Shinto, the oldest and most accepted paganism?

[The Hammer]

Shinto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


i sit and read about shinto, and it aligns with the beliefs of myself and many if not most pagans i know.
when paganism is understood in its esoteric aspects of anamism, or some sort of poly-pantheism it appears to be a european shinto, shinto itself being a collective of practices & religions from japan.

which leads me to ask is shinto japanese paganism, which is also an indigenous collection of folk religions which are anamistic and shamanistic.

what are your thoughts on the corralates between japanese shinto and european paganism

Shinto is, on it's face, Japanese Paganism, but you cannot equate it with European Paganism just because the thinking and culture of the two regions are diametrically opposed at times.

I lived in japan for 4 years, and still to this day some of the most powerful religious locations I have been too, are Shinto Shrines.

With that, no, I do not think that Shinto is the oldest pagan set of views, but it is one of the older.

 

[Riverwolf]

But "Hinduism as practiced" is Hinduism. Shankara's philosophy is just that — philosophy, talk about Hinduism. If you want to know what Christians believe, you listen to their prayers, rather than read Aquinas or Kirkegaard.

Shankara's philosophy is still a form of Hinduism, just as Aquinas's philosophy is a form of Christianity. Just because they're not the beliefs of most, doesn't mean they're not influential on those people.