Hello and welcome to the latest posting from Innersound Ancestry.

Today I will continue to explore ancestral worship around the world by looking at the Japanese religion Shinto.
Shintoism can be traced back in it's earliest form to the 8th cetury. At this time it hadn't stabilised as a single religion but existed as a group of folk practises throughout the Japanese countryside. Shinto translates as 'Way of the Gods' consisting of two kanji coming from the chinese 'shin' meaning spirit or 'Kami' and 'dao' meaning path. Kami tranlates as essences or deities and range from humanoid form to being synonymous with natural phenomenon and forces such as mountains, rivers, wind and rain.

Woman consecrated to a Shinto Deity

In Japan there is a tendency for people to engage in Shinto ritual for births and Buddhist rituals for deaths. However within Shinto there is a special ritual for deceased ancestors. In the Shinto religion there are many shrines, called hokora, including ones for ancestors. it is believed that the ancestral spirits become 'Kami' after death and some exceptional ancestors will be enshrined and some even deified. A good example of such a deification is Sugawara no Michizane(845-903) who became the god Tenjin.
It is a central tenet of Shintoism that  life is sacred as it stems from 'Kami' but in order to perceive this we must purify ourselves through upholding the four affirmations. By upholding these the 'Kami' will be impressed and grant  the cleansing necessary to be able to see the divine world.
The first affirmation is to respect tradition and family. The two are very much intertwined as it is through family ocassions such as births,marriages and deaths that traditions can be practised in the form of ritual and ceremony. The second affirmation is to love the natural world. 'Kami' reside in all things even rocks and grass so communing with nature is commensurate with communing with the gods. The third affirmation involves cleanliness.Followers of Shinto wash themselves regularly. The fourth affirmation is to worship the 'Kami' and ancestral spirits.

ceremonial offerings for Kami and ancestors

we hope you are enjoying this look at ancestral worship around the world.

regards,

Innersound Ancestry Team