Shinto and Taoist magic and ritual

Shinto and Taoism are two major East Asian religions, and both include rites that outsiders may label magic. Shinto shrines sell omamori and perform purification, and Taoist priests make fu talismans and perform rites for the living and the dead. Related practices include onmyodo in Japan and feng shui and divination in China. This page covers how these traditions work and how states have treated them. They differ greatly: Shinto is tied to place and community, while Taoism offers both a philosophy and an organised priesthood.

Shinto rites

Shinto centres on kami, the spirits and powers of places and ancestors, and on purification (harae). Shrines offer omamori, ofuda and fortune slips called omikuji, and priests perform rites for new cars, buildings and births. Many Japanese take part without describing themselves as believers, and the rites are woven into the calendar. Ordinary visitors buy a charm for a particular aim, such as safe childbirth, exam success or traffic safety, and may return it to the shrine after a year.

Taoist ritual and talismans

Taoism includes philosophy, monastic practice and a priestly tradition of liturgy and exorcism. Priests of lineages such as Zhengyi write fu, written talismans, and perform rites for protection and the dead. The I Ching and feng shui are also linked with Taoist thought, though they have separate histories. Several Chinese dynasties licensed Taoist priests and also tried to control them. Taoist masters have trained in lineages that run for many generations, and some rites are reserved for the ordained and not for the public.

Onmyodo and the state

Onmyodo, a Japanese system of divination and calendar-keeping drawn from Chinese yin-yang thought, served the imperial court. The famed Abe no Seimei lived in the Heian period. The Meiji government abolished the official onmyodo bureau in 1870 and separated Shinto from Buddhism, which reshaped practice. In China, Taoist temples were closed during the Cultural Revolution and have partly revived. Women have long served as shrine maidens in Shinto and as priests in several Taoist lineages, though the top posts are mostly held by men.

Commerce and the West

Feng shui and fortune-telling are large industries in Hong Kong, Taiwan and the diaspora, and Japanese lucky charms are bought by tourists. Scholars debate the line between religion and superstition, a distinction introduced in Asia by modern states in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Practitioners tend to describe what they do as ritual service to the community. Taiwanese and Hong Kong temples and Japanese shrines are visited by large numbers of people, and communities overseas have built new shrines and temples.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Onmyōdō: Unknown author, Public domain, source

Waidan: 尹真人, Public domain, source

Brownie: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.5, source

Tsukumogami: Unknown author, Public domain, source

En no Gyōja: Wmpearl, CC0, source

Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋暁斎), Public domain, source

Moon rabbit: An artist, Public domain, source

Wolves in folklore, religion and mythology: Unknown author, CC0, source

Magatama: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Coin-sword: Etnografiska museet, CC BY 2.5, source

Chinese alchemy: 尹真人, Public domain, source

Fuji: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source

Axis mundi: Unknown author, Public domain, source

Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source

Talisman: Sasha India, CC BY 2.0, source

Jiang Ziya: Wang Qi, Public domain, source

Shinto and Taoist: magic in this belief world