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What is Shinto?

A scene from Japan where Shinto is most commonly practiced.
A scene from Japan where Shinto is most commonly practiced.

What Is Shinto?

Shinto: Returning to the Sacred Flow of Nature


Shinto, often translated as “The Way of the Gods”, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan, rooted in nature worship, ancestral reverence, and a deep, felt relationship with unseen spirits, or kami.

“To know the kami is to feel the breath of wind, to sit with the spirit of the tree, and to walk in reverence through the everyday.”

Unlike many religions, Shinto has:


  • No founder


  • No central scripture


  • No fixed doctrine


Instead, it is a way of life and a way of seeing—an animistic worldview where the divine lives in everything: rivers, mountains, wind, foxes, ancestors, thunder, and sacred stones.

Shinto Beliefs at a Glance

  • Kami: Divine spirits or forces that inhabit the world. Some are natural, like Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess); others are ancestral or local guardians of a place.


  • Purity (Harai): Central to Shinto. Impurity (tsumi) is cleansed through ritual washing, prayer, or offerings.


  • Nature: Nature is divine. Shinto reveres natural formations as sacred and alive with kami.


  • Ritual: Rituals restore balance and right relationship between humans, nature, and spirit.


  • Celebration of Life: Shinto emphasizes living well, honoring cycles, and finding joy in community festivals (matsuri).

How It’s Practiced


  1. Shrine Visits – People visit jinja (shrines) to offer prayers, bow, clap, and present offerings to kami.


  2. Ritual Purification – Using water to cleanse the hands and mouth before entering sacred spaces.


  3. Seasonal Festivals (Matsuri) – Honoring local kami with food, dance, and song. A deep celebration of life’s turning wheel.


  4. Ancestral Veneration – Lighting candles and offering food at household altars (kamidana) or gravesites.


  5. Nature Pilgrimage – Climbing sacred mountains like Mount Fuji as spiritual acts.


  6. Embodying Harmony – Living with respect, simplicity, and a sense of mutuality with the environment.

Shinto’s Place in the Modern World

Though sometimes seen as “cultural” rather than religious, Shinto continues to thrive in Japan and inspires ecospirituality movements worldwide.


Today, seekers turn to Shinto to:


  • Rekindle a reverence for the natural world


  • Ground in ancestral wisdom without dogma


  • Explore animism as a way of knowing and relating


  • Live a life of beauty, intention, and reciprocity


Shinto reminds us: you don’t have to travel far to find the sacred—it's always been here.

Reflective Questions: Are You Called to the Shinto Way?

  • Do I feel a sense of spirit in rivers, trees, animals, or stones?


  • Do I long for a spiritual path that honors nature without requiring doctrine?


  • How do I approach purity or clearing in my spiritual life? What feels “sacred” to me?


  • What ancestral connections do I want to deepen or restore?


  • Do I notice the seasons changing not just with my eyes, but with my body or dreams?


  • In what ways can I honor the spaces I live in as living spirits?

Closing Thought

Shinto is not something to "convert" into. It is a reminder—a return—to what has always been true: the sacred is woven into the everyday.


You are not separate from the river, the shrine, the breeze, or the ancestors.


You are part of the unfolding dance of life.


To live Shinto is to bow, to thank, to listen—and to walk the world as holy.


Feeling Ready and Inspired?


If you feel inspired to direct your life path toward a deeper knowing, connect with Divine Black Sheep to learn more about healing arts and business workshops, community experiences, building your expertise as a teacher, or receiving private practitioner services. You're invited to email, message or schedule online today.


Reach out to us at info@divineblacksheep.com to learn more about our training programs and workshops. Unlock your potential as a high-frequency lightworker today!


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