SHINTOISM

SHINTOISM
• Symbol The Torii Gate is the most common symbol for Shintoism.
• It is a sacred gateway supposed to represent a gate upon which a
cock crew on the occasion when Amaterasu emerged from the rock
cave and relighted the world.
• It marks the entrance to a sacred space which is the Shinto shrine.
It represents the transition between the world of humans and the
world of the gods and goddesses.
• It is believed to help prepare the visitor for their interaction with the
spirits by signifying the sacredness of the location.
• Shinto is the traditional religion of Japanese people during the eight
century C.E.
• shin (meaning kami or gods)
• to (or do, meaning path).
• The name Shinto means “the kami way” or “the way of gods”.
• It emphasizes the relationship between humans and a variety of
supernatural entities called kami which are associated with different
aspects of life, including ancestors and forces of nature.
• Shinto practices center on tradition and family, love of nature,
physical cleanliness and festivals and ceremonies that honor the
kami.
• Shinto does not have a schedule of regular religious services—
followers decide when they wish to attend a shrine.
• Japan has over 80,000 Shinto shrines, ranging greatly in size from tiny to
elaborate and large.
Origin
• Shinto has no recognized founder
• The peoples of ancient Japan had long held animistic beliefs,
worshipped divine ancestors and communicated with the spirit world
via shamans;
• Natural phenomena and geographical features were given an
attribution of divinity.
• Amaterasu sun goddess and the wind god Susanoo.
• Mt. Fuji- ‘Fuchi’ the god of the volcano
Sacred Scriptures
• The Kojiki and Nihongi are considered as sacred scriptures on Shinto.
• These books, which are compilations of ancient myths and traditional
teachings, are considered to have a dual purpose: a political as well as
a moral purpose.
• Its political purpose is to establish the supremacy of Japan over all
countries in the world by legitimizing the divine authority of the ruling
families and to establish the political supremacy of the Yamato.
• Its moral purpose is to explain the relationship between the kami and
human beings by establishing that the Japanese are a special people
chosen by the kami, who have many humanlike characteristics.
Kojiki
Composed of three books:
• the first is the age of kami, which narrates the mythology.
• the second and third books discuss the imperial lineage
Nihon shoki/Nihongi
• records the descent of the Yamato rulers of Japan from
the gods
• It represents a combination of a political purpose with
folklores and myths
Core teaching, Beliefs and Practices
• Kami, the Shinto “gods”
• The divine principle in Shinto worship
• An honorific title for greatness and benevolence
• It can be manifestations of the sacred in nature or extraordinary
people
Below are their names and functions:
Names of kami Functions of kami
• Ameno- minaka-nushi-no-kami Kami of the Center of Heaven
• Takamimusubi-no-mikoto Kami of Birth
• Kami-misubi-no-mikoto Kami of Growth
• Izanagi-no-mikoto and Izanami-no-mikoto (Japan) Parents of the Eight Islands and
other Kami
• Amaterasu-o-mikami Sun Goddess
• Susano-o-no-mikoto Heaven Kami of the High Plain of Heaven
• Tsukiyomi-no-mikoto Moon Goddess
• Okuninushi-no-kami Kami of Izumo (a temple in Japan)
• Ninigi-no-mikoto Ruler of Japan
Sometimes Shinto devotees may perform the following:
• leave their prayer requests written on a piece of paper or on
small wooden plaques which they tie to the fences or
branches of a sacred tree near the kami’s shrine.
• during festival days, there are processions which people may
join and booths where they can buy souvenirs and amulets.
• Worship can also be done daily at home.
• set up a small Shinto shrine, called kamidana, at their houses,
sometimes in the garden area. Prayers and food offerings,
like rice and water, are done at the kamidana.
Shinto priests officiate the following:
• worship ceremonies at public shrines.
• They give their blessings on various occasions, such as when children are
brought to a shrine a month after birth and when they reach a certain age.
• The priests also perform ceremonies outside the shrines like during
weddings held at homes or hotels. The emperor has been traditionally
considered as a high priest in Shinto (this is despite the renunciation of the
emperor of his divinity after the
• Second World War) and thus performs certain ceremonies too.
• participates every spring in rice-planting ceremonies done in the palace to
• he and his family annually visit the shrine of Ise to pray for the country.

SHINTOISM

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