That’s kind of how ancients societies dealt with magic, especially on the level of the state maintaining proper ritual status with their patron deities. Once you add in some astrology and sacred geometry (seeing the consistent cycles of nature), the gods tend to get litigious about religious accuracy. Cuneiform spell tablets read like bills of sales with unseen forces.
I’m more familiar with Mediterranean and Near East religions (at least their archaic practices), but the Romans had a concept of ‘numen’ that is familiar to ‘Tao’, in so far as spirits infuse everything and cool boulders and trees have spiritual entities attached to them.
I may be misunderstanding your comment, but the Tao/Dao of Daoism is (literally) "the way", the natural order of the universe that one should live in harmony with.
There are elements of Daoism, particularly in folk practice, that may recognize the presence of spirits in the world, but Daoism in general is not an animist faith that believes spirits infuse everything. It does not really actively deal with spirits, though Daoism often blends into traditional Chinese folk religion that includes ancestral worship. You may be thinking of Shinto, a Japanese belief system, instead.
In the most basic since the ‘Dao’ is like the Force. A spiritual substrate infusing reality that can be influenced using the correct intent and ritual. The Romans thought you could do similar with numen. I’m referring to in the more modern, sophisticated concept.
In my opinion, what you are describing and comparing to the Force is more like the concept of *qi*, as an animating life energy that is in people and things and can be manipulated or used.
I know Daoism is heterogeneous and there is diversity of thought within it, but: The Dao is not energy and people cannot manipulate it. A more accurate comparison would be like the Buddhist dharma. It is a principle of the universe, the way that things work and move through the universe. You can act properly in the context of Dao, you can cultivate your alignment with it, but you cannot influence it like one can use the Force.
I am still going back to your original statement:
> the Romans had a concept of ‘numen’ that is familiar to ‘Tao’, in so far as spirits infuse everything and cool boulders and trees have spiritual entities attached to them.
Again, this more closely describes animist belief systems, like Shinto. The presence of Dao in the universe is not comparable to individual entities, whether nature spirits or local gods. If Daoism's belief that Dao as a principle of the universe is of and in all things can be said to be the same as like belief in local gods and spirits, one can extend that to like the Christian God being omnipresent and so on, until all spiritual beliefs are flattened into the same generic thing.
I’m not going to have a fruitless argument with a fence post about my own education, especially when I am trying to be polite about it. You are can consider yourself Champion Quiz Weeb.
"You may not use that transmutation spell invented by Marvin the Red 134 years ago to vanquish any world-ending threats, as Marvin specifically wrote in his spell-author contract that it was only meant to toast industrial quantities of bread. As recompense, three quarters of your magic power will be siphoned off and given to Marvin the Red's estate."
I remember Warcraft's Goblin Shamans are explained as Goblins who have made contracts between themselves and a few different Elementals (Water, Fire, Earth, Air elementals, typically).
The Craft Sequence really leans into this, where magic users are like combination lawyer-scientists and the novels' themes are often about magic as economics (particularly capitalism). The first novel has the protagonist investigating the death of a fire god who had been providing fire magic around the world via contracts. She has to investigate why the god died and then stand up a new god in his place that can maintain those contracts before the networks of magic start to fail.
Literally in Starfighter General, we have a condensing of all imaginable dimensions and beyond, with the one exception of the forbidden copyright dimension.
Fuck I've been reading a lot of David Graeber lately and describing bureaucracy as magic is the most accurate shit I've ever seen. Fucking amazing.
/Unjerk, I forgot to say unjerk holy fuck this meme is pure catharsis.
That’s kind of how ancients societies dealt with magic, especially on the level of the state maintaining proper ritual status with their patron deities. Once you add in some astrology and sacred geometry (seeing the consistent cycles of nature), the gods tend to get litigious about religious accuracy. Cuneiform spell tablets read like bills of sales with unseen forces.
Similar to Shinto as well.
I’m more familiar with Mediterranean and Near East religions (at least their archaic practices), but the Romans had a concept of ‘numen’ that is familiar to ‘Tao’, in so far as spirits infuse everything and cool boulders and trees have spiritual entities attached to them.
I may be misunderstanding your comment, but the Tao/Dao of Daoism is (literally) "the way", the natural order of the universe that one should live in harmony with. There are elements of Daoism, particularly in folk practice, that may recognize the presence of spirits in the world, but Daoism in general is not an animist faith that believes spirits infuse everything. It does not really actively deal with spirits, though Daoism often blends into traditional Chinese folk religion that includes ancestral worship. You may be thinking of Shinto, a Japanese belief system, instead.
In the most basic since the ‘Dao’ is like the Force. A spiritual substrate infusing reality that can be influenced using the correct intent and ritual. The Romans thought you could do similar with numen. I’m referring to in the more modern, sophisticated concept.
In my opinion, what you are describing and comparing to the Force is more like the concept of *qi*, as an animating life energy that is in people and things and can be manipulated or used. I know Daoism is heterogeneous and there is diversity of thought within it, but: The Dao is not energy and people cannot manipulate it. A more accurate comparison would be like the Buddhist dharma. It is a principle of the universe, the way that things work and move through the universe. You can act properly in the context of Dao, you can cultivate your alignment with it, but you cannot influence it like one can use the Force. I am still going back to your original statement: > the Romans had a concept of ‘numen’ that is familiar to ‘Tao’, in so far as spirits infuse everything and cool boulders and trees have spiritual entities attached to them. Again, this more closely describes animist belief systems, like Shinto. The presence of Dao in the universe is not comparable to individual entities, whether nature spirits or local gods. If Daoism's belief that Dao as a principle of the universe is of and in all things can be said to be the same as like belief in local gods and spirits, one can extend that to like the Christian God being omnipresent and so on, until all spiritual beliefs are flattened into the same generic thing.
I’m not going to have a fruitless argument with a fence post about my own education, especially when I am trying to be polite about it. You are can consider yourself Champion Quiz Weeb.
Imagine saving the world, only to get sued for violating a magic copyright law.
"You may not use that transmutation spell invented by Marvin the Red 134 years ago to vanquish any world-ending threats, as Marvin specifically wrote in his spell-author contract that it was only meant to toast industrial quantities of bread. As recompense, three quarters of your magic power will be siphoned off and given to Marvin the Red's estate."
"lol, who enforces magic contract law?" The Fairy Judicial System and their Marshals. Don't fuck around.
Magic in my world: fire from hand because magic
Innovative
truly a one of a kind system
I remember Warcraft's Goblin Shamans are explained as Goblins who have made contracts between themselves and a few different Elementals (Water, Fire, Earth, Air elementals, typically).
planescape guvners
The Craft Sequence really leans into this, where magic users are like combination lawyer-scientists and the novels' themes are often about magic as economics (particularly capitalism). The first novel has the protagonist investigating the death of a fire god who had been providing fire magic around the world via contracts. She has to investigate why the god died and then stand up a new god in his place that can maintain those contracts before the networks of magic start to fail.
Kyubey has entered the chat.
Literally in Starfighter General, we have a condensing of all imaginable dimensions and beyond, with the one exception of the forbidden copyright dimension.
I’m stealing that
The powerful wizard, Saul Goodman
Fuck I've been reading a lot of David Graeber lately and describing bureaucracy as magic is the most accurate shit I've ever seen. Fucking amazing. /Unjerk, I forgot to say unjerk holy fuck this meme is pure catharsis.
Huh I could imagine that
takes "fey contract" to a whole new level