No mythological origin is recorded in the provided sources; the an is treated as a ritual furnishing in Shinto practice and reference works rather than as a being with a creation myth.
A small table, desk, or platform used to bear offerings. Variants include forms with four, eight, or sixteen legs; the eight-legged form is the most common and is conventionally named hassoku-an or hakkyaku-an (八足案, 八脚案). Specific materials and decorative details are not specified in the cited sources.
As an inanimate liturgical object, the an does not possess agency or supernatural powers in the provided materials. Its functional role is to bear and display offerings during Shinto ceremonies, thereby participating materially in the enactment of rites and the proper presentation of offerings to the kami.
Community Record
- [1]An (Shinto) — Wikipedia. Wikipedia contributors. "An (Shinto)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.wiki
- [2]Encyclopedia of Shinto (entry: 案). Encyclopedia of Shinto. Institute of Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University. 2006.academic
- [3]Essentials of Shinto: An Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings. Picken, Stuart (1994). Essentials of Shinto: An Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings.academic