Shinto is known as an “ancient native religion of Japan still
practiced in a form modified by the influence of Buddhism and
Confucianism. In its present form Shinto
is characterized less by religious doctrine or belief than by the observance of
popular festivals and traditional ceremonies and customs, many involving
pilgrimages to shrines” ("Shinto," 2013). Shinto is the name used for the native
Japanese religion that is “based on the belief in the divinities called Kami,
reverence of ancestors and a combination of ritual purification and food
offerings” (Sydow, 2009). Kami is known
as a careful expression of power because “they have no shape of their own but
cam be summoned into vessels (often trees, banners, long stones) or be
communicated with through a medium (often young women called Miko)” (Sydow,
2009). There is no mandated code of
beliefs in Shinto, no sacred place for worship and no definite set of prayers,
however Shinto consist of a collection of rituals and methods that are designed
to facilitate the relationship between
human beings and kami.
In earlier times Shinto was centered on “the animistic worship of
natural phenomenon such as the sun, mountains, trees, water, rocks, and the
whole process of fertility” (Shintoism Today-Religion in Japan, 2005). Many of the early practices still exist
today such as the worship of Deities through “offerings, prayers, and
light-hearted festivals at the many shrines” (Shintoism Today-Religion in
Japan, 2005). It is said that Shinto
practices happen at many levels such as “formal blessings by priests at
shrines; blessings by priests away from the shrine; Shinto observance of
holidays, the seasons, and nature; everyday practice by individuals in their
homes; and the ceremonial practice of Shinto by the emperor and other
authorities” (Molloy, 2013 p.264). Love
and devotion for nature is the central idea in Shinto and that is why many
shrines were devoted to royal ancestors, “the deity of rice, or the spirit of
some outstanding phenomena, such as a great mountain, a beautiful waterfall, or
simply and unusual tree or rock” (Shintoism Today-Religion in Japan,
2005). Individuals visit shrines for
blessings during significant occasions in their lives such as “babies being
brought one month after their birth; children when they are young for
additional blessing at ages 3 and 7 for girls and age 5 for boys” (Molloy, 2013
p.266).
Good article... keep-up the good work... May I share an Interview with Katsushika Hokusai (imaginary) in https://stenote.blogspot.com/2018/05/an-interview-with-katsushika.html
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