Maru ni Daki Myōga Mouse Mat

Myōga crest. This is the most commonly used design among Myōga crests (according to 'Kamon no Jiten' by Takazawa et al.). During the medieval period, there was a Matara faith, where Myōga was offered to the deity's image and a bamboo was placed beside it during worship. Myōga represents worldly desires, while bamboo represents nothingness. 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 spirit worship, managing the dead and spirits, those who worshipped it were said to attain a peaceful death (according to 'Monshō' by Itō Kōsaku).