Shintoism In Spirited Away

There are many regions that entail the belief of a spirit transcending into a place of serenity. One religion that focuses on transcending is Shintoism. Shintoism is a religion of Japanese origin that devotes its belief in spirits of natural forces. This is expressed by the meaning of Shinto, which means “the way of Kami.” A kami is a divine being or spirit in the religion such as the Emperor who was believed to be a sun goddess. In the movie, Spirited Away, Shintoism is expressed by Chihiro finds purity through the use of liminal process. Liminal Process are the steps needed to allow an individual to pass the threshold of the Earthly world to the Spiritual realm. These steps are similar to the way an alcoholic would reach sobriety. To find

Liminal process is a human process from one level to another used to reach an outcome. Liminal process includes the call to experience, separation, margin, reaggregation, and routinization and dissolution. These steps can be seen in Spirited Away, as Chihiro goes on a quest to save her parents after they became pigs due to their impurity and greed. This can also be represented as the stages an alcoholic goes through to reach sobriety. The call to experience is when the individual feels a call from greater forces to move or transition. This can be expressed when Chihiro and her parents wander in the amusement park. The parents decide to gorge themselves with food. Chihiro finds this to be a horrible idea, saying, “Guys don't take the food! We’re gonna get in trouble!” This shows her beginning of maturity and awareness as an instinct tells her not to do as her parents are doing. This can compare to an alcoholic as their call to experience could be a family coming together to tell the alcoholic of how their abuse has affected them. This is a way to bring awareness to the individual by outside forces. Next, is separation. Separation is when an individual most abandon those around them or their environment like Chihiro. Chihiro meets Haku, who seems to be a spiritual guardian or exemplar as he hands her food when she realizes she is disappearing because she has been

This can also be seen as the ending to the journey of Chihiro and the alcoholic. In the terms of Chihiro, she matured from her immaturity and selfishness to become pure and gain a sense of true self as well as maturity. In the case if an alcoholic this phase would be a relapse. The experience just didn't correlate to their addiction or compulsion. So, the individual goes back to