Shinto Group Thread

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

Ah, OK. Yeah, there are daily rituals for home worship. The Norito book by Evans has a good rundown on them.

[Gleb]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

Cool! Thanks!

[LunarHarvest]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

So there really isn't a codex, in any formal sense, for Shinto or its practitioners. This is, in part, is because the roots of Shinto, and its concepts and practices largely take there root even before written history, as an ingrained aspect of the social fabric of the Japanese life as its natural religion. That being said, it is also a factor that there is really no Shinto 'religion', in the sense of a unified church, as much as there are a group of Shintos which reflect the same basic traditions and principle understandings, and which find their identities in such.

There are some religious texts which are present, of which most notable are the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and these certainly have their merits, but they are not typically considered to be of any official sense of religious dogma. That is another thing, in that Shinto has effectively little to no official dogma, and many of its practice and beliefs hold themselves in millennium of religious tradition rather than in doctrine.

With all that said, one principle belief of Shinto that is common among all of its practice is belief and rituals regarding impurity. Impurity in Shinto is not like 'sin' or similar concepts, as it is something which is innate to the world around us, and which we naturally accrue throughout our lives. It can also be brought from coming into contact with impure things such as disease, corpses, and blood shed in violence. Purification of impurity is done by literally washing away impurity we gather throughout our daily lives, and is typically done through bathing, although Shrine sites are typically maintained as purified and sacred areas (hence the reason for purification before entering a Shrine).

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

I've been dying to get my hands on the Engi Shiki which *was* intended as a codex of rituals to be used at the Imperial Court in Heian times. Of course, back in the 10th and 11th century, trying to parse out what was "Shinto" and what wasn't would have been...difficult at best.

[Cobra]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

Shinto does have an organization of sorts, Jinja Honcho, which is the association of the shrines. I would also note that the distinction of "Shinto" was first made when writing came to Japan, to avoid having it get mixed up completely with Buddhism; some deities that you see are not of Shinto origin but of a Buddhist one. Of course Shinto practitioners don't invalidate them or anything; the best way to put it is that Shinto is very non-exclusive in the way it sees the world.

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

Some deities that you see are not of Shinto origin but of a Buddhist one. Of course Shinto practitioners don't invalidate them or anything; the best way to put it is that Shinto is very non-exclusive in the way it sees the world.

Indeed, I believe only ONE of the Shichi Fukujin is native Japanese. My patroness Sarasvati is also very popular in Japan as Benzaiten-sama.

[LunarHarvest]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

Indeed, I believe only ONE of the Shichi Fukujin is native Japanese. My patroness Sarasvati is also very popular in Japan as Benzaiten-sama.

She is also known as 'Ichikishima-hime-no-mikoto', in relating her to a more "Shinto-y" name. :3

I don't really have a favourite or patron Kami, but I am quite partial to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto (Kami of the Moon and Night Skies), Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto (Kami of things which bloom), and Susanoo-no-Mikoto (Kami of Seas and Storms).

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

She is also known as 'Ichikishima-hime-no-mikoto', in relating her to a more "Shinto-y" name. :3

I haven't heard that one before! Is that the same as Itsukushima-hime?

I actually connected with Sarasvati through *trying* to be Shinto. I was fumbling around trying to honor Ame-no-Uzume and some others, and included Benzaiten-sama as an afterthought. I kept praying to her for luck with my schoolwork, and eventually she went "Hey. You're mine, mmmkay?"

When I went to Japan, the first thing I did was look for a shrine. My chaperone (I was in an exchange program) told me there was one in the park (I was in Kichijouji. I went there, and saw a sign giving directions to an Inari shrine. I shrugged and went looking. BOOM! Inokashira Benzaiten Jinja!IMG_0433.jpg

[Cobra]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

She is also known as 'Ichikishima-hime-no-mikoto', in relating her to a more "Shinto-y" name. :3

I don't really have a favourite or patron Kami, but I am quite partial to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto (Kami of the Moon and Night Skies), Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto (Kami of things which bloom), and Susanoo-no-Mikoto (Kami of Seas and Storms).

I may have mentioned this before, but I am also very patrial to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto and Susanoo-no-Mikoto. Oddly I had not heard of Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto but there are many, many kami in this world :P I myself am also partial to Ame-no-Uzume.

I remember, early on, the first time I revered Susanoo-no-Mikoto. That was good!

[LunarHarvest]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

I haven't heard that one before! Is that the same as Itsukushima-hime?

Yep! :3
'no-Mikoto' is a fairly common title added onto the proper names of Kami. It is similar to 'Ōkami', or 'Ōmikami', for example with Inari-Ōkami and Amaterasu-Ōmikami respectively.

I may have mentioned this before, but I am also very patrial to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto and Susanoo-no-Mikoto. Oddly I had not heard of Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto but there are many, many kami in this world :P I myself am also partial to Ame-no-Uzume.

I remember, early on, the first time I revered Susanoo-no-Mikoto. That was good!

If I recall correctly, the first Kami I grew to recognise as a Kami was Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto. After that, the first time I prayed it was to Tenjin. Konohanasakuya-hime-no-Mikoto I actually found by accident, if memory is serving me properly.

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

'no-Mikoto' is a fairly common title added onto the proper names of Kami. It is similar to 'Ōkami', or 'Ōmikami', for example with Inari-Ōkami and Amaterasu-Ōmikami respectively.

Oooh, honorifics...such a tangle! I was pretty sure "no Mikoto," etc. were used as such, but frankly, the only *named* kami I work with regularly is Benzaiten-sama. I've encountered kami in trees and rocks, etc. But since they were here in the US, they didn't have names. There's a wonderful one in my family's front yard that's an enormous oak tree. I call it Kashiwagi-sama.

[Inka]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

I've got a question about kami. Shinto is, from what I've read, considered highly animistic. The main diffrence between Animism and idealist Pantheism is that although both believe that everything in the universe possess a spiritual essence, Pantheism generally is monist about it, seeing all of it as one being or entity. Animism is pluralist about it, seeing the many parts as having each its own entity. But I think I've read somewhere on this thread that kami are sometimes described as pantheistic. Is it true?

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

I've never heard it described that way myself, but it's possible, and in fact quite likely. There's no central religious authority in Shinto the same way there is for say, Roman Catholicism, so individual practitioners are free to interpret the notion of kami however they want. I'm a Tendai Buddhist as well as a Shintoist, and my animism certainly does bleed into pantheism given my views on the Tendai doctrine of "Buddha-nature"

[LunarHarvest]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

I've got a question about kami. Shinto is, from what I've read, considered highly animistic. The main diffrence between Animism and idealist Pantheism is that although both believe that everything in the universe possess a spiritual essence, Pantheism generally is monist about it, seeing all of it as one being or entity. Animism is pluralist about it, seeing the many parts as having each its own entity. But I think I've read somewhere on this thread that kami are sometimes described as pantheistic. Is it true?

To my understanding, Shinto is typically much more animist than it is pantheistic, although it does have elements of both, and there is some interpretations (especially in Sectarian Shinto) which attributes a much higher emphasis on the pantheistic interpretation of Kami. Konkōkyō comes to mind in that regard.

That being said, the general viewpoint I have seen and understand is that, while the underlying spiritual nature of all things is recognised, each Kami is seen as an independent being over a part of a collective being. Kami are typically considered to be independent and unique beings from each other, and has a more hard polytheist view of nature (ie. Amaterasu-Ōmikami is not Inari-Ōkami is not Tenjin is not Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, et cetera). ::

For another example, while their is a Kami of Australia generally, the Kami residing within everything in Australia are not considered to be the same as, or a part of, the Kami of Australia generally. Rather they are seen as separate beings sharing some roles, but ultimately being separate beings in their existences and serving different responsibilities and roles.

While it is from Wikipedia, I found this statement which describes the general difference adequately, and probably better than I have, and which can be applied in comparing Pantheism to Shinto.

One of the main differences is that while animists believe everything to be spiritual in nature, they do not necessarily see the spiritual nature of everything in existence as being united (monism), the way pantheists do. As a result, animism puts more emphasis on the uniqueness of each individual soul. In pantheism, everything shares the same spiritual essence, rather than having distinct spirits and/or souls. Additionally, Pantheism posits a source of this "monism". This source may or may not have agency. In contrast, in Animism, the soul or essence or spirit of objects and living things are novel and separate from the whole, while still seen as irrevocably intertwined with one another in a community.

Hope this answers your question adequately. :^^:

[Redfaery]

Re: Shinto Group Thread

That's a much better explanation than I gave....You rock! :headbang: