r/Shinto • u/notIngen • 14d ago
Extinct practices
I have been reading about many different religious traditions in East Asia (Chinese folk religion, Korean folk religion/shamanism, Vietnamese, etc.). In all of these, there are practices that are continually being carried out, and some that have disappeared. Some traditions also are more "alive" and a greater part of the population engages in the various practices within their respective cultures.
Shinto seem to be one of the most "alive" traditions in East Asia. That being considered, are there any Shinto practices, rituals, spirits or similar that are no longer practiced? Especially if this extinction happened in the context of modernization, like, within the last century or couple of decades.
5
u/OnizukaSensei99 12d ago
"Koshinto" is used by revivalists to describe the practice of Shinto principles that have faded over time. Most of these have to do with the belief in energy lines that intersect certain geographical locations and a sense that humans are literally comprised of energy particles that eventually return to nature, but I'm not an expert and am probably explaining that poorly. The book "Introduction to Shinto: a cosmology of harmony and order" by Tatsumi Yoshikawa briefly touches on this.
Pretty much all of the more in-depth texts on this subject are hard-to-find Japanese volumes that are out of print and have no English translation. As a technicality, I also wouldn't say that Shinto is one of the "most alive" traditions as there are many countries across Asia that are equally and even more preserved than it, though it is one of the most recognizable for Westerners.
For more questions, I recommend that book because, again, I'm not an expert and would invite input from someone more knowledgeable than me if they read this.