In my research into what we can learn from other cultures’ approaches to death and grief, I have especially enjoyed reading about Shinto practices. As my partner is half Japanese I have become fascinated by Japanese culture. However, I actually first came across Shintoism when I was working in Japan in 2017. The Tokyo College of Music, where I was teaching, had a Shinto shrine right outside it which I found enchanting, powerfully magnetic, very peaceful and somehow reassuring.
Japanese culture often appears controlled and orderly and this is reflected in both Buddhist and Shinto grief traditions. The shinto funeral process involves 20 procedures and may, to outsiders, seem lengthy and complicated. But it is these detailed customs that bring about a healing structure, something to grab hold of at a time when it feels like the rug has been swept from under your feet.
Shinto believes that everything has energy or Kami. Kami are supernatural entities, gods or spirits that inhabit all things. So in Japan I saw lots of shrines in forests, lakes, waterfalls... Nature is sacred and is worshipped as it holds the spirits of our ancestors. I loved this idea.
In the absence of any solid practices around grief that I had as part of my own culture, I walked everyday for hours after I lost my mum and I spent time sitting in fields of wild flowers, standing in rivers, talking to the wind, singing and pouring my heart out into the forests, trying to connect to mum’s spirit. Trying to be heard.
I have composed some vocal phrases inspired by Saibara - Japanese folk songs - and Gagaku music played at Shinto funerals.
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