Among the peoples of the Far East, the ancestor is at once the origin and the spiritual or moral norm; he is, for his descendants, the essential personality, that is to say the substance of which they are like the accidents; and piety consists precisely in viewing him thus and in seeing in him but the bridge connecting them – his descendents – with the Divine . . . Ancestors are the human imprints of angelic substances and, for that reason, also of divine Qualities; to be true to them is to be true to God; they oblige us to remain in conformity with the eternal “idea” whence we came forth, and which is the law of our existence and the goal of our life. This connection between the ancestor and his angelic and divine prototypes is moreover apparent in the Japanese word kami, which denotes the ancestor and the literal meaning of which is “located above”; in sacred language, this word means “divine aspect,” “cosmic principle,” “spirit.” The Shinto tradition is called Kami-no-Michi or “Way of the Gods,” which implies that it is also the way of the ancestors. [GTUFS: TreasuresB, The Meaning of Ancestors]