Amaterasu's renewal

According to belief and mythology starting at the dawn of time the goddess Amaterasu ascended in to the skies of the Mortal Realms to give life to the worlds. This moment marked the first spring equinox in history. Spring came to the Mortal Realms and plants and animals began to grow and multiply. The mortals rejoiced and knew a world of light and plenty. They started to worship her forgetting the other gods and goddesses. Amaterasu grew in power and splendor and became the ruler of the Heavenly Realms. This sparked a jealousy in some of them but most settled in their roles. But not all. Her brother the storm god was hit harder then most. Not only was his sister now ruler of the Heavenly Realms, in the world of peace and beauty there was no place for his storms. At first he tried to reason with his sister to also allow room for him in the Mortal Realms bus she would not listen to heady with power. Frustrated and furious the storm god poured all of his power into trying to create a storm in the Mortal Realms. The storm burst into existence boiling with the fury of the storm god and caused untold damage to nature and mortals alike. Amaterasu was instantly aware of this and tried to use her power to stop the storm. In his rage and fury the storm god saw this as an attack and he pored even more power into the storm. Amaterasu was caught of guard and severely wounded by bolts of lightning. With a final effort and use of almost all her power she managed to still the raging storm and with it the fury of her brother. After seeing the damage his storm and their fight had caused in the Mortal Realms and they way he had wounded his sister the storm god repented. But Amaterasu also realized the she was at fault. She had not considered the wants and needs of the other gods and goddesses and had been blinded by the power. She learned humility in that moment and apologized to her brother and the others. They agreed that Amaterasu would be ascendant for half a year and then retreat to the Heavenly Realm for the next half. Reconciled once more the storm god bore his wounded sister to the Shrine of Life were she was healed from her wounds. And so every year on the autumn equinox sister and brother perform a mock battle to mark the moment that Amaterasu will retire and her brother be given free reign over the Mortal Realms.

Every year at the spring equinox Amaterasu needs to go through the ritual of Renewal in order to become ascendant again. After resting for half a year in the Heavenly Realms after the yearly battle with her sibling she goes to the Shrine of Life on the night of the spring equinox accompanied by her handmaidens. There she will submerge herself in the pool at the foot of the shrine until midnight. Then she will rise from the pool once again ascendant and spring starts in the Mortal Realms. This time is a dangerous time for Amaterasu. She is at the lowest point of her power and when submerged she will be in a trance until midnight. She will be vulnerable outside of her palace and unaware of her surroundings. During her time as ruler of the Heavenly realms she has made several enemies that would like nothing more then to take this opportunity to take their revenge. Therefor her handmaidens guard her fiercely during this time each of them an accomplished warrior in her own right.

The mortals observe this yearly feast day by fasting the day before the spring equinox. During the day they will go to the village shrine where leave items that symbolize new life an rebirth such as seeds and eggs. This is thought to empower Amaterasu while she is in her trance giving her the power to heal and ascenc once more. At midnight they travel to village shrine to join in prayer. The next day is feast day where all mortals will dance and eat and celebrate the return of spring.