Tag: kami

Early Shinto

May 28, 2018 / John D. / 2 Comments

Kami worship in a woodland clearing is believed to have been the origins of today’s Munakata Taisha

Travel around modern Japan, and the shaping of the country’s spirituality is still very much evident in the villages that nestle in the valley basins. Fertile land is at a premium, so houses tend to be packed together. A system of channels and conduits steer the clear flowing water down through the rice fields. Graves are set apart from the houses, edging up the lower slopes of the hillsides. Above them hovers a dark and unseen world, hidden by a canopy of trees.

Model depicting the rice-growing communities of Yayoi times

The rice-farming communities of Yayoi times (300 BC–250 AD) settled along these river basins, and the abundance of life-sustaining water which gushed down from the mountains must have seemed truly a gift from heaven. Wet-rice production necessitated village cooperation at planting and harvesting times, and the collaborative effort was reflected in communal rites and festivals. Since rice was susceptible to the elements, requests were made for protection as the agricultural cycle began and gratitude offered as it came to an end. The sultry climate with its fetid humidity encouraged too an emphasis on cleanliness, which was made into an article of faith.

Around the settlements, on the lower slopes of the hillsides, lay an area for the dead. Ancestral spirits thus became an intermediary between human settlements and the wooded hilltops in which loomed monsters, tengu and terrifying animals. In this way the Japanese mind became imbued with a legion of otherworldly spirits, a legacy that still evident in the popular culture of today’s secular society.

Over 70% of the archipelago is covered in mountains, and even today a remarkable 67% of the country comprises woodland. The beauty of the natural features inspired a sense of divinity, together with an acute awareness of its volatility for Japan is a land of earthquakes, typhoons and tsunami. On top of that, about one-third of its 188 volcanoes remain active and likely to erupt at any time. In the face of such destructive forces, placating the spirits that govern them became a matter of vital importance.

The mountain peaks which spoke of other worlds gave rise to the notion of a sacred realm off-limits to ordinary humans. Certain sites such as Mt Fuji which resonated with a numinous presence became the objects of local lore and places of ritual. Waterfalls for instance embody the universal energy which emanates from them. Particular rocks and trees, especially those with striking features, were singled out as vessels into which spirits descend, symbolic entities which represent the life-force. Shinto in this sense can be said to be more kami worship than nature worship. It’s not the sun that’s worshipped. It’s the spirit in the sun.

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The above is an extract from a work in progress, tentatively titled Within the Mirror.

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Japan is a mirror

May 27, 2018 / John D. / 1 Comment

The bronze mirror of antiquity was a precious and sacred object. Here the carved back is displayed, the other side was carefully polished so as to reflect sunlight.

The circular mirror of Shinto is a potent symbol. One often sees it when visiting shrines, for it stands on the altar as representative of the kami, and in particular of Amaterasu the sun goddess. It can play a more vital role too, as the ‘spirit-body’ (goshintai) into which the kami descends. The idea is that within the reflecting surface is housed something beyond normal understanding, for the illusionary nature of a reflected image is both real and unreal at the same time. The mirror is thus an interface between the physical and spiritual realms. What could be more appropriate? Through the looking-glass lies a Wonderland, yet the Wonderland is right here around us.

In Japanese mythology the original mirror belonged to Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess who dwells in Heaven. When her grandson, Ninigi, descended to earth, she gave him a precious bronze mirror, circular in shape ‘Take this and revere it as if it were myself,’ she told him. It was as if her radiance had seared her spirit into the very metal.

The misakaki at Shinto shrines has a covered bronze mirror

According to mythology, her grandson Ninigi passed the mirror down to his great grandson, Emperor Jimmu, first of the earthly emperors. It was the supposed start of the imperial succession which continues to this very day, and the present emperor is held to be the 125th in line. Tradition states that the mirror was originally kept in the palace of the king of Yamato, before being deposited at Ise Jingu in the early centuries of the Common Era. Since that time it has been unseen by human eye, hidden behind wooden doors. The millions of pilgrims who visit each year pray towards this unseen presence.

As the ancestral shrine of the imperial family, Ise is the country’s premier shrine as it houses the ‘spirit-body’ of the sun goddess herself. Here then is the country’s holiest of holies, its symbolic soul. In this sense, Japan truly is a mirror. The idea of a circular mirror carrying such significance might seem odd, but it’s worth noting that ancient Chinese believed the human soul to be a shining disc, a connotation that carried over to the bronze mirror.

For early humans the bronze mirror was a powerful spiritual tool, acting as a kind of ray gun which would emit reflected light to dispel the forces of darkness. Shamans hung them on their chest to ward off evil, similarly they were fixed to the front of ships to ensure victory at sea. Given its power and precious properties, it became a highly valued symbol of authority, and beautifully wrought mirrors were presented as the highest form of gifts to kings and deities. Together with the sword and magatama beads, a bronze mirror is one of the three sacred regalia of the Japanese emperor.

In modern shrines the mirror that sits on the altar is intended to invoke feelings of purity, gratitude, and awe. Yet in some shrines the mirror is fixed at such an angle that when worshippers pray, they find they are looking at their own reflection. How suggestive! People praying to the divine within themselves. As in Hinduism, it’s not a case of God be with you, but God is in you! As descendants of the kami, humans are also part of the divine order and live in a sacred world. There is no future heaven, no Garden of Eden from which we have been ejected, for it’s right here, right now. Look in the mirror and paradise is there. It’s this life-affirming assertion which makes Shinto so appealing.

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The above is an extract from a work in progress, tentatively titled Within the Mirror

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Mirror with reflection of a ‘gohei’ into which the kami descends