Monthly Archives: September 2011

Spot the oddity

Posted on September 30, 2011 by John D.

Notice anything odd about this photograph?   It’s not the girls posing for a photo, nor the gaijin with a guitar on his back.  It’s the pair of shishsi (Chiinese lion) guardians, which unusually (exceptionally?) have both their mouths open.  The … Continue reading →

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Pat Ormsby, Shinto priest (Part Two)

Posted on September 28, 2011 by John D.

  5) How is Shinto manifest in your daily life now?  I think the more a person can be aware of the divine, the happier he or she will be and the more meaningful his or her life.  I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews | 1 Comment

Pat Ormsby, Shinto priest

Posted on September 26, 2011 by John D.

1) I believe you may be the first qualified non-Japanese female priest.  How did that come about? Actually, Rev. Ann Evans, an accomplished priestess who has a lovely shrine near Victoria, Canada, was the first non-Japanese Shinto priestess as far … Continue reading →

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Sources of Japanese Tradition (Vol. 1)

Posted on September 25, 2011 by John D.

Sources of Japanese Tradition Vol. 1.  ed. Wm. Theodore de Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe and Paul Varley   Columbia University Press, first published 1958; revised in 2002   524 pages _________________________________________________________________________________________________ This anthology of significant writings in the cultural … Continue reading →

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Shamanism and Shinto

Posted on September 24, 2011 by John D.

The Catalpa Bow is the standard account of early shamanism in Japan, but I always felt there was something missing, something to do with the nature of modern-day Shinto as fossilised shamanism.   Now I’ve found what I was looking … Continue reading →

Posted in Shamanic connections | 3 Comments

Historic celebration in Amsterdam

Posted on September 22, 2011 by John D.

The Japanese Dutch Shinzen Foundation is today celebrating its 30th anniversary in an invitation-only event at the city hall in Amsterdam.  It’s a historic day for the internationalisation of Shinto, for it marks the establishment of the first shrine founded … Continue reading →

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The mystery of bottomless ladles

Posted on September 20, 2011 by John D.

One comes across all kinds of intriguing items at Shinto shrines.  The picture above provides an example.  What on earth could these ‘holy’ ladles have to do with Shinto! The answer is rather difficult to guess, but in its way … Continue reading →

Posted in Oddities | 3 Comments

Poetry Day (Sept 24)

Posted on September 18, 2011 by John D.

World Poetry Movement Day Sept 24th 24/9 will be a worldwide day of poetry reading, honoring & celebrating life love peace justice; our human condition, our presence for needed change; our songs, our poems, our tears, our cries, our laughter. Come join … Continue reading →

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The Tao of Shinto (The Way of the Kami)

Posted on September 17, 2011 by John D.

In prehistoric times immigrants flowed into Japan, sometimes in a trickle and sometimes in a flood.  They came for the most part from Korea and China, the bulk flowing through the Korean peninsula which lay under Chinese influence.  The result … Continue reading →

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Tsubaki America (Part Two)

Posted on September 15, 2011 by John D.

After a tour of the shrine grounds (see Part One), Barrish sensei and I moved towards the entrance of the shrine buildings before which stands the temizuya (water basin).  It’s not often at a Shinto shrine you get to see … Continue reading →

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Posted in International, Shrine visits | 3 Comments