Towering over the Kanto Plain, the sacred mountain oyama (literally, "Big Mountain") has loomed large over the religious landscape of early modern Japan.

By the Edo period (1600-1868), the revered peak had undergone a transformation from secluded spiritual retreat to popular pilgrimage destination. Its status as a regional landmark among its devotees was boosted by its proximity to the shogunal capital and the wide appeal of its amalgamation of Buddhism, Shinto, mountain asceticism, and folk beliefs. The influence of the oyama cult--the intersecting beliefs, practices, and infrastructure associated with the sacred site--was not lost on the ruling Tokugawa shogunate, which saw in the pilgrimage an opportunity to reinforce the communal ideals and social structures that the authorities espoused.

Barbara Ambros provides a detailed narrative history of the mountain and its place in contemporary society and popular religion by focusing on the development of the oyama cult and its religious, political, and socioeconomic contexts. Richly illustrated and carefully researched, this study emphasizes the importance of "site" or "region" in considering the multifaceted nature and complex history of religious practice in Tokugawa Japan.

The Sea and the Sacred in Japan is the first book to focus on the role of the sea in Japanese religions. While many leading Shinto deities tend to be understood today as unrelated to the sea, and mountains are considered the privileged sites of sacredness, this book provides new ways to understand Japanese religious culture and history. Scholars from North America, Japan and Europe explore the sea and the sacred in relation to history, culture, politics, geography, worldviews and cosmology, space and borders, and ritual practices and doctrines. Examples include Japanese indigenous conceptualizations of the sea from the Middle Ages to the 20th century; ancient sea myths and rituals; sea deities and sea cults; the role of the sea in Buddhist cosmology; and the international dimension of Japanese Buddhism and its maritime imaginary.

In Mountain Mandalas Allan G. Grapard provides a thought-provoking history of one aspect of the Japanese Shugendo tradition in Kyushu, by focusing on three cultic systems: Mount Hiko, Usa-Hachiman, and the Kunisaki Peninsula. Grapard draws from a rich range of theorists from the disciplines of geography, history, anthropology, sociology, and humanistic geography and situates the historical terrain of his research within a much larger context. This book includes detailed analyses of the geography of sacred sites, translations from many original texts, and discussions on rituals and social practices. Grapard studies Mount Hiko and the Kunisaki Peninsula, which was very influential in Japanese cultural and religious history throughout the ages. We are introduced to important information on archaic social structures and their religious traditions; the development of the cult to the deity Hachiman; a history of the interactions between Buddhism and local cults in Japan; a history of the Shugendo tradition of mountain religious ascetics, and much more. Mountain Mandalas sheds light on important aspects of Japan's religion and culture, and will be of interest to all scholars of Shinto and Japanese religion. Extensive translations of source material can be found on the book's webpage.

The Armor of Amaterasu Ohkami is a collection of essays on the advanced practices of Shinto Magic, according to the Art of Ninzuwu Tradition. The reader should have a working knowledge of the Art of Ninzuwu and its philosophy. This text is not for the beginner. It can, however, be used as a reference for those interested in Esoteric Shinto.

This inspiring collection of writing from Tennessee preacher and farmer Ben Robert Alford provides a summary of his life's work. Dr. Alford articulates his ideas of Christian philosophy and practice for both the believer and the non-believer, in ways professional and personal. Selected from thousands of pages of documents by his son, Dance Of The Holy Nobodies preserves the legacy - and continues the ministry -- of a dedicated and grateful servant of God. "This book is a treasure. It is not simply a collection of insightful and inspiring sermons, essays, articles and other theological musings. It is, more importantly, a window into the heart and soul of a very special person." "If you are looking for thoughtful and insightful theological reflections, you have come to the right place. If you are in search of penetrating and astute church commentary, you have come to the right place. If you need inspirational and encouraging spiritual meditations, you have come to the right place. Dance of the Holy Nobodies is one of the most engaging books you will find." - from the foreword by Ted Brown, President of Martin Methodist College"

This is a partial translation of one of the most important texts produced by Motoori Norinaga. It covers a wide range of Norinaga's thought and provides a lens onto his philological methodology, as well as how he viewed literature, poetry, history, linguistics, and Shinto.

Every journey is an adventure, but when a major earthquake strikes Japan, triggering cataclysmic events, the author's travels are cut short. What starts out as a quest to discover the sacred meanings of the native Shinto religion, becomes something much more profound. When all of the fail-safe mechanisms at Fukushima Daiichi are overrun, and thirty million lives in the greater Tokyo region are in peril, everyone is forced to confront the reality that nuclear energy is not the "clean alternative" they were led to believe. Japan is the only country to have suffered the horror of atomic bombs, and the Japanese commitment to global nuclear disarmament is well known. But somehow, the resolve to see the dismantling of the world's nuclear arsenals didn't extend to the nuclear power industry. In the frightful days immediately after March 11th, 2011, the world awoke to the realization that nuclear power stations might be even more deadly than atomic bombs. The author chronicles the events as they occur, and reveals the uniquely Japanese way of remaining optimistic in the face of multiple catastrophes.

En ninguna obra de esta clase encontrar los eventos trascendentales de la historia de las Antiguas Escrituras narrados con tanta exactitud en el tiempo y con tanta evidencia b blica y fehaciente, fruto del estudio concienzudo y la investigaci n meticulosa de la palabra de Dios, realizados por el autor. La misma Biblia marca el tiempo de los acontecimientos. Nuestra tarea en esta obra fue buscar con la mayor exactitud posible las fechas en que ocurrieron hechos tan trascendentales como: La creaci n de Ad n, el diluvio, la genealog a de los patriarcas, el llamado de Abraham, el xodo de Israel de Egipto, la proclamaci n de los Diez Mandamientos, la inauguraci n del tabern culo en el desierto, la conquista de Cana n, el surgimiento del reino de Israel, la construcci n del Templo de Salom n, la divisi n del reino de Israel, el cautiverio asirio, la destrucci n de Jerusal n y su templo, el cautiverio babil nico, la reedificaci n del templo y de la ciudad, las profec as de tiempo del profeta Daniel, la 1ra venida de Jes s a la tierra, su bautismo, muerte y resurrecci n, su ascensi n al cielo; la destrucci n de Jerusal n y su templo por los romanos, la intercesi n sacerdotal de Cristo y much simas otras fechas m s. Esta obra corrige, con fundamento b blico, fechas establecidas por historiadores que no armonizan con la palabra de Dios.