Shintai

In Shinto, shintai (神体, body of the kami), or go-shintai (御神体, sacred body of the kami) when the honorific prefix go- is used, are physical objects worshipped at or near Shinto shrines as repositories in which spirits or kami reside.Shintai used in Shrine Shinto (Jinja Shinto) can be also called mitamashiro (御霊代, spirit replacement or substitute).

In spite of what their name may suggest, shintai are not themselves part of kami, but rather just temporary repositories which make them accessible to human beings for worship.Shintai are also of necessity yorishiro, that is objects by their very nature capable of attracting kami.

Description

The most common shintai are man-made objects like mirrors, swords, jewels (for example comma-shaped stones called magatama), gohei (wands used during religious rites), and sculptures of kami called shinzō (神像), but they can be also natural objects such as stones, mountains, trees and waterfalls. Before the forcible separation of kami and Buddhas of 1868 (shinbutsu bunri) a shintai could even be the statue of a Buddhist deity.