everything contains a kami(God)

I am working today. Most Japanese companies except for finance and IT companies would be off today. We will have "Nou-kai" (last meeting of the year), eat lunch together and get off around 2pm. After that I will go straight home and I will do the rest of my big cleaning up.

After Christmas, store and town decorations have changed to a New Year mood. Yesterday we prayed for Christ and today we pray for "our Kamisama" of Buddhism and Shinto which teaches that everything contains a kami (God).

Nifty Portal Z has a funny post about Shinto. In Shinto we use Kthe amidana as a miniature shrine at home. (I rarely see a family which has a Kamidana in their house.) A big model maker Tamiya has a miniture Kamidana in their product line. The post is "what has the most God-like appearance in the Shrine." The chart explains this: Top of center is the most God-like, low is just the contrary. Right are the most socially accepted images (she supposes many many people would agree, since it looks like God) and left is her personal opinion.

In that chart, a white snake is the best. Actually we have such folklore; I forget what story it is. The stone is next; this is so true. Many shrines worship the stone as God, actually.　She did not show them in the chart, but mountains, dogs (especially white dogs), and trees are often god in the Shinto religion. She picked a souvenior of Bali and a Turkey amulet as having a god-like appearance in the Kamidana set. I agree. Personally, I think the dried cactus which I saw in Arizona would have a good god-like appearance. Well, does this makes sense to you? Do you think we are impudent that we make jokes with religion? But I like this "ゆるい" loose attitude about religion.

Comments

[Misha]

...anyway, these days are about the "religion" of changing :)... Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

[ミカエル]

Nah, religion needs to be joked around with a bit. Otherwise it'll just be "Jihad" all the time. ^_~