{"id":10153,"date":"2019-01-06T14:45:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T21:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10153"},"modified":"2019-01-06T20:52:23","modified_gmt":"2019-01-07T03:52:23","slug":"the-japanese-do-animism-so-well-but-so-can-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=10153","title":{"rendered":"The Japanese Do Animism So Well \u2014\u00a0But So Can You"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Two things I was reading this week came together. One was this article in The Atlantic<\/em>: “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo<\/a><\/em> Isn\u2019t Really a Makeover Show,” about the Japanese author of\u00a0 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing<\/em><\/a>, who now has a show on Netflix.<\/p>\n

[Kondo] worked as a [Shinto] shrine maiden in Japan during college, and there are elements of the KonMari technique that borrow from Shinto beliefs, specifically the notion that inanimate objects are bearers of kami<\/em>, or divine essence\u2014in the same way that plants, animals, and people are. That\u2019s why Kondo taps piles of old books to \u201cwake them up,\u201d folds clothes so that they can rest more comfortably, and asks her clients to thank pieces of clothing for their service before setting them aside. Paradoxically, the exercise of cultivating empathy for the things that surround us, rather than encouraging materialism, seems to lead Kondo\u2019s clients to also have empathy for one another, and for themselves.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Marie Kondo<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n

Podcaster Fire Lyte at Inciting a Riot <\/em>picked upon the animistic, Pagan-ish elements too<\/a>:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a show where a nice little Japanese lady comes into your home and teaches you how to keep your home neat and organized. (I SWEAR IT IS PAGAN-ISH…keep reading…stop rolling your eyes. …put that tongue back in your mouth, too.) Kondo spent 5 years as an attendant maiden at a Shinto shrine, and the religion\u2019s animism is apparent throughout the show. Before Kondo begins, she greets your home, and teaches everyone she meets how to appreciate the spirit and effort immanent in all the things in your life. If the events of this show are not an example of magic in action I cannot think of a show that is. Her clients discuss how the energy in their homes and personal spaces changes as they move through her method of tidying, which includes giving a heartfelt blessing to any items being discarded and a focus on keeping that which gives you joy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>But wait, there’s more. I was also reading a passage from Aidan Wachter’s new book, Six Ways: Approaches and Entries for Practical Magic<\/a>. <\/em>I might have more to say about it later, but let me just say now that if you played a round of “If you had just one book on magic, what book would you have?” Six Ways<\/em> is definitely a contender. Whether your path is Heathen or Hoodoo, there is something here for you.<\/p>\n

In a section on “Warding Your Home” (how many of us do that regularly?) he writes of washing windows:<\/p>\n

Now take your bucket [of spiritually charged vinegar and water that you have prepared] and clean your windows and doors, again asking what you wish. “Window, allow only helpful spirits and allies into this house, and send away all harmful influences that seek ingress into this place.”<\/em> Do this with all the windows and doors . . . . When you operate your windows or doors, thank them for their work, being clear what you are thanking them for. This is important. In modern terms, be proactive, not reactive. Ask your door to protect your home when you leave, and thank it when you return!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We train ourselves as we train our house of spirits By being clear to the others around you, we become more clear to ourselves. Expect feedback if you are doing this right!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s all about maintaining relationships, right? And thank your old sneakers before you put them in the trash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two things I was reading this week came together. One was this article in The Atlantic: “Tidying Up With Marie Kondo Isn\u2019t Really a Makeover Show,” about the Japanese author of\u00a0 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, who now has a show on Netflix. [Kondo] worked as a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68,26,139,296,60],"class_list":["post-10153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-animism","tag-culture","tag-japan","tag-pagan-ish","tag-shinto"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-2DL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3839,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3839","url_meta":{"origin":10153,"position":0},"title":"Graham Harvey on Animism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In this podcast, Graham Harvey of the Open University, one of the leading figures in Pagan studies, speaks about animism\u2014our relations with other-than-human communities. It is one of a series of podcasts featuring leading figures in different areas of religious studies.","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":510,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=510","url_meta":{"origin":10153,"position":1},"title":"Animism, Disney, and MorelsIt started\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"September 11, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Animism, Disney, and MorelsIt started when someone passed on a quote from an article in the August 2005 issue of Vanity Fair about Disneyland:I thought about everything it was and it wasn't, the cornucopia of image, illusion, and icon, and realized, very much to my delight, that Disney is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":690,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=690","url_meta":{"origin":10153,"position":2},"title":"Graham Harvey speaks on Animism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"July 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Pagan scholar Graham Harvey is just back from convention-ing in Australia, where among other things he did this interview on animism on Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. Listen online or download the 23-megabyte mp3 file. Capsule description:The oldest living religion, Animism, has a new advocate in pagan expert, Graham Harvey. But\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6133,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=6133","url_meta":{"origin":10153,"position":3},"title":"Animism, Religion, Bloggers, and the AAR","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion is followed by what I think of as Hell Weekend. At least it is that if you chair or co-chair one of the many program units. Me, I am co-chair of the Contemporary Pagan Studies Group, but I suspect that all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3409,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=3409","url_meta":{"origin":10153,"position":4},"title":"The Day of the Dead is not Just for Humans","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"November 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"At Adventures in Animism, Heather Awen builds a shrine.","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5928,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5928","url_meta":{"origin":10153,"position":5},"title":"Blog Carnival of Animism","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The August animist blog carnival had the there of Birds, and you can find it linked on Animist Jottings here. There is quite a bit there, so go visit.","rel":"","context":"In \"animism\"","block_context":{"text":"animism","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=animism"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10153"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10165,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions\/10165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}