Dancing With Spirits: the Festivals & Folklore of Japan

by Denny Sargent

Nowhere are religious traditions more uniquely tied to the historical, cultural and spiritual identity of a people then in Japan. Almost all Japanese follow one intertwined religious mixture of Shinto, Matsuri and Buddhism. This forms the basis of much of their culture. To know this is to know Japan. Dancing with Spirits is an intellectual but accessible 'travel guide' through the history and fun reality of the most important Shinto, Matsuri and Buddhist festivals of Japan. It features entertaining first-hand accounts of wild revels like Tanabata and Setsubun, but it also offers something more; the history of the these festivals and explanations of the symbolism and meaning behind them, things that even many of the Japanese revelers themselves often don't know. Other aspects of Buddhism, Matsuri and Shinto are covered within these pages as well, from a succinct history of the origins of these great traditions in Japan to chapters about specific deities and Amulets. Come and leap into the amazing world of Shinto, Matsuri and Buddhism and the 'floating world' of Japanese rituals and folklore as it is being celebrated today! Dozo!

122 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2010

About the author

Aion 131 (Denny Sargent), writer, teacher and practicing Ecclectic Ritualist, was first introduced to Mythology & Magick in the suburbs and center of New York City where he grew up. He has since his early teens been accepted as a member of a number of initiatory groups including Pagan Way (and various other Pagan groups), Welsh Traditional Wicca, The GSS, the Typhonian OTO, QBLH, Order of Chaos, Cult of Tara and the Adinath and Uttara Kaula Lineages of Tantrika. He is one of the founding members of the Horus/Maat Lodge and various other arcane cults too hideous to mention.

In 1979 he received his BA in Education from Oneonta college, New York. During this time he was one of the founding editors of Mandragore, a journal of magick and ecclectic ritualism published in New York City.

Denny has spent ove r30 years as a ceramic artist and sigil artist, having many one-man and group shows of his ceramic work. His ceramic work is currently on display in Seattle. His Sigils have appeared in a wide variety of esoteric magazines and journals. In 1981 he was awarded an MA in Ancient History from Western Washington University where he also taught History for three years. His research has included the magickal/religious traditions of Egypt, Sumeria, Greece, Rome, China, India, Europe and Pacific Northwest Indians (Kwakiutl). In the early 1980’s he helped found, write and edit Aeon and Kalika, journals that were concerned with contemporary ritual practice and creative mythology.

Informally, he has taught seminars on The History and Use of the I Ching, Natal Hexagrams, Tantrika, Jungian Mandala Symbolism, Ceramic art, Comparative Mythology, Cross-Cultural Communications and, most recently, on Shinto and it’s Festivals. He has written for many different Pagan and magickal magazines and currently writes a regular column in Pan Gaia magazine on magickal religions about the world. He was and still is a committed member of a number of Green organizations and is politically dedicated towards environmental goals. In 1984, after working for three years at a ski area in the Cascade Mountains.

Denny taught and lived and wrote for four years in Japan from 1989-93. In Japan he had an ecological textbook published called Heal the Earth!, (Dawn Press, Nara, 1991) and he was also a journalist for Eye Ai Magazine, City Life News, Via Magazine, Tokyo Today, The Japan International Journal, and The Japan Times Weekly. He wrote regular columns on festivals and travel for The Tokyo Weekender, Mini-World and the Asahi Evening News. In Tokyo he began doing technical writing and software text-writing for the Tec Tek Company, as well. Denny has engaged in extensive traveling and on-site research in Australia, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Hawaii, Mexico, Thailand and America. A book resulted from all of this: Global Ritualism, Myth & Magick Around the World

Reviews

[Teresa Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Denny Sargent is one of the people that I have had brief internet contact with through Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America. I was very happy when he had posted in the group that he was working on a book, and even happier when he announced that it was ready.

The book is written from the insiders perspective, though as Shinto is a very personal religion interpretations and depths of meaning of the various matsuri to the individual will vary.

I wish the book had been longer, but perhaps he will eventually research and prepare another book, or one of the other shrine members will release on with their experiences. I do recommend this for both the researcher and layperson alike. Shinto is a LIVING religion, which is not set in stone or in books alone. Books are only a mirror.