Monthly Archives: March 2012

What is a Psychic Advisor?

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What is a Psychic Advisor?
Author: Vikki Vanoza
Let’s begin with a definition. The term “psychic” means “of the soul” or “mental” and is more often than not used to tell a person’s out of the ordinary ability outside of the five recognized senses to distinguish concealed information.
Psychics acquire an extra sense  not known to the majority of us which is called “extrasensory perception” or ESP, in which many believe to be a paranormal ability.
The perception of psychic abilities is an old one. Although, a lot of people disagree with real psychic’s existence, I’d like to express my gratitude to modern science for it is still more widely accepted than ever.
This psychic industry that popularized the term “psychic advisor” makes available to clients with insight into their future.  By informing the client of the effect of future events or help them get to the bottom of their complicated life problems.
Sylvia Browne and John Edwards are two of the well-admired psychic advisors of the 20th century.
Psychic advisors are not a modern occurrence,  in societies that pursued astrology, psychics date back to the earliest times.
Those that were celebrated in earlier time as prophets and seers were people who were equipped to foresee events devoid of the use of astrological charts or systems.
In  present day, in case there’s really no one called as mentioned, we label these people as psychics and/or clairvoyants.
Those incredible people have at  times been enclosed with mystery. For hundreds of years their visions of the future have astonished and surprised people.
Nostradamus was one of the most famous psychics of the ancient times. Nostradamus was a 16th century apothecary.  His prophecies or visions are still well-known all over the world.
Like earthquakes, wars, murders, plagues, and floods, most of his psychic visions were of horrible disasters. A lot of people on the other hand remain doubtful for the reason that none of his psychic predictions were dated.
Countless people still acknowledge him through predicting several contemporary world events even though he is a highly controversial historical figure.
At approximately the similar time as the Modern Spiritualism had begun another well-accepted psychic Edgar Cayce gained recognition in the 19th century.
Cayce assumed that he could get in touch with dead people.
One of the influential leaders in surveys, says that an astonishing 41% of Americans polled believe in ESP, as established in 2005 Gallup poll. And that 26% trust in clairvoyance and 31% believe in psychic or telepathic communication as established with the similar type of study.
The certainty in psychic phenomena which suggests that people with advanced education level may possibly be more apt to believe in psychic advisors is more common between college seniors (31%) and graduate students (34%) compared among freshman students (23%), according to a 2006 survey conducted by Oklahoma City University.
Psychic ability can be freely given down across countless generations according to group of individuals who are as well believers.
By sharpening mental disciplines like meditation others consider that psychic powers can be improved or “turned on” , on the contrary most bona fide Psychics suppose that you can simply be born with the gift.
People that assert to have psychic gifts by means of their talents frequently search to make a living. They entertain or preside at  psychic websites and hotlines touting  their psychic abilities.
It has turned out to be much more complicated.  To be certain if the individual you plan with is an authentic psychic advisor or merely a bogus psychic wanting to lighten your wallet, because of the size and/or coverage of this business.
Check out my preferred Psychic networks below to be in no doubt you are having a genuine, precise and established Psychic advisor.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5783089

The Spirit of the Tithe: It Was Never About Money

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The Spirit of the Tithe: It Was Never About Money
Author: Joshua Tilghman
For many religious institutions, tithing is a big issue today. I can understand why. Many of these religious institutions are quite wealthy, and to maintain that wealth, tithing is necessary. But what is the real spirit of the scripture when it comes to the issue of tithing? Does the scripture really teach that God demands a tenth of our income? The answer may surprise you.
Let’s begin with Abraham. Many are taught that Abraham tithed, but nowhere in the Bible does it give any indication of this. The idea is really quite silly. In a single recorded incident Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe on the spoils of war. For some reason, religious leaders often equate this with the modern idea of tithing on paychecks. In Abraham’s case, the spoils of war had nothing to do with Abraham’s income. This voluntary offer on the part of Abraham certainly didn’t set any tithing precedent, either; hundreds of years later, when Moses stated that the Israelites were to give Levites a small portion on the spoils of war, it wasn’t even close to ten percent. And how does an entire nation giving some of the spoils of war away equate to an individual tithing on their weekly or monthly income?
Here is something else to consider: What would Abraham’s regular tithes be used for? To go to the local ziggurat building fund? In Abraham’s day, a ziggurat was a rectangular, tiered temple built by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians, but I don’t think Abraham would have had much use for that! As we’ll discuss shortly, the purpose of tithing was providing food for all the Israelites. But in Abraham’s day there were no Israelites.  
I have heard some use Jacob’s vow to God as setting a precedent to tithing. But this doesn’t make sense either since Jacob’s vow was conditional. Besides, if you do decide to tithe based on the condition of getting bountifully blessed by God, you might be in for a shock. Jacob surely had no life of luxury after making his conditional promise to God. In fact, he had a hard life. He even tells the Pharaoh of Egypt near the end of his life that his years had been “…few and evil…” (Gen. 47:9). You can hardly blame him for such a statement. While God blessed him with a big family, that family often brought hardship and shame to his life. He also lost a son (even though he found him later), lived through some pretty harsh times (like extreme famine), and never lived in a permanent location.
Now let’s go to the Torah where the law of tithing originated. First off I want to say that money wasn’t the issue-crops and livestock were. More specifically, community survival was the issue. There are four types of tithes mentioned in the Torah. The first tithe dealt with those who owned land and raised crops. Ten percent of the raised crops were to go to the Levites. Be reminded that this tithe only dealt with those who raised crops. No money was involved. This tithe was also only required for six years out of a seven-year cycle, and those who did not own land, such as the poor, were not required to give this tithe.
The next tithe I want to speak about involved setting aside food for those in need. It was only required on the third and sixth year out of the seven-year cycle. Deuteronomy 14:28-29 states:
“At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he had no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within they gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD they God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest.”
I have included the above scripture because it reveals something that many religious leaders today never consider. Piggybacking on the first tithe that I mentioned, the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger probably didn’t have the means to produce crops. Therefore, they did not pay tithes. Besides, this second tithe that I mention was brought to the storehouse for them.
The third type of tithe I want to mention was set aside for annual festivals. Basically this was a party tithe. Everyone had to put away a tenth of their income (after the first tithe) for the purpose of a feast day. The Bible also clearly states that it was okay to drink “strong drink” (beer) during this feast day. Party indeed! How would your religious leader feel about a portion of your tithe being set aside so that you can drink a six-pack and grill a filet mignon once a year on church property?! Maybe this scripture is the reason why some Rabbi’s don’t consider it a sin to get drunk on this feast day?
The last tithe I mention involved only the Levites. They were required to give ten percent of their best to the priest.
So what was the real spirit of tithing? I can honestly say it is one of the most beautiful examples of community love I can think of. Rather than being a way to amass wealth for church programs, buildings, and high-dollar salaries, it was a practical way to take care of the community. The Levites, the priest, the widows, the orphans, the poor, and even the stranger would have all benefited from the Torah tithe. Many times today tithing is done out of an attitude of obligation, but this should never be the case. Tithing has always been about physical provision for the community as a whole. If a religious leader states that tithing on your yearly income is a requirement by God, they are certainly not getting this teaching from the Bible. Instead it’s a part of their man-made religious program. Religion can only direct us to connect with God on the outside. Religion teaches humanity that God is “out there” and we have to reach out to him. This is why some religious leaders teach that tithing will bless you (Malachi 3:10 anyone?). But they misunderstand the entire concept of Biblical tithing and God. The Bible teaches us to connect to God on the “inside,” for this is the only place God can be found. That’s why Jesus stated the Kingdom of Heaven was within us.
In conclusion I want to say that giving is a wonderful thing. We should all be willing to give, especially out of our abundance. But we should never be coerced into tithing on our paychecks because God requires it. He most certainly does not. I would also like to add that most religious leaders who teach tithing is necessary are probably only teaching what they were taught. Education is the key. Feel free to use this article to help spread the word.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5785448

The Most Common Psychic Scams

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The Most Common Psychic Scams
Author: Vikki Vanoza
57%, a majority of Americans, believe  in psychic phenomena such as telepathy, ESP or experiences that can’t be clarified.
These believers are not alone. For instance, let me tell to you a little about a 30 year veteran physicist named Dale Graf who worked on the Stargate program of the Department of Defense.  They use psychic ability known as remote viewing.
This so called psychic power or ability and can describe a remote area, even one that is located thousands of miles away.
At some point in his interview on Larry King Live, he said “It exists. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But it’s there and it is real, and it cannot be shoveled away by skeptics.” Graf said.
During that dialogue on the TV program with Larry he stated he worked on the project for 30 years.
The well-known Skeptics
“The Amazing Randi” has to be the biggest skeptic who’s famous for his standing offer of $1,000,000 for any person who can provide evidence that they have real, psychic powers under laboratory conditions.
Leon Jaroff,another skeptic called psychics as “a motley collection of mystics, charlatans, hoaxers and smooth con artists who have successfully buffaloed a good portion of the public into believing they have supernatural powers.”
 Common psychic scam tricks and how they work
Curse
Not merely unethical but clearly illegal tactics in which they try to swindle and rip off people in a fragile emotional state that entails by playing on people’s fears. It begins by means of them seeing a curse or a “darkness”, which in turn might cause an onset of a disease, as a result. For a cost, the psychic can cure both of these.
 Exclusion of Curse
They will ask you to pay money for extraordinary candles, entreaty cards or crystals which on average run approximately$150-$200.  By the time this happens the psychic has you believing that there are more than a few curses on you.
Cursed Egg
You’re requested to bring in egg to their subsequent reading. This is an age old hoax that has been used for hundreds of years.
With you observing, in a snap parlor magic they switch the egg. Just to discover (when they crack the egg open) blood, or a slug in it! Tricky huh!
Then they will advise you to bring $100′s of dollars on you and sometime later they will tell you that the curse is not as good as what they thought.
The psychic will tell you the money is cursed and by way of some more parlor magic they act as if to tear it up once they have taken the cash in an instant from you.
Their Cunning Aggressiveness
They will jeer at, scream or threaten you if necessary when the bogus psychic desires to go for the truly big money.
Every so often they have someone else besides themselves in the room to join forces on you such as the mom & daughter team which are family members, which got me for over $2000 of cash.
Don’t be a victim! It’s important. I am telling you to ask for answers.  I can have compassion with you, as I’ve been there.
Search for a psychic that doesn’t lie to you only to craft a quick buck, except for those who can set you on your course towards a good life.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5782899

List of Facts and Myths About Psychic Energy

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List of Facts and Myths About Psychic Energy
Author: Jackson Swift
It is a well-known fact for psychics that each and every one of us has Chakras and an Aura that influence our body. This Chakras and Aura is known as psychic energy.

Likened to an energy field of light surrounding us like one is in a bubble, basically, a person’s psychic energy in layman’s term is a person’s “personal space”.

To better understand what psychic energy really is, here’s a list of facts and myths about psychic energy:

Facts:

Psychic Energy is believed to be force of strong, powerful and all pervasive but invisible mental waves, which has the capability to travel across the ‘worlds’ and accomplish Leeds which ordinary human beings can only dream of.

First Law of psychic energy states that Psychic energy waves which are unseen waves like sound, radio, electricity, light and etc. are vibrating energy.

The Second law of psychic energy states that “The mind is an ‘energy station’ which creates transmits and receives energy.” The will (of the mind) is believed to have the capability to change the form of energy. While, thoughts and images, which are waves of energy, has the ability to be transmitted to and from human minds within the earth plane and to human and other entities in the afterlife in a process called telepathy.

The Third law of psychic energy states that each of us possesses a body that is made up of vibrationary energy which is a duplicate of the physical body and will survive physical death. This body of vibrationary energy which is invisible to physical eyes has the ability to change form but can never be destroyed and retains consciousness.

The Fourth law of psychic energy states that the afterlife possesses different levels of energy which produce different spheres according to the speed of vibration. The faster the vibrations of a sphere, the higher and more spiritually evolved the entities which reside there are.

The 5th law of psychic energy states that the more spiritually evolved a being is, the brighter the energy of the aura.

The 6th law of psychic energy states that materialization is a result of the slowing down of the speed of the atomic vortices of the energy. Thus, speeding up the vortices will result in de-materialization.

The Seventh law of psychic energy, also known as the Law of Cause and Effect, which states that for every (energy) action, there is an opposite (an energy) reaction. Psychic energy, like all forms of energy, is a ‘boomerang’ – the energy you give out will inevitably return to you.

Psychic energy are universal life force that flows within and between all things, which is believed to be some form of vitalism, doctrines of subtle bodies or concepts such as qi (In traditional Chinese culture, the life energy), prana (the Sanskrit word for “vital life”), or kundalini (in yoga, a “corporeal energy”).

There is no psychic energy that is used 100% perfectly. This is because, we have free will, so, the choices that our souls make, can affect the outcome. Our choices can have an impact on the time lines completely or even take an event out of someone’s reality.

Psychic energy waves can be used to attack someone.

Psychic energy becomes drained, as well as can become contaminated with other energy. This happens in situations when psychics are open while working with clients.

You can rejuvenate your psychic energy through everyday experiences.

Each one of us has psychic energy to one degree or another and it is very possible to help it grow.

To grow your psychic energy, you have to tune within yourself. You must try to be aware of your thoughts, your emotions and your own energy flow. Doing this will help you to start taking control of what energy you put out as well as what energy you will receive.

Feeling the energy of others and of all living things is a really good step in connecting with your own psychic energy.

Keeping your body healthy and hydrated is extremely important for your psychic energy.

Myths

psychic energy can be used to read your mind

All psychics have the same psychic energy waves in giving psychic readings of the past, present, and future.

Psychic energy waves can be used to curse you or remove curses.

Psychic energy is the halo around the heads of angels.

Psychic energy as mysterious and supernatural.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5781749

Using Horoscopes And Astrology Signs For Career Growth

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Using Horoscopes And Astrology Signs For Career Growth
Author: Rob Swifty
People often approach other people when they encounter problems or issues in their lives, be it in love, relationships, or family. Surely they can be of great help to us as they are the ones who know us really well, but never better than we do ourselves. However, with the continually increasing popularity of horoscopes and astrology, including the Chinese zodiac signs, it cannot be denied that people today are also referring to these concepts in dealing with said issues.

Today, people not only refer to astrological signs when dealing with family and personal issues. They also do it for career-related issues. This is actually a good thing as our work is what eats up a good portion of our time. It is the workplace where we spend much of our time at. From Mondays through Fridays, we spend at least 8 hours at work. Sometimes even, we go beyond this time requirement and render overtime work. Sometimes still, people even work on weekends or holidays to earn more or finish up some long overdue assignment. This much time that people spend in the workplace is more than enough reason to use horoscopes and astrology signs to advance one’s career or simply for career growth.

When people work, we always want to work in a conducive environment where there is harmony and peace. We do not like to work with a colleague that we cannot seem to decipher or someone who is difficult to deal with. However, much as we want this to happen all the time, things do not go this way always. People everywhere, including those at work, have varied personalities. And this variety can cause clashes between and among co-workers. So how can we avoid this and create a more wholesome environment at work?

Here are a few things to remember using astrology.

1. Cardinal signs like Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn are people who are born leaders. They have all the initiative to work and lead a group and are very work and action-oriented. They can be relied upon when making decisions.

2. Fixed signs which include Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius are people who like to stick to doing a particular task. This is even if the said task has already become a routine. However, even if they can be a bit stubborn, they are also reliable people.

3. Mutable signs like Sagittarius, Gemini, Virgo, and Pisces are those that excel when it comes to customer service or treating the consequences of a changeable environment.

4. The sun signs may also be considered. Fire signs like Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are energetic and optimistic, seeing everything that is good.

5. Earth signs like Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are practical and are particularly good at balancing the cash flow of the company.

6. Air signs like Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are great with ideas. They are very much useful especially during brainstorming.

7. Water signs like Scorpio, Cancer, and Pisces are great with responding to customer needs.

Though personalities may clash, astrological signs and astrology in general can help turn these differences into something useful. People just have to learn how to do it.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5781725

Cremation services and their costs

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Cremation services and their costs
Author: web
Sometimes it worries whether to opt burial or funeral. Let it be financially or environmentally, studies choose cremation. Need not choose cemetery plots, caskets, graveyard stones and spend on any other things and this makes cremation costs lower. Also cremation is very environmental friendly. No smoke, no decaying or any other causes of pollution. How much does a cremation cost? There are many societies and organizations in US under federal law implementing these cremation services. Individuals or families can happily look into this without much bothering how much does a cremation cost? Normally along with the environmental uses one would really get around the cost for cremation. People are used to burial and funeral services. Things are moving quickly and good volumes of people are taking cremation services. Cremation costs’ being less is also one of the advantages. Answering how much does a cremation cost is very simple. Apart from different available services for cremation direct cremations services is economical. It is cheap because no other activities are included. Includes of carrying the death body from houses or mortuaries to the cremation services and then handover the after-cremation remains to the relatives. If along with the cremations reception is to be held then it incurs extra cost. Or dipping the ashes after cremation in the sea also incurs extra cost. So without having these services like reception, dipping ashes in sea and other similar ones is called direct cremation services. Normally people opt direct cremation services.  Compared to this direct cremation, funeral or burial services are more costly. People who cannot gather enough funds for burial or funeral services can happily opt for cremation services. With more and more advantages of cremation services over burial and funeral services people are opting more to cremation of their relatives or near by family’s death body. According to the demand the cremation service offering societies or organizations are also sprouting up. One can quickly have a glance of these organizations and check out for other things like cost of cremation and more online itself. Also individuals and families book earlier itself for their cremation services.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5780852

The fertility of mind

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The fertility of mind
Author: Dr. Preeti Batra
The most distinguishing species on earth, the human beings are blessed as they,ve been given mind to think. Though this mind can make choices between right and wrongs, yet we tend to adopt negativities around us faster than the positive things. The reason is how much do we work onthe fertility of our mind. An infertile mind will always be more destructive as its perspective is very limited. A limited perspective accepts religion as a matter of birth.
To broaden the perspective of an individual depends upon the fertility of his mind. As we work on to increase the fertility of our mind we become a constant and continuous learner.Life always gives us choices.We learn by making mistakes, or by listening to persons having broader perspective. Jesus Christ, Rahim , Kabir , Mirabai, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa are some of those great preachers who had highly fertile minds. For them religion is a matter of heart. We get birth according to the past karmas  and we are bound to get a name from the family in which we are born. We follow certain rituals as per the community to which our family belongs. 
It is undoubtediy indispensible to follow certain customs and rituals But at the same time it is also important to define our relationship with god. To understand our relationship with God we must work to increase  the fertility of our mind by:
1.Thinking all humanbeings as children of God and so loving them as our own self.
2. By mortification of our own ego by practicing it in our daily life
3. Surrender in deep love to him with whom our relationship is eternal.
The great thinkers on religion taught LOVE as the biggest religion and so obviously it is the matter of heart. Love each living being on earth as you love yourself as all living beings are made by same ingredients by which God made you……..
No matter where they were born, how they were born the great saints like Sai Baba, Swami Shradhananda, Rehman, Yeeshu Masih, Guru Nanak Dev  always taught us that God is one  and there are endless ways to form relationship with him. To attain communion with God ,it is very important to have doubtless faith on him. This is how a soul establishes its beautiful relationship with GOD. So, what religion to follow to establish an eternal relationship with God depends upto a great extent on the fertility of a person’s mind

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5779519

Paranormal Pictures – How To Photograph Ghosts

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Paranormal Pictures – How To Photograph Ghosts
Author: Jessica T
Paranormal Pictures  – How To Photograph Ghosts
Do you want to do a paranormal investigation and see if you are able to get some true personal proof of the existing of otherworldly entities? If so, there are various ways for you to do so.
One way you can investigate the otherworldly reel is by taking photographs and record videos and see if anything paranormal shows up in the picture.
How to Capture Ghosts on Photos?
Fist of all you should have a good camera to work with on your supernatural investigation.
Now you have to find a place you would like to take pictures or footages. This could for instance be a burial ground, castles, old buildings, famous paranormal places, etc. But as the spirits can be anywhere, you do not have to go to any specific place, but the chances of catching a ghost may be greater at places where people have already experienced ghostly activities.
When you go to that place where you would like to investigate, you might want to have someone with you and take pictures of, as some spirits are attracted to people and so this could increase your probability of getting a ghost footage.
It is very important to remember, to be patient. The chances of catching a ghost on photos are extremely small, and you therefore have to not get frustrated and be really patient. But the likelihood of catching orbs in your pictures are much higher though.
Theories on What Orbs Are
There are many explanations of what orbs are. Some people think that they are spirits and spiritual energies, others say they are angels while some say that they are only lights created by reflection.
The different things that could make orb-like lights in your pictures can be dust and dirt if you for instance are outside, light reflecting in a shiny surface, bugs, fog, etc. so when you get an orb-like light ball in your picture you have to make sure it could not have been created be anything else. If you catch the orb on a video-camera, you can also study the movement of the orb and see if it seems strange and unnatural for any bug or dust particle.
Protection Against Energies
You do not know what type of spiritual energies you are working with, you should protect yourself before and after you go on your ghost hunting investigation. This can be in form of a protection meditation, where you will surround yourself with strong and powerful positive energy and create a fence between you and other energy sources. Some want to connect with angels and ask for their protection when they have to connect with the spiritual world. So if you believe in angelic beings you can contact one, such as the archangel Michael, who can help you remove negative energies that may come close to you.
When You been on your paranormal investigation you may want to do a cleansing exercise, to remove all the different types of energy that may have attach them selves to you. It does not matter No matter what type of energy it is, good or bad, you want to get rid of it and leave it, so that you do not bring anything with you home.
You can learn more about spirituality on my website:
Learn Telepathy 

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5780505

Shinto – A General Summary of the Religion

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Shinto – A General Summary of the Religion
Author: William Bailey
Shinto is an adopted word from the Chinese meaning “Way of the Gods”.  It is the indigenous spirituality of the Japanese.  Shinto’s spirituality was initially recorded in written form of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 8th century.  The Kojiki is the oldest chronicle and a collection of numerous myths of Japan.  The myths concern the origin of the four islands of Japan.  These myths are responsible for the inspiration that sparked the religion of Shinto.  The written documents showed that Shinto was an unorganized folklore and mythology, and not a unified religion.  Shinto currently has between 200 – 300 million followers mainly in Japan consisting of approximately 3% to 5% of the world’s religious population. 
Kami is a concept that the Shinto people utilize within their religion.  Kami are defined in English as “spirits”, “deities”, “souls”, or “principles”.  These terms are at times linked to natural forces such as wind, trees, rocks, ponds, lakes, rivers, seas, land, mountains, and many other abstract items of the world.    Kami is also linked in some situations being human-like and in both material and immaterial cases (animistic). 
The people of Japan abide by both Shintoism’s and Buddhism’s doctrines when using various rituals and practices.  For example the vast majority of Japanese utilize Shinto’s rules for life’s rituals and practices and for the afterlife rituals and practices Buddhism’s rules are generally used. 
Due to the various different practices of the Shinto faith, many Japanese believe it is imperative to separate Shinto into 5 various categories.  These categories are as follows:

Shrine Shinto:  This category happens to be the most popular type of Shinto that has ties dating back into Japan’s history.  Shrine Shinto is associated with making wishes, good luck charms, and a variety of gatherings celebrating various events.

Folk Shinto:  This Shinto deals with folk spirits and deities and various practices including possession, and healing (Shaman) that originate from Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and other various older traditions.

Sect Shinto:  This particular type of Shinto is a legal division originating in the late 19th century in an effort to separate God and country.

Imperial Household Shinto:  The Imperial Family performs religious rites at three shrines located on the Imperial grounds.

Koshinto Shinto (old Shinto):  This Shinto is a restoration of a dated Shinto prior to the origination of Buddhism. 

The kami (spirits) date back to at least 100 BCE and are separated from our physical world by a Torii or gate.  It is a red symbol that marks an entrance to shrines.  
The three beliefs that stand out from the various others are the impurity belief, purification and the afterlife beliefs. 

Impurity:  There are various deeds that create ritual purity for a good, positive personal and family future.  Logically, good deeds create good days or good weeks and so on.  Inversely, bad or poor deeds create negative or bad days.  One should choose to follow or select goods deeds because it is the right thing to do, not because of the reward.

Purification:  Purification rites are performed regularly (daily, weekly, monthly, annually, etc…).  Shinto considers the performance of these rites essential and the “lifeblood” of one’s life.  Shinto Priests bless Japanese buildings often to ensure the purification process of the Japanese environment.  Misogi is a purification ritual concerning activities, such as going long periods without sleep (sleep deprivation), breath training, and standing under a waterfall. 

Afterlife:  Yomi is the land of the dead.  It is a desecrating, horrific, putrid location where the deceased end up.  It is the underworld for the dead where horrible creatures guard the exits to keep the dead within Yomi to rot indefinitely.  The myth states that once the deceased has eaten at the hearth of Yomi, they cannot go back to the land of the living.  Yomi is frequently compared to Hates or Hell.

The Shinto shrine is used to house one or multiple kami (Shinto spirits).  It is the most important dwelling for the security and safekeeping of important and sacred items.  The kami is enshrined by a honden.  The honden enshrines the kami and is marked by a mirror or statue at the back of the shrine.  The Inari Shrines is the largest shrine network in Japan with 32,000 shrines.  The following are the general rules when visiting a shrine:

Anyone can visit a shrine (one doesn’t need to be Shinto to visit).
One must bow prior to entering.
Perform the following procedure: Temizu – Wash your left then your right hand, then rinse your mouth without spitting the water back into the supply and don’t drink the water.  Wash your feet if need be, then wash the handle last.
There is a bell located at the shrine.  You may ring the bell as you enter before you begin your prayers.  Leave a modest donation in the donation box, and then begin your prayers.
There may be staff at the shrine to enforce certain rules and to assist the visitors as well.  Be polite and respectful to them at all times. 

Music plays a very essential and important role in Shinto’s tradition.  The Kagura is a traditional dance of Shamanic origin.  The word is said to be derived from the word kami or Kura meaning “seat of kami” or “site where the kami is received”.  A mythical story exists explaining how the dance, the Kagura came about.  The story begins with the sun goddess, Amaterasu getting angry at her brother, so she ran from him and hid in a place where he couldn’t find him, a cave.  Due to the sun goddess hiding in a cave, the world became very dark and cold.  All of the other gods and goddesses became very concerned about Amaterasu’s well-being.  They derived a plan to try and draw Amaterasu out of the cave by playing music, dancing, and being loud (sounding like they were all having a good time).  This made Amaterasu peek her head out a bit, but not come out all of the way, so the kami gods tricked her by telling her that there was a sun goddess outside of the cave that was better then her.  This drew Amaterasu completely out of the cave to see what was going on and then the planet was again bright and warm. 
There isn’t one core sacred source of text for Shinto.  There are various books that hold the history and have stories within them that explain the Shinto beliefs, practices, and rituals.  The books that hold this information are as follows:

The Kojiki – The Record of Ancient Matters – This book holds the history of Shinto.
The Shoku Nihongi and Nihon Shoki – Japan’s chronicles.
The Rikkokushi – 6 National Histories – Shoku Nihongi and Nihon Shoki.
The Jinno Shotoki – Japanese history and politics of Shinto.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5778297

Primal Faith Religions

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Primal Faith Religions
Author: William Bailey
In a nut shell, Primal Faith traditions are religions that have been in existence since the beginning of recorded history.  They are considered to be both pre-historic and pre-literate.  Primal, Indigenous, and traditional religions are terminologies that are used when referring to Primal Faiths.  These religions are the initial sources of human religion.  Primal religion is also referred to as the “mother” of all religions.  An integral part of primal religions are symbols and myths.  Due to the fact that these groups of religions are extremely old in age, most will not be exercised in faith today however, some aspects of the ancient faiths may still exist as rituals or specific beliefs in other practiced religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Chinese folk religion. 
The initial problem with global religious conversion was a lack of planning however, as time progressed selected primal faiths began to transform global politics towards their way of life.  As these selected religions began their domination process, others were simply forgotten.  Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism were among the top three dominating religions.  Today Christianity and Islam are still the two top religions of the world at 33% and 21% respectively.  Christianity denominations are as follows: Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Anglican, Monophysite, AIC’s, Latter Day Saints, Evangelical, SDA’s, Jehovah’s Witness, Quakers, AOG, Nominal, etc…  Islam denominations are as follows: Shiite, Sunni, etc…  Although “Pagan” and “Idolators” were the titles that were used to refer to as Christians and Islamic faiths respectively, these titles are extremely negative in nature.  As this dissertation is written not to offend any religious beliefs, the negative titles used above are as an academic piece of information.  If in fact any person is offended by these documented reference terms, I sincerely apologize. 
The characteristics of primal Faith are as follows:

Oral canon, a section of oral stories of sacred nature, not written.  Oral stories have a unique way of making a story come to life however text has a way of preserving exact information and descriptive phrases.
A very wavy line between the spiritual and secular dimensions.
A pre-technology world base religious system.
Religions that deal with all aspects of life, nature and spirituality.
Life consists of two divisions, work and social.  Work and social were not considered to be opposite sides, but two items of the same concept, life.  Practicing religion was considered to be a part of life, not a separate part of life.  One practices religion the same as one breathes, every moment and without thinking.
Primal faiths acquired the characteristic of “eternity”, not, “forever”.  Forever deals with the sense of time.  Time carries with it the concept of having to “keep track” of something.  Eternity however doesn’t require a watch or calendar.  It simply is timeless existence. 
Rituals have two characteristics: 1. Play acting or performing concepts of a specific faith or religion.  2. The ritual carries substantial significance for the faith or religion.
Two concepts, harmony and balance are what make up a well achieved life and all items that interfere with this harmony must be dealt with swiftly.
Primal religions both have multiple Gods and believe that God and humans work together to create a well-balanced life.  Christianity however believes that there is only one God and God is above us all.
Magic is utilized in Primal Faiths or religions.

The afterlife of a human of a Primal faith is unique.  The body of a dead individual is thought to have gone limp due to the absence of the spirit.  The spirit has thought to have gone to the invisible world where only spirits may enter.  Due to the method of beliefs and ritual passing (orally), the “story teller” may see to it to add, alter, or delete any information or tell the “story” in a unique flamboyant style. 
Primal Indigenous
The Primal Indigenous religions (also known as Tribal Religionists, Animists, and Ethnic religionists) are a way of life, not only a religion and it includes thousands of various religions as well.  It concerns the lives of approximately 300 million individuals within the locations of Asia and Africa.  Other sources have the religions population at between 100 and 457 million.  These totals include African Primal Indigenous religions, Shamanism and Paganism.  Many data bases and religious category indexes have Asia and India having the majority of Primal Indigenous population.  The Primal Indigenous religions are recorded as to fit into one category due to being documented in the pre-literate and pre-technological era.  They have been discovered to have been in various different countries, continents, and areas however they share similar basic common ways of life and religious concepts.  As previously stated, religion is their way of life. 
Primal Indigenous religions are known as being henotheistic (acknowledging the belief of more than one God however, only worshiping one God).  Everything that exists is thought to be connected, the material world, the immaterial world, the living, and the dead.  As Primal Faith members have no distinction and combine their work and social lives, so do Primal Indigenous religions.  They carry various superficial differences however, they practice mirrored core beliefs.
Again, as Primal Faith dates their beliefs and rituals to pre-literate, so do the Primal Indigenous.  Their beliefs and rituals are passed down through stories told by its members from generations through time.  These stories covered areas such as world views and operations, societal discoveries and workings, and of course their religious workings, having no separation from their daily life. 
Throughout my research I have come across the same messages countless times.  The messages are as follows:

Their social, family and religious lives are all the same to the Primal Indigenous and Faith individuals.
The basic core beliefs are the same regardless of territory, country, continent, or area.
The physical and spiritual worlds are one and the same.
Time is not linear, but timeless and eternal.
Beliefs and traditions are known through myths passed down in an oral fashion as well as all other messages throughout the Primal faiths.

Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ezine/5778088