Whether because of my muertos, childhood fascinations, or any other number of possible factors, I’ve always been drawn towards ‘Eastern’ traditions.

In my late teens, I studied Buddhism for a handful of years. In the process, I made friends with some Buddhist nuns, practitioners, etc. I learned pretty quickly that no matter how dedicated and serious a person might be when it comes to the religion, when you get right down to it, they are all just normal people with their own faults, flaws, and personality quirks. That was definitely a helpful lesson to learn before I became involved in Santeria.

Recently, I stumbled upon a book called “The Essence of Shinto“. I didn’t know much about Shinto when I started reading. By the time I finished, though, I realized that there were quite a few similarities between it and Santeria. But I guess the same could be said for most folk religions — especially those with an animistic worldview.

I began to consider how ancestors and kami are revered and honored in Shinto versus how ancestors and orisha are revered and honored in Santeria. Candles, incense, water, food, flowers, etc. Sounds pretty much the same to me. Really, the biggest difference I could find was that a lot of the personal shrines in the homes of Shinto practitioners were elevated. All of the eggun shrines I have seen are directly on the floor. Still, physical location aside, I don’t think I’ve seen any eggun shrines that look nearly as aesthetically appealing as the shinto kamidana…

Overall, I had fun learning about Shinto and may end up incorporating some of the elements into my own practices. Whether just for working with my muerto or maybe just sprucing up my eggun shrine, I’m not sure how I’ll apply it. We’ll see. I’ll try to post some pics at some point, though.