Neo Bahamut wrote:
So it's pretty obvious to me now that they went a very Japanese route with these spirits. Why do I say that? Check this list of traditions from Shinto, the native religion of Japan:
Kami are of two minds. They can nurture and love when respected, or they can cause destruction and disharmony when disregarded. Kami must be appeased in order to gain their favor and avoid their wrath. Traditionally, Kami possess two souls, one gentle (nigi-mitama) and the other assertive (ara-mitama); additionally in Yamakage Shinto kami have two additional souls that are hidden, one happy (sachi-mitama) and one mysterious (kushi-mitama).[14]
Pretty easy to see what I'm getting at here. Spirits turn light (peaceful) or dark (wrathful) depending on how they're treated. Also, "kami" means a lot of things, it can refer to spirits of venerated deceased, divine essence dwelling in nature, or the creator deities of the religion. Again, much like how spirits in Avatar range from boring carrot-people to extremely powerful beings that regulate nature itself. Wikipedia postulates that "kami" may have come from a Chinese term meaning "spirit."
Kami are not visible to the human realm. Instead they inhabit sacred places, natural phenomena or people during rituals that ask for their blessing.
Spirits aren't necessarily visible in the human world.
They are mobile, visiting their places of worship, of which there can be several, but never staying forever.
This one isn't really fully followed, see the Painted Lady. Though I suppose one could point out that the Painted Lady was said to be a woman who transcended into the Spirit Realm posthumously, is certainly capable of moving, & presumably left for somewhere else when the river turned to crap.
There are many different varieties of Kami. There are 300 different classifications of Kami listed in the Kojiki, and they all have different functions, such as the Kami of wind, Kami of entryways, and Kami of roads.
See the thing I said about anything from carrot-people to gods.
Lastly, all Kami have a different guardianship or duty to the people around them. Just as the people have an obligation to keep the Kami happy, the Kami have to perform the specific function of the object, place, or idea they inhabit.
Seems to be the general relationship that Wan established with the Spirit World.
Ooh I like that.