How I found the Shinto-Pagan Path

I continued to use Shinto as a framework for my Pagan beliefs, and as I did so, I realised that I was becoming increasingly drawn to venerating the Shinto kami themselves along with Western Pagan deities, and one kami in particular: Inari Okami. Carrying across the Neopagan concept of a “patron” deity, I set up an altar to Inari in the courtyard outside our house, where we would often be visited by foxes. Inari has been my patron ever since.

Seeing the fox cross my path that summer afternoon gave me a moment of intense clarity. I understood that my interests in Paganism, science, and Japan were all connected. Whether or not this was truly a message from Inari, I suppose I’ll never know, but it was enough to confirm that I’d found the spiritual path for me – one that blended all of these ideas together.

So now I consider myself a Shinto-Pagan, practising both religions side by side. I celebrate the eight festivals of the Neopagan Wheel of the Year in addition to Japanese festivals. I participate in a local moot where our rituals are very much Wicca-influenced, invoking the Great God and Goddess and involving circle casting and calling the four elements; I also make regular offerings and Shinto norito prayers at my Inari altar. To me, it seems natural to combine western Paganism with Shinto. Not only do the two religions have much in common in terms of their focus on ritual, nature worship and sense of duty to the ancestors, but as mentioned previously, Shinto is rarely practised in isolation from other religions in Japan. For me, Shinto is like a reactive chemical element – it likes to “bond” to other religious paths to create a new path that is best-suited to the practitioner. I find that my Shinto and Neopagan paths really complement and enhance one another. Even my blog’s title reflects the Shinto-Pagan blend; the word “tama” is of special significance in Shinto and can be translated as “soul.”

Where my path will lead from now, I’m not sure. I feel that there is so much out there to learn and that I’ve only just begun. But as the Japanese say, senri no michi mo ippo yori hajimaru – “Even a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”