Quote:
Originally Posted by ZephyrLeanne
Well, color me surprised.
I thought none outside the holy land of Nihon were certifiable.
Anyways, while on blessings there is an American actress who was bowing to a sweet potato seller in the belief he was a priest.
|
Shinto isn't a monolithic practice like, say, the Catholic Church. Its a loose collections of folk beliefs, animism, and somewhat integrated rituals to 'respect the kami'. You can certainly find a few scholars/priests that hold that Shinto is a Japan-only set of practices/beliefs but you can also find more that say Shinto can apply anywhere. It certainly has strong parallels to American native beliefs and Keltic pagan beliefs before Roman suppression.
However, The US shrine is as legit as it gets since they have a close partnership with their Japanese shrines and the priest has trained and been stamped a-ok by that school of Shinto. I've been there. Its very popular with Japanese (and others) living in the Northwest.
As for 'sweet potato gods and their priests' .... well, cynically speaking isn't that how most modern religious sects started? All she has to do is get a few million people to follow along and bam she's got a mainstream religion.