God Yato.” He wants to help people, and will do whatever jobs it takes to regain a sense of existence and acceptance. Mainly, these jobs are spiritual in nature. He destroys the evil (demons) associated with negative happenings, thus taking care of the root issue of why people are miserable. In the anime, it is considered that people do evil things because they are attached to some sort of evil. So instead of accelerating these deeds, he has chosen to fight them. He does, though, carry out more mundane tasks as long as there is payment involved.
The most important thing to remember about Yato is that he has nearly been forgotten as a god since departing from his original purpose. His biggest fear is being forgotten or ignored from a patron. If you choose to work with this energy, make sure you are active in your pursuits. He is not wrathful - rather he accepts people leaving with no qualms - but to do so without an explanation would cause him sadness, and in your petitions, probably a less than immediate response. 
Birthday - August 10th (Leo)
Associated with fire, passion, beauty, cats, vanity and matters of the heart.
Age - 1000+
Duties - Delivery, Fortune, Calamity, Depravity, War
Good for completing tasks, petitions, retrieving lost items, banishing, protection & curses
Names - Yobaku : Night Divination | Yatogami (self-made) : Night Sword of God 
*He does not like his given name, so referring to him simply as Yato is best
Colors - Black, White, Blue & Yellow
Suitable Offerings - good luck charms, good luck trinkets, coins, money, alcohol, poker chips, winning scratch-off tickets, things associated with cats, scarves, sewing, knitting
Misc. 
Does not tolerate people that are weak-spirited. While this doesn’t mean you can’t have depression or anxiety to work with him, it simply means that if you have no desire to learn or grow he may not feel obliged to help you. Do not use him; attempt to form a relationship. Do not come to him for matters of the mind. It isn’t his specialty.
Huge fear of being forgotten. 
He is very very happy to have his own space, like a shrine or section specifically dedicated to him. Anything handmade in his name is pleasing. 
Even though he proclaimed himself to be a God of Fortune, it doesn’t mean he can offer you fortune in return. He isn’t good with money and spends it on alcohol and food. So, don’t expect your coin offerings to somehow multiply in your favor. He is the god of Fortune because that’s how he accomplishes tasks. My advice here would be to not take your offerings back, but once in a while offer them to a wishing well type place in his name - and in that sense perhaps the money will return to you, if you are looking for fortune. 
Go to local cultural fairs or festivals! Participating in and enjoying your local culture is a great act to do in his name. Or pick up a souvenir to place on his shrine.
Write positive messages in bathroom stalls! You never know who might see it and have a better day.
Does not adhere to gender roles, or seem very concerned with them. 
How to spell his name -
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Image source - x (but more likely just screen-shot from anime series)
On this image note, perhaps you can incorporate making business cards for Yato! Use his written name as a summoning sigil, and write down your request on the paper. Burn it in a fire-safe container to send your request to him!
What his hand-made shrine looks like for reference - 
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Image source - x (again, probably from the manga)
And on a final note, an excerpt that may explain his existence better:
“Yato is relatively unknown deity, or kami. He wears a track suit scrounged from a discarded bag of clothes. He bums off his fellow kami for shelter and meals. And he does a number of odd jobs where he demands a pittance in compensation, or offerings, in return. In the world of Noragami, the lives of kami depend on memory. Gods walk amongst mortals, and mortals can interact with gods. Memories can be fleeting for people, however, and memories of the gods are especially ephermeral. Memories of people’s interactions with kami fade from the mind without constant and refreshing interaction with kami. If a person’s attachment to a kami is fairly weak, forgetfulness of that kami’s existence washes almost immediately after initial interaction.  When people cease to remember a kami, that kami ceases to be able to initiate remembrance. They cease, in other words, to exist.
Without the benefit of physical mooring to the world of mortals in the form of frequented written records and dedicated shrines, Yato does odd jobs for people. In the long-term, he hopes to collect enough funds from these jobs to purchase grounds and materials for a shrine of his own. In the short-term, he hopes that by doing these jobs, he can keep people from forgetting that he exists. When they pray for things and offer things in return, their minds remember their interactions with him. For that brief amount of time he listens their prayers, accepts their offerings, and grants their requests, he can remain alive for that much longer.”
Excerpt source - x
So my final thoughts are this. If you choose to work with a Pop Culture deity, even though it is hard to imagine them otherwise - try to be aware and respectful of what culture they represent in the real world. Try to keep your practice close to the original design of the story, keeping in mind that most “created” god-like characters are still somehow derived from historical references. For the purpose of this particular post, Yato doesn’t seem to have much historical ties to any existing Japanese deities, being that he is relatively unknown in the lore and does not have a lot of followers. Noragami, also, means “stray god.” The only information I can find is this -
The Yato-no-kami (夜刀の神?, "gods of the night-sword") are snake deities in Japanese folklore appearing in the Hitachi No Kuni Fudoki. They lived in Namegata county, in fields near the government office. They were rumored to bring familial extermination on anyone who saw them. Eventually, they were killed by a man clearing the fields, enshrined, and banished to the mountains. x
The religion most associated with the anime is Shintoism - x
Jinja Shinto - information on an open practice of Shinto via The Twisted Rope - x
I would say that because Yato is not a relevant god in Shintoism, it is okay to use his imagery for the purposes he represents in the anime and manga. It would be GREAT though at least, to do some research on Shintoism and kami as a way to respectfully understand the lore and vocabulary in the anime. Using other kami apart from pop culture could result in cultural appropriation and disrespect if you are not part of Jinja Shintoism. For my own purposes, I do not see pop-culture deity as living, but more so archetypal - fed by your own energy and attention to their primary goals, which fits into Yato’s belief that your attention to him keeps him alive.
Questions or concerns? Hit me up
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