Natsuki

"Waxing, waning, re-arranging; they see us as ever changing -- when the fact is they're the ones who never can be still."

T'is bitter, sometimes
and othertimes, true ecstasy
or sorrowful echoes.Love is a promise,
not an emotion nor feel:
that's infatuation.You will not know it
until you have made that promise
and kept it at cost.Heed me, iljn reader;
I have made that oath to my Lord.
Do not intercede.I can clear your mind -
of lust, of passion, lies;
So you can know love.Maybe I will make
a promise to you one day,
and we will know love.

• What is a kannushi/shinshoku?

Kannushi and Shinto

So... a KANNUSHI (神主). What does that actually entail? Well, in short, Natsuki is a kami-worshipper/Shrine Maiden/priestess who is the sworn enemy of the unnatural yokai and a maintainer of the balance of nature through upkeep and worship of the omnipresent kami spirits.First, let's go over the time period that Final Fantasy's parallels to Japan are set in. It has been very explicitly stated that the Raen and Xaela are explicitly medieval (16th-18th century) east-Asian in nomenclature and culture. This is important for Natsuki, since this is pre-Meiji-period Christianization of Shinto (Meaning, I'll be using the versions practiced in the Edo era or earlier. This means that there's not a standardized system of religion and no religious canon or founder, aside from the fact that most people have a similar understanding of what kami are, though it is highly likely that it varies from shrine to shrine or family to family, as do worship, rituals, etc (which means basically: this is a guideline to Natsuki's specific version of beliefs and not canonical fact. Your spin-off may vary and that's 100% okay and valid. This does not account for the 'yokai' crossover event and is an entirely separate classification of entities.)So, that said, what /does/ Natsuki do as a kannushi? Well, to understand that, we first have to understand miko.Basically:
Like, this is a /gross/ oversimplification and an adaptation, not a completely accurate rendition, of the most basic functions of Shinto beliefs. In addition, in interacting with the West, Natsuki has amalgamated her own traditions and, instead of believing other spiritualists are 'wrong' or 'misguided', instead augments and expands her own beliefs with techniques learned elsewhere. After all, it's all the same moon.
**MUSUBI (結び) 'Aether': **The living network of energy which flows through and connects all things.Manifestations of the MUSUBI are known as KAMI (神) which is the catch-all term for spirits/souls of every declension, from nascent to-be kami such as mortals to mortal kami to Kami of Mortals to actual godlike Kami who embody natural phenomena. Kami is NOT exclusively used to refer to gods; in Shinto, it more or less means 'spirit' generally. Kami are believed to be "hidden" from this world, and inhabit a complementary otherworld that mirrors our own: SHINKAI (神界, "the world of the kami") (in some definitions, heaven, hell, or somewhere else), Natsuki follows a lifestyle of kami-service known as KANNAGARA NO MICHI (随神の道) which is effectively being spiritually 'awake' to the miraculousness and awe-inspiring aspects of nature and actively choosing to maintain balance, which in turn brings one closer in tune to the Shinkai. (not to be confused with SHINTAI, which is the VESSEL the kami dwells in and is kept hidden on mikoshi when festivals roll around and otherwise is locked away in a special 'kami-house'.)Everyone has a kami, and everything and everywhere /has/ a kami associated with it. People have kami, as do animals in the same capacity (in literal life force/spirit/souls) and primals (the idea that they embody). Kami are traditionally defined by five traits:1: Possession of four mostly independent souls;
A: ARAMITAMA (荒御霊・荒御魂)
The soul of anger/rejection/wrath. When not appeased, a kami is ruled by this soul and uses it to wreak vengeance on those who slighted or insulted it.
B: NIGIMITAMA (和御霊・和御魂)
The soul of contentedness/satisfiedness. When appeased, a kami is ruled by this soul and performs its function in nature.
C: SAKIMITAMA (幸御魂)
The soul of happiness; what governs the things the kami likes and the kinds of worship it accepts for appeasement. Also controls overly content kami or lazy ones.
D: KUSHIMITAMA (奇御霊・奇御魂)
The soul of mystery; what governs the kinds of signs and divination used to interpret a kami.2: Kami are not visible to the human realm. Instead, they inhabit sacred places, natural phenomena, or people during rituals that ask for their blessing.
3: They are mobile, visiting their places of worship, of which there can be several, but never staying forever.
4: There are many different varieties of kami. There are well over 300 different classifications, and they all have different functions, such as the kami of wind, kami of entryways, and kami of roads.
5: 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.Miko, as a servant of the kami, are trained to interpret their mysteries, quell the aramitama (and prevent it through regular worship and ritual, through offerings, dance, song, communion, clean and maintained shrine, etc) and invoke the blessings of the nigimitama for the general populace, as well as be sacred spirit bridges to their hosted kami and interpreters of both the Kushimitama (future, divine signs, dreams, etc) and the Shinkai. When a kami goes into an uncontrollable rage-state of aramitama, above and beyond the normal appeasement procedures, as a miko, Natsuki is called in to perform a CHINKON (鎮魂) to try and forcibly calm a spirit or exorcise it to give it time to cool off. If this fails due to the kami rejecting it, or if the kami skips this step by just saying 'screw it' for any reason, it becomes a YOKAI (妖怪).**A YOKAI (妖怪)** is a phantom, apparition, aberration, supernatural, unexplained phenomenon or unnatural catch-all for spirits that act in ways that are distinctly not according to how nature ought to work, or physically invade the material realm. Unlike kami, these do physically manifest, and sometimes this is the only separation between the two. While not universally malignant (stereotypical interpretations of 'helpful fae folk', would be yokai) the main thing is that they don't occur in nature and inherently mess with the rules of reality.As a part of keeping balance in nature and being spiritually 'awake', a miko is trained to exorcise, contain, or banish these yokai - either by forcing them back into their place, or by outright destroying them entirely, or by imprisoning them.As a KANNUSHI, (神主, "god master", originally pronounced kamunushi), also called SHINSHOKU (神職, meaning "god's employee"), Natsuki does exactly what she did as a miko, except that she is no longer an assistant or secondary performer - she is 100% responsible for her practice and independent save the graces of her Lord.The kannushi, serving the kami and the natural order, thus are bound to more or less 'handle' yokai as a part of their lifestyle. While generally preferring to serve the kami and prevent yokai by not encouraging the creation of yokai (and to conveniently ignore the yokai who became yokai to do good, like a spirit who defies nature in order to save people's lives), Natsuki is 100% trained to handle yokai, and is not nearly as helpless as she might come off.She is the mortal enemy of those who actively serve malignant yokai, which basically includes almost all forms of hostile soulkin, all Voidsent, all Dalamiq cultists, et cetera.TL;DR: have shide, will exorcise demons with rice and paper

• Natsuki's Hymn