Folk religions are generally based on animism, and this aspect appears prominently in the previous belief style in sacred rock (iwakura) or mountain before the building for worship was constructed, and many of them changed their forms under the influence of syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism to be passed down to today (e.g., Doso-shin [traveler's guardian deity], Jizo Bosatsu [Ksitigarbha], and Ebisu worship).
これらは主にアニミズムを基盤としており社殿以前の磐座や山岳信仰などに顕著であるが、神仏習合の影響も受け形を変えて受け継がれているものも多い（道祖神と地蔵菩薩、えびす信仰など）。