Ask a follower of Shinto

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Greeting everyone.Through my travels in Shinto I found that finding information on the subject can't be exceedingly difficult and therefore to make things easier for those interested, I wish to offer the Encyclopedia of Shinto (an extremely comprehensive site) and my own knowledge. I truly recommend the above website, it holds much knowledge.

Please ask me anything and I will answer to the best of my ability.

[PsykhikosAnarchosNautikos]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

What do you know about the Hand Seals, Chants and Visualizations, and do you have any hands on experience with these combined methods?

[WinterTraditions]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

How do you worship our deities? Do you have a personal altar at home, or do you go to a Shinto Shrine?

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

What do you know about the Hand Seals, Chants and Visualizations, and do you have any hands on experience with these combined methods?

We call it the Kuijin and is done when doing a chant for protective energy known as Kuji-Ho. The prayer is done either in a shrine or in front of ones Kamidana (Kami shelf).

The Kami mentioned in this protective chant is Sarutohiko-sama who is the head of the Kami of Earth.

Personally I do not visualise, I simply do the chant and the Kuijin and enjoy the protection it provides for a day.

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

How do you worship our deities? Do you have a personal altar at home, or do you go to a Shinto Shrine?

There are no Shinto Shrines in Ireland so I have none to go to. That said I have a Kamidana which is most likely the personal altar you are referring to. I believe most people on this site make there own or some such. In Shinto we have dedicated Kamidana which are handmade and blessed by a Priest (or the odd priestess). They have all you need to do daily misogi (ritual purification) as well as your other daily prayers be the short or long.

Now the prayers you use are up to you, I recommend Ann Llewellyn Evans' Shinto Norito : A Book of Prayers for a complete collection of prayers you can use.

Note : I would ask everyone to realise that Shinto also recognises foreign deities and has syncrestic which are dual deities of two faiths. Most notable among these are Hachiman who is the Kami of War and Archery who is both Buddhist and Shinto. As such the worship of other Deities are fine.

[PsykhikosAnarchosNautikos]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

Thank you. I'm going to look into Sarutohiko-sama.

Shinto is from the Yamabushi folk religion/practice, correct? Do you know any lore of the Tengu and their relation to the Samurai from the Shinto perspective?

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

Thank you. I'm going to look into Sarutohiko-sama.

Shinto is from the Yamabushi folk religion/practice, correct? Do you know any lore of the Tengu and their relation to the Samurai from the Shinto perspective?

No it is not from Yamabushi, they follow Shugendo which is mostly descended from one or two Buddhist traditions though it does have one or two native elements mixed in I believe.

Shinto doesn't have a central point of origin. There is no bringer of faith, no holy book, no doctrine or dogma. It is a collection of traditions which originated in Japan. Instead of everyone being made follow the dominant faith of the courts, everyone simply worshiped their own deities. Perhaps the one of their clans, or the Kami of the land they walk on. Others by the seas worshiped Ryujin for protection while fishing. Those who own paddy fields worshiped Inari for prosperity. The Yamato clan, which founded the lineage of Japanese Emperors worshiped Amatersu O Kami (she is the deity of the sun). No one was forced to worship anyone.

After a while Buddhism came and it was named Budo in Japan, but this led to a conundrum. They had no name for the myriad traditions and faiths across their lands. They called these faiths Shinto to make a distinction and that is how it came to be.

I have little knowledge of Tengu, as far as i know they are protectors of forests or rivers and can be quite dangerous. That is all i know about that subject however, apologies.

[Corvus]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

1 Are Kami more accurately called spirits or deities?
2 Define "Kami" please
3 Are Kami immortal? and if they're not when die then what happens?
4 What is the role of women in shinto?
5 How are non-japanese people treated in Shinto?
6 How do Kami work in their representations of things? example: There's a Kami for the entire earth right? But there's also Kami for different islands so where does one stop and another start?
7 Are there any religious texts in Shinto?
8 In school we were taught Shinto was similar to animism, would you agree with this?
9 How does ancestor worship play into Shinto?
10 What is the afterlife in Shinto?
11 What are some affluent Kami?
12 Why have you chosen Shintoism?

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

1 Are Kami more accurately called spirits or deities?
2 Define "Kami" please
3 Are Kami immortal? and if they're not when die then what happens?
4 What is the role of women in shinto?
5 How are non-japanese people treated in Shinto?
6 How do Kami work in their representations of things? example: There's a Kami for the entire earth right? But there's also Kami for different islands so where does one stop and another start?
7 Are there any religious texts in Shinto?
8 In school we were taught Shinto was similar to animism, would you agree with this?
9 How does ancestor worship play into Shinto?
10 What is the afterlife in Shinto?
11 What are some affluent Kami?
12 Why have you chosen Shintoism?

1. Neither, it is a stand alone concept in its own right though there are moments where they are similar to both. For example, Amatersu no Okami could be considered a sun goddess yet other Kami are so weak they could considered below a human. The easiest way to look at it is that it is.....both.

2. Define Kami? .......oh boy. The word Kami dates back so far that no one knows the original meaning of the word, only what it refers too. Kami however are virtuous beings so that's one way to look at it. They also represent the spiritual side of many things in the world, and they also regulate the world in regards to that. Define Kami....very difficult.

3. Kami are immortal though can be killed (this where defining Kami gets difficult in regards to the virtue thing). For example Tsukiyomi (He is the Kami of the moon) murders the Kami of Food after being offended by the way the food is served and was banished as a result.

4. Often young girls are Miko or Shrine Maidens who assist the priest. There are priestesses also but they are far rarer. For many centuries the Grand Shrine of Ise was only headed by a High Priestess from the Imperial family though the tradition of the position being female only died out.

5. How are they treated? Shinto is presented as a faith for that the whole world can embrace by any priests currently abroad, many tourists visit Shrines and are treated with the same respect as anyone as long as they respect the traditions of that shrine. Is that what you meant?

6. Yes there is a Kami for the whole Earth, but that does not mean he runs the whole thing without help, far from it. Every patch of land, every road and every town has a Kami who watch over that area. Small villages usually have their own protector Kami, for example, and the Kami of that entire area including other villages and towns will look after everyone in that area and so on. The Kami of the Earth are many. Look at it like an organised hierarchy and it makes more sense.

7. Religious texts? None like the bible with its infallibility. That said there is the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki which both cover the age of the Kami quite well as the most ancient sources of information on them, they also cover later Emperors and their achievements so they are more like history books than anything else. You're in for a long read and a ton of side notes however.

8. Would I agree with this, I don't know a lot about Animism. While animals do appear a great deal in Shinto (Inari Okami's messengers are spirit foxes known as Kitsune who appear in many stories for example) they are not exactly what is revered or worshiped, but respected for their roles in aiding the Kami. There are some who are in any way worshiped though the only one off the top of my head are Inugami (Dog gods), but usually that's more off a mutual partnership of offerings and the Inugami guarding your house in response (and destroying your enemies, they are usually considered outright evil by most people because of this, they are often invoked for criminal activities along the lines of kidnapping and murder. (DO NOT INVOKE THEM).

9. One worships their ancestors as ancestor Kami at their Kamidana. There is a prayer specifically for this. It is considered highly important to pay homage to ones ancestors.

10. What is the afterlife? Good question, we're still debating that matter. It is never explicitly stated we go to heaven or Yomi or that we are re-incarnated (though most believe that one) .We could also just look afetr our descendant as ancestor Kami (my personal belief). No one knows.

11. Amatersu no Okami, Sarutohiko no Okami, Tenjinn - sama, Ame no Uzumi Okami, Inari Okami, Hachiman Okami, Ryujin Okami, Izanagi and Izanami Okami, Susanoo Okami

There is also Suijin (The gods of water, rivers and the like), Fuijin and Raijin are wind and thunder respectively and are often seen as Oni rather than Kami.

12. It called out to me form a young age I believe, I just didn't know it yet. I remember when I was around the age of six and I was visiting relatives in county Roscommon (I'm from Ireland). There is much anything out there, it's so empty tha you can see the lights of distant towns causing light pollution at night because there isn't enough light in between you and them. When I was in the yard I found a rock. It looked plain and grey, but I was curious and picked it up, one the other side was a crystal looking rock and it was beautiful. That is where I believe my journey began. I see my coming to this faith as inevitable.

[chris1987]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

I am very interested in Shinto. So my question is, how does one begin to follow Shintoism? and since their is no place near by for me to acquire a Kamidana and other objects (I have looked around my area high and low) and I don't have the ability to make a Kamidana , do you know of any websites that maybe useful?

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

I am very interested in Shinto. So my question is, how does one begin to follow Shintoism? and since their is no place near by for me to acquire a Kamidana and other objects (I have looked around my area high and low) and I don't have the ability to make a Kamidana , do you know of any websites that maybe useful?

Research is the starting point, get books, lots of books. Shinto, the Kami way by Sokyo Ono is a good starting place. As for Kamidana, believe it or not Amazon is your best bet along with Ebay (I actually think ebay is better).

There are Japan shops on Ebay with the things you need, just shop around. Bare in mind a tree is just as good as a Shrine.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

I wonder does your altar / shrine incorporate Tori Gates? That was one indicator of even the smallest shrines I saw while stationed in Japan for 6.5 years. You might find them suddenly on the side of a road or on some beach or forested area. Do you also consider Shinto to be more animistic in nature than many traditional eastern practices?

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

I wonder does your altar / shrine incorporate Tori Gates? That was one indicator of even the smallest shrines I saw while stationed in Japan for 6.5 years. You might find them suddenly on the side of a road or on some beach or forested area. Do you also consider Shinto to be more animistic in nature than many traditional eastern practices?

Kamidana do not have Tori, they do however have a scared mirror. Tori are only used by Shrines.

More animistic........perhaps if one considers certain parts. I believe I mentioned Inugami earlier in the thread somewhere.....

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

Kamidana do not have Tori, they do however have a scared mirror. Tori are only used by Shrines.

More animistic........perhaps if one considers certain parts. I believe I mentioned Inugami earlier in the thread somewhere.....

That makes sense about the shrines and Tori Gates. I do find it interesting though that you reference gods / goddesses as none of the Japanese I spoke to at any of the shrines or individuals said they had gods / goddesses. One of the reasons so many Japanese follow Shinto until later in life when they convert to Buddhist for afterlife issues and such.

[Pól Mac an Gabhain]

Re: Ask a follower of Shinto

That makes sense about the shrines and Tori Gates. I do find it interesting though that you reference gods / goddesses as none of the Japanese I spoke to at any of the shrines or individuals said they had gods / goddesses. One of the reasons so many Japanese follow Shinto until later in life when they convert to Buddhist for afterlife issues and such.

Gods and goddesses are the best translation I can give. There is no equivalent to Kami in English, to be honest I just find it convenient, people don't look at me strangely etc.

I can see why they would convert later. It is well known that Shinto practitioners often prayed in Buddhist Temples as well as Shrines and Shinto-Buddhism was widespread for a very long time. The Buddhist view of the afterlife almost seems to go hand in hand with it for these reasons.

It's not my view but that's just me.