Archive for the ‘shinto’ Category

New Year’s at Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America

Thursday, December 26th, 2013

Last year, I spent three days at Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America volunteering for the New Year event.  I haven’t posted yet, which is silly, because Saturday I’m heading up there to do it again, except for longer.  I wrote pages and pages about it, but it’s too much, so I’ll try and keep it short here.  I bet I fail. (more…)

How I Started with Shinto

Tuesday, December 3rd, 2013

I wrote a long e-mail today to the Shinto Mailing List and thought I’d go ahead and capture part of that in a more permanent place here.

How did I, a pasty white American guy, find Shinto?  How did I get started with such a different, and occasionally inscrutable tradition? (more…)

What is Shinto?

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

I wrote about a visit to a Shinto shrine last week, and hadn’t touched the topic here before, and thought I’d change that.  Since I’m wordy, there’ll probably be several parts.  This one is to discuss what Shinto is, at least, what my understanding of Shinto is.  I feel like it’s a new topic for me, and one that I don’t know much about, but I’ve been reading about it steadily for months now, so I’m probably better informed than I give myself credit. (more…)

A Visit To A Shinto Shrine

Friday, July 20th, 2012

Yesterday, my Mother and I drove to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America.  It is a Shinto shrine – the only one in the continental United States – located in Granite Falls.  It’s a little over a half an hour from Mom and Dad’s house, up into the mountains.  It’s in a lush green spot, right on the Pilchuck river. (more…)