Crossing a bridge over the Isuzu River in Autumn,

I noticed the air turning crips. Water of the river, a place to cleanse our hands and spirit, was pristine. Along a long gravelly path to a main shrine, the sound of stepping on the stones underfoot was echoed around me.

Standing thick and tall, 500hunderd-year-old cypres trees pierced into the cloudy sky, their aroma of Hinoki hanging in the faint winds. People were quietly bowing to encounters passing by. The entire atmosphere was highly spiritual.
Despite a slight headache my mind was still.

Climbing Sanbaseki steps that conjure the image of the Earth from outer space, I was in front of the gate of the main shrine.

"I'm happy and thank you for leading me," prayed in my mind.

Suddenly, the wind brushed my cheek, as if a spirit were corresponding to me. I opened my eyes half and a white curtain over the gate was being swung in the wind. Tears of rapture welled in my eyes and I felt like kneeling down.

The wind gradually intensified. Standing still, I embraced this momentary communication. I felt surely an existence of the spirit.

It was last week when my mother and I went to Ise Jingu, one of Japanese holiest shrines, where Amaterasu Omikami, a spirit of the sun was enshrined 200 years ago, Mie. There were 2 sites, Naiku and Geku, 6 km apart from each other and each site has several shrines besides the central one. (About the shrine, please check

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ise_Grand_Shrine)

In Shinto, there were not any idolized gods to be worshipped, but we recognize the spirit/ god in any nature forms like the sun, the wind, the sea, trees, stones, sands, water and more.

Ise Jingu is the origin of Japanese culture. I felt deeply connected to my own heritage, my home.