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Food offerings, called shinsen, are left to the spirits on this altar, as a mark of respect and to empower them so that they have the energy to help you. These generally include rice, wine (sake), water, and salt. For new beginnings, a rice gruel made with the seven herbs of Spring (parsley, shepherd’s purse, cottonweed, chickweed, henbit, turnips, and radish) are left at the shrine on January 7 during the celebration of Nanakusa-gayu. The food is removed from the altar next day and eaten as part of a family feast. By doing this, you and your loved ones will not suffer illness for a year. After making your offering, face the kamidana and give thanks for the gifts of your life. Then bow twice, clap twice, and bow once again. This ends the ceremony.
Shinto teaches that everything is alive and has kami or “spiritual essence”. There is a kami for everything and for all groups of things, so every rose has a kami, every species of rose has a kami, and there is a kami for all the roses and then for all the flowers of the Earth. All of these are collectively called Yaoyorozu no Kami, an expression literally meaning “eight million kami”, but which actually means ‘an infinite number of spirits’.
And this is a good way to look at life: to recognise the spirit in all things, to appreciate that nature is alive and talking to us, and that the richness of the Earth – in all its myriad forms – can be our ally, helping us to reconnect with the planet we live on and to know our place as we expand our horizons and empower our dreams to come true.
There is more information on the kami and kamidana in The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja, by Ross Heaven, Destiny Books, 2006 (ISBN