are shamans in

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

. Unlike the similar term ''

miko A , or shrine maiden,Groemer, 28. is a young priestess who works at a Shinto shrine. were once likely seen as Shamanism, shamans,Picken, 140. but are understood in modern Japanese culture to be an institutionalized role in daily life, trained ...

'', the term is gender neutral. The term has a few different writing styles, one being 巫, which is a shared

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

character as used for the Chinese Wu shaman.

Overview

A ''kannagi'' represents the act of communicating with a ''

yorishiro A in Shinto terminology is an object capable of attracting spirits called , thus giving them a physical space to occupy during religious ceremonies. are used during ceremonies to call the for worship. The word itself literally means "approach ...

'' of a ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'', or a possession of a ''kami'', or a person who serves in that role. Kumagusu Minakata, in his book ''Ichiko ni kansuru koto'', refers to ''

'' serving shrines as ''kannagi'', and to wandering ''miko'' as ''miko''. Depending on the shrine, the word "kannagi" is used to refer to a ''miko'' who serves the shrine, and the word ''miko'' is used to refer to a wandering ''miko''. ( Ōmiwa Shrine), Waka ( Shiogama Shrine), Tamayorihime, Osame ( Katori Shrine), Osome ( Kibitsu Shrine), Itsukiko ( Matsuo Shrine) Suwa-taisha, Kibitsu Shrine,

Kunio Yanagita was a Japanese author, scholar, and Folklore studies, folklorist. He began his career as a bureaucrat, but developed an interest in rural Japan and its folk traditions. This led to a change in his career. His pursuit of this led to his eventual e ...

says that these two types of maidens were originally the same person, but were later separated, because there are other names for wandering ''miko'', such as Oichi of Suwa Shrine, Sou-no-ichi of Atsuta Shrine, and Waka of Shiogama Shrine.柳田國男『定本柳田國男集第9巻』223頁

Etymology

The word ''kannagi'' is derived from and the word ''nagi'' meaning a calm state, which has many readings # is a peaceful and calm state, and is mainly used for emotions and circumstances. # is synonymous with calming, but nowadays it often refers to the state of the sea where there is no wind and there are no calm waves . In addition, it is one of the few and represents the state where the wind has stopped. # {{Nihongo, Nagi, 薙ぎ refers to a state in which a mountain is collapsing and becoming flat, or a flat field where vegetation is cut, but it also means to drive it sideways (to remove it). From that , it means cleansing as a Shinto ritual . In addition, there are Nagi Shinto rituals all over Japan, and it is said to be an act of calming storms and winds in the inland regions . A rare character is "𡵢 (Nagi)", which is an Ateji character for Nagi because it means collapse. There are various kanji notations for "Nagi", and it is often used as a homonym for

Tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

, mountain, or place name. Most of them relate to places of

Belief A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

in Japanese

Myth Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

and Koshinto, and are used as part of the names of Shinto shrines and Japanese deities. It is also used in the name of Izanagi and the sword Kusanagi no Tsurugi. It is used in the name of the tree Nageia nagi.

References

Japanese folk religion Miko Shinto