While mountains were the object of faith as the divine world, it was also a place where memorial services for the spirit of ancestors, such as spiritualism by itako (shrine maiden performing spiritualism) evolved, as the next world where spirits of the dead gather.
山が神界として信仰の対象となっていた一方で、死者の霊の集まる他界として、イタコの口寄せをはじめとする先祖霊供養にも発展をみせた。