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1) There's one fact about #MarieKondo that informs everything I read about her.
She spent five years as a Shinto priestess.
Let's break that down.
She spent five years as a Shinto priestess.
Let's break that down.
2) The Japanese religion of Shinto involves communing and appeasing the kami.
Kami are... Kinda but not totally spirits/gods?
Seriously, @neilhimself is a genius just for making a culturally understandable translation of Princess Mononoke.
Kami are... Kinda but not totally spirits/gods?
Seriously, @neilhimself is a genius just for making a culturally understandable translation of Princess Mononoke.
3) So here's where kami break western traditions:
Shinto involves countless kami... and you may pray or appease them EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW THEY'RE NAME.
Be some spirits are nameless.
They're not D & D gods.
EVERYTHING could have a spirit.
Shinto involves countless kami... and you may pray or appease them EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW THEY'RE NAME.
Be some spirits are nameless.
They're not D & D gods.
EVERYTHING could have a spirit.
4) So if you piss off an object's spirit, you get a KAMI OBJECT MONSTER... tsukumogami.
Kasa-obake- HOPING UMBRELLA MONSTER.
Lantern ghosts and samurai made of dishes!
All this I learned from @Matt_Alt's books and @DoctorAtlantis podcasts.
Like at monstertalk.skeptic.com/yokai-attack
Kasa-obake- HOPING UMBRELLA MONSTER.
Lantern ghosts and samurai made of dishes!
All this I learned from @Matt_Alt's books and @DoctorAtlantis podcasts.
Like at monstertalk.skeptic.com/yokai-attack
5) So, that's why #MarieKondo mentions things like announcing herself and bowing to houses she's about to clean.
Or talking cell phones and appliances she retires.
She's thanking the object kami in a very traditional way.
Or talking cell phones and appliances she retires.
She's thanking the object kami in a very traditional way.
6) And if you're waiting for the concluding reveal that says "AND THIS IS ACTUALLY TERRIBLE BECAUSE..."
Nah.
I just enjoy it when bizarre geeky knowledge gives insight into popular things.
It's neat to find the wonder and the weird in the otherwise ordinary.
Nah.
I just enjoy it when bizarre geeky knowledge gives insight into popular things.
It's neat to find the wonder and the weird in the otherwise ordinary.
7) Watching the #MarieKondo show.
Episode 1, only fifteen minutes in, and she's already kneeling on the ground, leading group supplications to the house.
Glad to see they kept the Shinto on the screen.
Episode 1, only fifteen minutes in, and she's already kneeling on the ground, leading group supplications to the house.
Glad to see they kept the Shinto on the screen.
I know I'm supposed to post a Spotify link when things take off, but if you like the way I analyze mythology, read my book!
Amazon: tinyurl.com/o6czz6l
Amazon: tinyurl.com/o6czz6l
