• Hello! I am hella into death positivity, so this is pretty cool.

  • I could write a book about all the nuances of how my path has been shaped through my life, but I will try my best to keep it short.

    Being raised in a Japanese-American household, we weren't religious. There were some superficial observations of Shinto-Buddhist celebrations and traditions, such as Obon in the summer and Oshogatsu in the winter, alongside secular celebrations of things like Christmas and Halloween, but that was about it. As there's only one authentic Shinto shrine in the US, which was in another state, I couldn't really go full tilt into practicing Shinto and Buddhism was a little too austere for me.

    I dabbled in wicca and witchcraft in my teens, as so many of us do, but it never quite felt right to me. It was a little too anglocentric to me and, while I am half white, I don't have a strong connection to that side of my family and so it didn't really click well with me. At that time, I didn't know there were other paths besides Wicca, so I eventually lost interest.

    In my late 20s (I'm in my 30s now), I started feeling interested in exploring witchcraft and paganism again, discovered the cult of La Santa Muerte, but took a very low-key approach for a few years until around the time my son was born. At that time, I contacted the sole US Shinto shrine (Tsubaki Grand Shine of America) in order to get some ofuda and omamori to offer some additional protection for me and my newborn son. I also had omiyamairi done for him remotely when he was 100 days old (crudest comparison would be to a christening, but that's still not quite accurate).

    After that, I tapered off again. The fact that the closest shrine to me was 3000 miles away was discouraging, even if I could order amulets and have services done on my behalf across distance.

    Fast forward to late last year and, due to some stressful periods where my family's future seems unstable and adrift, I start dabbling again -- first in secular witchcraft, then starting to create my own eclectic flavor of modern witchcraft, shinto and buddhist practices, but even that seems a little lacking to me because I feel the need for a focal point for my craft and to direct my energy and intent. I remembered Santa Muerte and decide to revisit her after doing some more research. I finally felt confident enough to create an altar for her and ordered a small statue to go with the medallion I got when I first found out about her.

    So, now my practice is focused on La Santisima Muerte and Japanese ancestor worship, Shinto ritual and practice (mostly having to do with cleansing and purification) and a smattering of modern witchcraft, mostly involving green/kitchen witchery.

  • Hi, welcome!