Where did Mikage begin?
Mikage was founded in the Sengawa (Hermit River) area of western Tokyo. It is an area with a long heritage of spiritual ideas and wisdom dating back to the legends of the old Hermit who offered healing and advice here ages ago.

Mikage began as an inspiration and grew into a deep conversation about our beliefs. We are an international mix of people. We came from different cultures and traditions and wanted to discuss and explore our beliefs. Along the way we found we shared many of the same ideas about our beliefs and craft.

Living internationally we are influenced by our home culture but also by where we live and what we study. We wanted to find a way to bring these ideas together, to connect our western and eastern beliefs into a single framework.  To focus that framework on our lives as they are today.

Many of the old traditional beliefs were focused on rural life. Old folk magic and craft focused on the cycles of life and the needs of farming communities. When our ancestors moved to towns and cities, they took their beliefs with them. Rural beliefs changed to meet the needs of the towns and communities where they now lived. They adapted.

Mikage applies old beliefs and traditions to the 21st Century lives we live today. It is focused upon life in towns, villages and big cities. Just like our ancestors, we adapt our beliefs to connect our traditions to our lives as they are today.

Urban people live with different life cycles. Our daily lives are driven by our busy work and family schedules, by business and school seasons and by keeping ourselves going. We get so caught up in daily life that we too often lose sight of nature and our spiritual side. Just keeping up with it all can dominate our day to day attention.

Finding balance and remaining connected to nature and to our beliefs is important to our well being. We believe that many of the health, emotional and psychological problems experienced by city people is a result of this disconnection. 

The wisdom of old traditions can guide and help us better approach our modern lives and be our complete selves. But it has to work within the practical realities of our lives too. Mikage was developed to provide a proven way to apply old wisdom to our modern lives. It is a way to blend our beliefs into our routines and empower us to keep this essential part of our lives vibrant and alive.

The Founders
When we started work on Mikage we agreed it was not about us. We wanted the ideas and our practice to be the focus of Mikage.

You won't find much focus on the people who created Mikage. The founders conduct seminars & sessions, write about Mikage, teach and provide services. They see themselves as teachers and practitioners that are here to help rather than stand out.

Two of our founders were selected to represent Mikage. Below you will find brief introductions. They are here to answer questions and to represent Mikage.

Kelly "Azuren" Rain - Kelly began his search for his path over thirty years ago. He has studied both eastern and western spiritual and religious traditions as well as the history, culture and music of various cultures.

Kelly is a practicing Mikage Witch, an innovative blend of Old Craft Witchcraft following a path based upon Traditional Witchcraft. After relocating to Japan in 2000, he began to explore eastern traditions including Shinto, Animism, Central Asian Sufism and ecstatic music traditions from the Silk Road region.

Kelly is our writer and researcher. He has lived over half his life in large urban centers and is committed to developing ways of helping urban residents connect to and apply spiritual and craft traditions to their urban lives.

Kelly has a 25 year business and technical career history which he has used to help develop practices that work for busy working people. He has drawn from his own work life experience to help refine our day to day approach to our practice.

Kelly is also a composer and performer in the Silk Road music fusion project "Rain In Eden" which explores music inspired by the cultures and traditions of the Silk Road region.

Megumi Rain - Megumi comes from a long tradition of Japanese traditional music and performance. She is an accomplished traditional Japanese music instrument performer and singer.

Megumi is an avid reader of Japan's ancient history and traditions and has a keen interest in Onmyoji state magical traditions and their history.

Growing up in Japan she has a lifelong grounding in Japanese Animism, Shinto and Buddhist belief systems.  She has lived her entire life in central Tokyo and deeply understands the needs and challenges of matching nature based belief systems with the realities of urban life.

Megumi understands the needs of working and city people in Japan and has been a critical contributor for the eastern influences that make up part of our foundation beliefs.

Megumi is our translator, designer and researcher for all our Japanese work. Without her none of this would be possible.

Megumi is also a composer and performer with the Silk Road fusion music project Rain In Eden. She is an accomplished Shamisen and multiinstrumental player and a student of ethnic music from the Silk Road region.

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