In each case the object of worship is considered a sacred space inside which the kami spirit actually dwells, being treated with the utmost respect. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express. Kami (Japanese:, kami) are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or 'holy powers' that are venerated in the Shinto religion. The kamidana is a household shrine that acts as a substitute for a large shrine on a daily basis. kami, plural kami, object of worship in Shint and other indigenous religions of Japan. It is a sacred space, creating a separation from the “ordinary” world. The shrine is a building in which the kami is enshrined (housed). In most cases they are on or near a shrine grounds. They are frequently mountains, trees, unusual rocks, rivers, waterfalls, and other natural things. There are natural places considered to have an unusually sacred spirit about them and are objects of worship. The kami reside in all things, but certain objects and places are designated for the interface of people and kami: yorishiro, shintai, shrines, and kamidana. Kami refers particularly to the power of phenomena that inspire a sense of wonder and awe in the beholder (the sacred), testifying to the divinity of such a phenomenon. hito (, person) becomes hitobito (, people) and kami (, god) would be kamigami (, gods). There is a phonetic variation, kamu, and a similar word in the Ainu language, kamui. There are rare exceptions when a noun does have a plural form, but usually the plural form simply repeats the word using a 'repeater' sound for the first consonant. Shinto gods are collectively called yaoyorozu no kami (八百万の神), an expression literally meaning “eight million kami”, but interpreted as meaning “myriad”, although it can be translated as “many kami”. The concept of animism in Shinto is no longer current, however. Kami and people exist within the same world and share its interrelated complexity.Įarly anthropologists called Shinto “animistic” in which animate and inanimate things have spirits or souls that are worshipped. Rocks, trees, rivers, animals, places, and even people can be said to possess the nature of kami. Since the Japanese language does not distinguish between singular and plural, kami refers to the divinity, or sacred essence, that manifests in multiple forms. Kami, shin, or, archaically, jin (神) is defined in English as “god”, “spirit”, or “spiritual essence”, all these terms meaning “the energy generating a thing”.
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