It’s rare to find a Shinto shrine without a sacred tree. Indeed, the origins of shrines may well have started with trees, and their symbolic nature may permeate the human consciousness… Deeply rooted below the earth and rising up … Read the rest
Category: Shrine items (Page 6 of 13)
When visiting shrines and temples, you’ll sometimes find stickers on the building, as in the picture above. What are they, and what do they say? From my experience they usually bear the name of a person or company, but … Read the rest
Nature in Short / Hatsumode: Bringing in the New Year with prayers at shrines, temples
By Kevin Short / Special to The Japan News January 06, 2015
If you are living, working or visiting in Japan, whether in a … Read the rest
At every shrine there are a pair of guardians who protect the grounds from evil spirits trying to enter. The stylised komainu (Korean dogs) are characterised by having one mouth open and one mouth shut. It signifies ‘ah-un’ which … Read the rest
Nice paragraph today by Stephen Mansfield writing about Kurashiki near Okayama… it draws attention to one of the aspects of Shinto that is little written about and yet is central to the practice as a whole. What’s interesting about … Read the rest
The first time I saw one, I thought it was an elephant! Now when I see it, I feel happy to know it will eat my nightmares….
Welcome to the imaginative world of the ‘baku’, courtesy of the Ancient … Read the rest
On top of the Japanese mikoshi (portable palanquin) there usually sits a hō-ō, or phoenix. It’s a significant feature, since in the container below sits Shinto’s most sacred object, the spirit-body of the shrine kami. Why should there … Read the rest