The significance of Japan's Yata no Kagami

It may no coincidence that one of the sacred objects of Japan is the Yata no Kagami.

In the Japanese mythological story,
a mirror representing wisdom was offered to the goddess of the sun, Amaterasu.
Which begs the question,
Why would a mirror represent wisdom?
And why would Amaterasu be interested in such a thing?
Well, a mirror allows a person to see themsevles clearly
and if you want to have any true understanding of the world
You first need to be able to perceive who you actually are devoid of illusion
Could this not be the first step to acquiring wisdom?
It is certainly an important, if not absolutely crucial step.
How can we call an individual wise if they cannot even see themselves clearly?

In our lives, we know this to be true,
because we sometimes come across people that live in a fantasy world
of their own delusions about the nature of reality and of themselves
These people are clearly not wise.
For an individual that lives in this way
Is living in a maze of faulty beliefs
and may remain trapped inside these illusions forever.
Anything they encounter that is not in congruence with their fantasy world
they will avoid, bury, or even fight against.
That or,
one day they will have their illusions shattered
by the hard edges of reality.
Maybe you have seen either of these scenarios play out
in acquaintances, a relative or a family member.
It is not a happy thing to observe in any sense of the word,
and sometimes leads to their own destruction.

In broader terms,
a society with too many individuals that avoid the truth
or one that actively suppresses what is true
is a terrible and deplorable one to live in.
Our collective history has many such examples of this,
You would only need to look so far as the past century
to see many examples of horrific tragedies that emerged from such societies.
And unfortunately, some of these still exist today.

Mirrors are also used to view that which is not directly visible.
To be aware of that which exists but cannot be seen directly,
is the foundation of all abstract thinking
and forms the basis of all truly creative and artistic pursuits.
Why is this important?
Well, it is often said that it is the artists of this world that have the ability to save mankind
because by attempting to grasp what cannot be seen
And extracting from it a sense of valuable meaning
then forging it into reality,
enables others to learn, perceive and understand that which is beyond the confines and limitations
of mankind’s current state,
and thus enabling transcendence
And because mankind is always in need of transcendence,
this makes the artist eternally relevant in the highest degree,
to the evolution of society.
You only need to look at how we define all of our periods of history and their evolution, to see
they were all defined by artists and their influence on literature, religion, architecture, philosophy, music and thus human perception.

Anyway, this is becoming a longer analysis than I had originally planned.
The remaining question is,
Why would Amaterasu be interested in such a mirror,
that would confer such values to mankind.

See yourself clearly, and at least attempt to see that which cannot be directly seen.

A God can represent that which is eternal,
in a purely practical sense,
Gods can be seen as guides to universal values, ethics or a code of behavior
with the aim of guiding society.
Of course, a God is not simply just that,
and by no means am I saying that I understand what the concept of God is.
But in an age of nihilism and materialist reductionism
speaking in terms of practicality is often necessary.

The values we place upon, or assign to Gods through symbolic representation
is how we guide people through the ages.
The mirror therefore is the value of seeing the truth, or at least attempting to do so,
And in many cases in life, this is the only thing that will save you,
from whatever it is you are seeking to be saved from.