Four paths, and where they cross, part one.
I was talking last night to Sarah. Damn, can she ever be critical of me but sometimes she has good ideas. I told her about my four disparate paths, the Tao, Shinto, Onmyodo, and the faith of ancient Egypt. She suggested to me that if I really wanted to synthesize them into a personal faith, I should write down what draws me to each of them and all of them. Also found out last night she doesn't believe in faeries or the Martina Principle; but I refuse to listen to her in that regard.
Here goes: Egypt
A culture and religion of incredible beauty and sophistication.
The people have a reverence for animals to the point of seeing them as Gods.
The call of Bast on me is still very strong in an inexplicable way.
The faith is part of a culture that has fueled my imagination since I was a child.
Women are valued; the feminine is as much a part of the divine as the masculine.
They believe deeply in the evocative and divine power of scent.
The power of words, written and spoken, was very important to the Egyptian people.
There was an active magical practice in ancient Egypt.
Sex was not a taboo subject, nor was it reserved totally for procreation.
The Tao
I've been drawn to the Far East since I was knee-high to Grasshoppah!
The I Ching is an exquisite system of spirituality and divination.
I'm enjoying learning aromatherapy in the context of the Chinese elements.
The Tao discourages grandstanding of any kind. Removal of superiority complex=good.
Encourages mindfulness, meditation, and humility.
Lots of cool philosophical sayings.
Also does not see sex as taboo, but as a genuine pathway to raising energy.
No patriarchy or matriarchy, as far as I can see. Yin & yang are complementary and necessary.
I believe in chi, or personal energy, and believe magic to be partially an expression of this energy.
The system believes in balance.
Shinto
I've been drawn to the Far East since I was knee-high to Grasshoppah!
The people have a reverence for animals to the point of seeing them as Gods. (example, the Kasuga God at Nara Shrine is embodied in the tame deer that inhabit the shrine grounds.)
No patriarchy or matriarchy, as far as I can see.
The divine resides in everything, and everyone has the opportunity to become a minor god-spirit after death.
Objects have souls, which kind of suits my materialistic nature.
This may sound dumb, but have you ever seen a Shinto shrine? They're so damn pretty.
Water, incense, and salt are used for purification, which would not be much of a change from the Western magic I already know.
Mediumship and divination, especially among women, is highly valued.
Shinto has its own faeries, the yokai, to which I am increasingly drawn.
Onmyodo
Older than Shinto, this is partially a shamanistic tradition, and partially considered "Japanese Taoism", therefore no trouble combining it with Tao, Shinto, or both. In fact "On" and "Myo are just two other words for Yin & yang respectively.
I've been drawn to the Far East since I was knee-high to Grasshoppah!
Divination and spellwork are highly valued.
Women are not excluded, as far as I'm aware.
More elemental work.
Onmyoji also work with yokai, as well.
Value the written word (can even create a being with use of a text placed inside it. See shikegami in Saiyuki.)
Part of the tradition includes the prevention of vengeful ghosts, and putting restless souls at ease. I feel very drawn to this. Something in my mind keeps telling me I can do it. Ghostbusting, woot!
So, basically, I'm drawn to the fact that all these traditions do not discount women, are somewhat sexually liberal, value magic writing, divination, and the natural world, especially animals. Plus, there's something else that hooked me on the three cultures: Egypt, China, Japan, from a young age, in ways that are deeper than, say, Greece or the Norse countries, or even Meso-America, which was a bit of an obsession for a while when I was 11 or 12. But there are other things- I like a faith that does not say one person is inferior to another. I don't like a faith that encourages that attitude. What is missing here is love. Other people are certainly valued, but I have little information on these paths' thoughts on love.
If I cannot find it, I must bring it.