Shinto is the religion of the people of Japan. According to it, Japan was the first place to be created, and the deities started to appear spontaneously. Then the relationship between these deities led to the birth of a man and woman called Izanagi and Izanami respectively. The two dipped a jeweled spear into the ocean, and that is when the land of Japan was created (Blacker, 2004). They later got married and become involved sexually, and then they gave birth to their first child who turned out to be deformed. They later got involved sexually and gave birth to more deities and land.
The Japanese word ‘kami’ means deity or divinity that manifests itself in multiple forms including stones, trees, rivers, places and even people. The kami and humans occupy the same social space, and it is exhibited as the power of phenomena. The phenomena can be mysterious and hold supernatural powers that can do things out of the ordinary (Picken, 1994). More importantly, the kami is believed to reside in everything, but there are places that are sacred where kami unites with people. Such places are shrines and Yori Shiro and any other places of worship. The role of kami is to act as the central object of worship and a measure of faith.
In Shinto practice, Shamanism entails an individual reaching a point of altered consciousness so they can interact with the deities and spirits. Then they can channel the energies achieved through that back into the real world. There are several provisions that are associated with this state, and they include the cosmic pillar, the tree of life as well as the three worlds (Reader, 1991). In ancient Japan, possession of spirits was highly regarded, and one was expected to learn the will of the divinity by being possessed by the spirits. It is also believed that one is called to become a shaman through dreams and signs, sometimes the powers are inherited. When a person is sick or the community needs the intervention of the spirits they call upon shamans to intercede for them.
Shinto is a major component of Japanese life as well as a culture because it has a spiritual and political impact on the everyday life of any Japanese. The ancient and modern Shinto slightly differ but despite that the variations have not been very different because the religion has served as a backdrop against which different cultural and religious practices flourish. That is the reason the variations exist (Blacker, 2004). Even so, Shinto has survived through the periods; the people go to worship in shrines and practice rituals that bring them together by the mere sharing of religious tradition and practices. All religious events are practiced in a unified manner, and that ensures a continuity that will last for a very long time.
References
Blacker, C. (2004). The Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic Practices in Japan. New York: Taylor & Francis.
Picken, S. D. B. (1994). Essentials of Shinto: An Analytical Guide to Principal Teachings. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Reader, I. (1991). Religion in Contemporary Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
