神様トンボ/Spirit Dragonfly

東アジアに生息する羽黒とんぼ

Blackwinged dragonflies found in East Asia

Calopteryx atrata

羽黒とんぼ （川とんぼ、神様とんぼとも呼ばれる）

欧米でいう一つの普遍的な存在である"神様"に対して、日本でいう神様は自分の先祖や自然に潜む様々な魂を指すことが多いです。神様とんぼについて英語情報を調べてみると"God Dragonfly"ではなくて"Spirit Dragonfly"で出てくるのはこの背景にあるかもしれません。

この羽黒とんぼはゆっくりと真上に羽を合わせてはゆっくりと下ろし、そしてまたゆっくりと上に合わせます。この動きは人がお祈りするときの手合わせに見えて神様とんぼと呼ばれるようになったという一説があるそうです。綺麗な真っ黒にほんの少しの水色が混じり、僕がこの動きに惹かれて、不思議な鳥のように見えて撮影に挑みました。結果はこの気に入りの一枚です。

While in the West "God" usually refers to a singular, omnipresent being, in Japan the word "kamisama" many times refers to one or more of the many spirits out there such as those of one's own ancestors or those you find concealed within nature. That's probably why this dragonfly seems to be referred to as "Spirit Dragonfly" rather than "God Dragonfly" when researching about this dragonfly.

This blackwinged dragonfly slowly raises its wings straight up before slowly lowering them down before raising them up yet again. There is a theory that this dragonfly became known as the "kamisama" (god or spirit) dragonfly in parts of Japan as this motion resembled that of a person raising his or her hands in prayer. I was drawn to this movement as it looked almost like a strange bird to me, along with its pitch black color with hints of blue. The result of my endeavor to capture this beauty is one of my own personal favorite shots.