Yama-no-Kami is believed in as the spirit that protects the mountain, and is considered to be a female deity with fertility, fecundity and life-giving powers. It is an ancient animistic belief and phallic symbols are often given as offerings and Yama-no-Kami is worshipped to appease natural disasters. Yama-no-Kami has a strong relationship with agriculture, and is said to descend from the mountains to be the god of fields in the spring and return to the mountains when the harvest ends in the fall. There are many places where Yama-no-Kami is enshrined along the Kumano Kodo.
