Youtube has a substantial four-part video programme on Shinto as part of the Religions of the World series. It’s narrated by Ben Kingsley, who gets one or two pronunciations wrong but on the whole does a credible job. One irksome … Read the rest
Category: Purity and pollution (Page 4 of 4)
Shinto purification
In Shinto there’s no good and evil in a moral sense, but instead there is the idea of purity and pollution. Whereas the kami live in a realm of absolute purity, life in the material world inevitably results … Read the rest
Water deities
Gratitude for the blessings of water plays a big part in Shinto, and there are many shrines dedicated to water deities. Sujin is a composite deity of water, and Ryujin a water dragon particularly associated with the sea. … Read the rest
One of the key points of Shinto is the notion of renewal, in tune with the perennial ability of nature to renew itself. Here Kevin Short, naturalist and cultural anthropologist, writes of his visit to Shinobazu Pond in Tokyo. (… Read the rest
For the summer solstice celebration last year I went to the Meoto rocks near Ise where I participated in the morning misogi done in the Pacific. It is timed to coincide with sunrise on the year’s longest day, and … Read the rest
People often associate Shinto with reverence of rice. The yearly cycle rotates around the planting and harvesting of the crop, and rice is seen as central to the Japanese identity. In addition, rice wine in the form of saké … Read the rest
In a review of a book on waste management in Japan, Michael Hoffman writes of how traditional notions of purity and pollution affect modern values. It’s a theme close to my heart, though I’m not sure that I follow the … Read the rest