Maru ni Daki Myōga Classic Round Sticker

Myōga crest. This is the most commonly used design among Myōga crests (according to 'The Encyclopedia of Family Crests' by Takazawa et al.). During the medieval period, there was a Matara faith, in which Myōga was offered to the deity's image, and a bamboo was placed beside it as a form of worship. Myōga represents worldly desires, while bamboo represents the void. In other words, one can attain enlightenment by rendering all worldly desires as empty as bamboo. Myōga became a symbol of this deity. Matara-shin is a transformed deity of Ōkuninushi, associated with the Honji Suijaku belief that emerged in the early Heian period. As Matara-shin was also revered in ancestral worship, governing the dead and spirits, it was believed that worshiping this deity would lead to a peaceful death (according to 'Crest' by Itō Kōsaku).