Plant Spirit Shamanism: Shinto
Shinto is the folk-religion of Japan. Intrinsic to it is a belief in the spiritual power of nature and the protective energies of plants, trees, mountains, and other forces of the Earth. All of these are known as kami – the “genius” of “divinity” of nature – which may be a particular form like a flower, a place like a forest, or a natural process, like the turning of the seasons, which brings different plants and energies to prominence, or, indeed, the blowing of the wind, which has a spiritual and psychological effect such as the clarity of mind brought about by its refreshing qualities which ‘blow away our cobwebs’ and help us see more clearly.
Kami, then, are the guardian spirits of the land, but also of occupations, skills, talents, virtues, deeds or admirable actions, as well as our ancestors and sacred dead, all of which have an ‘essence’ which infuses our lives. In short, they are the divine forces of nature, representing the beauty and power of life in all its forms.
Kami traditionally have two souls: one gentle (nigi-mitama) and one aggressive (ara-mitama) and so – as we know – a spirit such as the wind may behave differently according to which soul possesses it at the time. The spirit that manifests may be the gentle breeze of a Summer’s day, bringing us peace and a sense of calm, or a hurricane which carries all before it and brings sudden change and violent breakthroughs. In this, the kami have ‘personalities’ or predispositions which are very human in nature.
The word Shinto is a conjunction of two kanji or ‘word-pictures’: shin, meaning ‘spirits’, and t?, meaning a philosophical way or ‘path’. Hence it is known as “The Path