Hello,

I have read some lists of some different Shinto books that are out there, but I’m not sure which would be best to get. I know only a very small amount currently. What I’m most interested in learning about especially is the worldview and philosophy of Shinto. I am curious especially how its animist worldview fits in with modern urban life in Japan. The Essence of Shinto by Motohisa Yamakage seems like it would be very good? However, I can only find digital copies to buy, and I was hoping to get a physical book.

Should I just read this one online? Or is there another good book that would go into depth on this aspect of Shinto?

Whats an onmyoji

Hey guys, I've been trying to learn the most I can about Shinto and Start Practicing, So Far I have read

-The Kojiki

-Shinto:The Kami Way

-The Essence of Shinto

-Understanding Shinto by C.Scott.Littleton

-Kami no Michi, Life and Thought of a Shinto Priest

What might be a good work to read next?

They mean the same spear so why the different names!?

Hello guys, I have some questions regarding the topic of a Kami

I read many articles about shinto and Kami but, it seems I can't find what I need, hopefully you can help me

so I understand the basic concept of Kami but, I have some questions.

1. what makes a Kami, I understand that technically almost anything can be a Kami but, how can someone or something achieve such status exactly?
2. it's related to the first question but, as far as I understand some animals can become Kami and I read online that they achieve this status by being the oldest or the most powerful of their species, is that true?
3. what is the difference between a heavenly and an earthy Kami?
4. how does a Kami inhabit "possess" someone like a priestess for example and is the possessed able to channel some of a Kami power?
5. is their a difference between a heavenly or an earthly Kami regarding the previous question?

thanks in advance

i cant find an exact answer. from what i understand basically theres a place called yomi where the kami from the deceased pass on, and just live normally but eternally when we kick the bucket. we also can come back as a ghost or spirit whenever our loved ones pray to protect/guide them or during new years. am i correct or am i missing something out?

Hello,

I will try to explain as short as possible to not annoy anyone.

I hope my post does not disrespect or bother anyone.

Long story short, I want to build a small shrine to Inari.

The reason to this is because a few years back I had a month long trip to Japan and although I'm not a religious person (I abandoned Catholicism) I still pay respects as adequate as possible if I'm near any religious site.

During the begining of my second week, I visited the Fushimi Inari shrine, paid my respects and asked for the trip to continue being as nice and smooth as it was so far and asked as well for help with a small/medium health issue. (whether you, reader, choose to believe this part or not is within you) by the end of the second week the health issue was completely solved and from third week onwards, I would say that the trip and my luck went incredibly well.

I dont think I want to specifically follow shinto, but I'm a strong believer of "respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." and i am trully grateful and I do thi k it was Inari who intervened.

For some years now I have been trying to find out how to build a small shrine to say my thanks but there is so much information online and everything is so contradictory or so complex that it is nearly impossible to replicate in Europe (due to lack of materials, or items, or blessed objects, etc).

A friend of mine who was with me in this trip sent me a photo of a game called "Ghost of Tsushima" he showed me small Inari shrines around the game and told me that I could research that too, that they didn't look too complicated to replicate and maybe they are valid.

Between that clue and what I have found online I'm still quite lost and don't know how to proceed.

Could someone please offer some insight or suggestions?

The shrine would be indoors initially, once I can buy a home I plan to move it outdoors and plant a few cherry blossoms around it. (so it has to be something that can be placed outdoors.

Thank you in advance!

Again, I hope I'm not offending anyone, I truly believe Inari helped and I want to pay proper respect but I can't even go to Japan due to monetary reasons.

Hello there!

Currently doing research for an essay and one of my themes I would love to include is Shinto. Thing is I am having trouble trusting my resources. I keep seeing the same text pop up on every page citing "The four affirmations of Shinto" I heard somewhere that this was some lie that had spread rapidly across the web and now has mislead many people. I trying to find information on Shinto and its instrumental connections with family, why family is important etc

I would love to talk to someone who is more knowledgeable on the topic or could link me to articles, PDFS, books etc that could help me. I just don't want to be fed wrong information :) Thank you kindly!!!!

In this scenario, the deceased was the only member of their household, so their possessions have to be moved, sold, or thrown away. Should any components of their kamidana or mitamaya be saved? Would the owner's death make them impure? If they must be discarded, how would one do so respectfully?

Hello. I would like to ask a question. My name is Hana, I am not part of Shinto, but I would like to ask a question about Shinto. I am a trans woman, is there condemnation and/or prohibition of trans people in Shinto? Historically, have there been any trans people in Shinto?

u/GeronimoDominicus made this post for Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism, and appears to have stopped there, so I'm asking people of some other religions.

Nice redditoid(what's the name of that cute little mascot again?) icon btw, fav one so far.

do you want the independence of ryukyu?, join to r/Ryukyu_Islands and give ideas for the ryukyu independence!

I've been researching Shintoism a lot recently, and I'm really interested in getting involved. But I have some questions that I can't find an answer to anywhere, and I would like some help. Since I don't live in Japan, going to a temple is impossible. I know I can have a kamidana and an ofuda at home, but I've hardly found these things for sale and the only one I found was around R$2000 (around $356.44 currently). It's out of my conditions unfortunately :/

But I searched right here on Reddit and found a guy answering another post with the same question I had, about how to become a Shintoist, and he said that if I am not able to have a kamidana and an ofuda, I could simply adopt the customs and teachings of Shintoism in my life and in my daily life and that would be enough. Even though I really want to, I don't know where to start T^T

Can I pray to specific kami or should I pray to all of them? What exactly should I pray for or how should I pray? Can I pray at any time or at specific times? I have a certain difficulty in following things without having very clear instructions on what to do exactly, so that's why I have these specific doubts =3= it's probably because of my ADHD, but anyway.

I hope to be answered!! It really encourages me to study and want to be part of it. I personally LOVE Japan and want to connect with it in every way I can. Thank you for attention ^^

Are there any reputable shrines in the Orlando area? I found Kannagara Chikyu Jinja in Kissimmee but not sure if it’s legit?

Hello. This may be a very random and architecture-oriented question but I sometimes like to build japanese inspired LEGO models and I am currently making a little shrine on a hill.

The thing is that I want to build a little shrine and a smaller Torii on top of the hill and I wanted to experiment with different angles. I would like to build the shrine at let's say 45 degree angle while keeping the Torii at 0 degrees. And I wanted to ask if it can be built like that or if the last Torii is built at the same angle to the shrine.

Most of the pictures I've seen the Torii was built at the same angle as the shrine so the pathway is straight but I am interested if there are certain rules or not regarding the angles, builds etc.

Thank you very much.

Who is all the information I gather.

Shikigami are mystical entities that are summoned from the spirit of a person and can take the form of animals, plants, humans, divine natural forces, or even hybrid combinations. These beings are conjured through specific ceremonies or rituals. Importantly, shikigami can only embody forms found in nature, including animals, plants, people, natural objects like water and stones, and various forces of nature.

Here’s my questions for know information

Shikigami can possess living creatures and objects, but do they have full control over them? Can they alter or move the objects, people, or living organisms they possess?

Are Shikigamis capable of possessing control over all elements, or take form of an element?

So heads up I don't really use like periods and commas and capitalization when I type so after this sentence I won't be using those. so ive heard about shinto or shintoism as i also hear it being called i am of japanese origin while mostly filipino but i want to start following shinto i have followed no religions for most of my life and i want to know if theres any certain things i should know like if you need to pray everyday or go to some type of church or if theres sins and stuff i cant do and all that please answer if you all can thank you for reading

So my dad grew up in Japan. His parents were/are Shinto but growing up in the States we never did anything religious besides going to the temple in Japan once or twice. My obaachan still follows tradition , like putting out food every morning and still even does work at tenri. Part of me wish my dad incorporated this into my upbringing, but beliefs are beliefs, life happens, and I think he is not into it, I'm not even sure if he was as a kid. I got a better understanding about how the religion views death this summer but I still want to learn more. I don't want to full blown become religious or something but since my obaachan is so involved I would like to learn more so that's why I'm here

Hey there!

So I am writing a mystery/horror novel that relies half on Shinto. I do know my way around the more — well, popular — parts of the religion, but I'd love to hear some ideas from more in-depth scholars of Shintoism.

I want you to imagine yourself walking in a rural forest. What is the creepiest inanimate (statue, carving, anything really) thing you could stumble upon?

I do want to say, that I can't really judge how this post might come across among the practices, however, I love the religion, and it is closest to my heart among the other beliefs. With that said, I (along with many others) think Shintoism has countless potentials for the mystery/horror genre.

I have no intention of offending anyone, so if this seems insensitive of me, please let me know.

I hope this is sufficiently respectful, my intent was pure even if I wasn't particularly serious. I was very sick a while ago, and I bought some omamori off of Aliexpress. I don't remember much of my thought process except that anything couldn't hurt at this point. I'm not religious but I believe things like prayers are very important if only because wishing for the good of others is always good. They are not from any specific temple. I don't know if these are even considered valid, as they seem more geared towards being used as an accessory, but I have them now and if it's something I should be respectful of I would like to be respectful.

I'm feeling better, whether or not the omamori was involved, but looking up more about them I understand that there are traditions surrounding them. I understand you are supposed to return them to a temple after a year. I live in California, although not close enough to San Francisco or Los Angeles to visit a shrine. I'm willing to mail them somewhere, but I'm having trouble finding information on omamori not from a temple. Does anyone know what I should do?

Also, I have a young Japanese maple that isn't doing so well. I've replanted it in hopefully better soil, but I'm wondering if it would be disrespectful to tie an omamori to a branch. It would mean leaving it outside and exposed to the elements if that makes any difference.

https://preview.redd.it/1qs3gayhgord1.png?width=448&format=png&auto=webp&s=72a8e597dd0cd946b18a835ed36552fd9773481f

Here is an image, they were listed as general good health and lucky cat which I admittedly bought because I like cats. Again, thank you for your time and I apologize if I've been ignorant or rude.

As the heading states. All religions with deities are rather off-putting, as they are so obviously imbued with human traits. My understanding of Shinto - at least prior to the influence of Buddhist deities - is of a pure nature-based religion. Are there adherents to pre-8th-century Shinto?

I wanna make a kamidana myself since it's cheaper, but I don't know how

Hi!! Im a really scheduled person and I would like to add any household ritual of Shinto to my life ^_^ Do u realize any?

Hi! I read that u can have a little shrine at your house to start venerating kamis and also family that is no longer with us. Do any of u know where I can buy one? Or even if I can do it myself?

Thanks!

My brother is in Japan right now, I want to order a charm for my GF, wikipedia has a list of those available and I think the best would be the "Kanai-anzen" (safety and well-being of one's family, peace and prosperity in the household).

My brother just left Tokyo and is going to Kamakura, Kanazawa, Shirakavago, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Kobe and maybe Hiroshima.

I know nothing of the Shinto religion, neither does my GF, but she is very spiritual and will surely appreciate and respect the charm, with this in mind, if someone could tell me how my brother could buy one of these I would really appreciate it.

Hello! I work at a crematorium and last year we’ve had a client who had a Shintoist ceremony before the dead was cremated. I was not able to ask questions with respect to the grieving family.

There are some articles I found online, but I would like to know more of any personal experience and anecdotes you guys have here. Thanks in advance!

Like I am aware some dieties do not mind blood offerings or so to dieties is Inari one of those beings or?

Hi! Im new into shinto, i just started reading "The Kami Way" and I would like to know any other books for people that are starting in the religion! Thanks <3