Across families
Candomblé and Religious Daoism
Different families with 12 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.13 (0 would be identical).
West African orixá worship carried to Brazil and preserved through initiation rather than through text — knowledge is transmitted inside a house, in stages, by a hierarchy. The body is where the divine becomes present, not an obstacle to it.
The same cosmology, staffed: a vast celestial bureaucracy, an ordained priesthood, liturgy, talismans and the pursuit of bodily transcendence through internal alchemy. Practically the opposite of its philosophical sibling on ritual and authority.
Where they agree
A1 Divine reality
Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.
C1 Survival of the self
Both sit at continues in some form — a gap of 0.00.
C2 Shape of time
Both sit at between one life, then judgment and cyclical return — a gap of 0.00.
D3 The body
Both sit at leaning to be celebrated — a gap of 0.00.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at many powers and spirits — a gap of 0.03.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.03.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at leaning a personal being one can address — a gap of 0.03.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.04.
E1 Exclusivity
Both sit at leaning many valid paths and between one true path and many valid paths respectively — a gap of 0.06.
A4 Locus
Both sit at fully present within it and leaning fully present within it respectively — a gap of 0.08.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound — a gap of 0.10.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at clergy and tradition decide and leaning clergy and tradition decide respectively — a gap of 0.10.
Where they part company
B2 Reading of sacred text
Candomblé: metaphorical, or no text at all. Religious Daoism: leaning literal and binding. A gap of 0.58 on an axis running from “literal and binding” to “metaphorical, or no text at all”.
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Candomblé: leaning an intentional act. Religious Daoism: leaning beginningless or natural. A gap of 0.50 on an axis running from “an intentional act” to “beginningless or natural”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Candomblé | Religious Daoism | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.00 |
| A2 Personhood | leaning a personal being one can address | leaning a personal being one can address | 0.03 |
| A3 Plurality | many powers and spirits | many powers and spirits | 0.03 |
| A4 Locus | fully present within it | leaning fully present within it | 0.08 |
| B1 Source of truth | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | leaning revealed and fixed | 0.23 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and binding | 0.58 |
| B3 Institutional authority | clergy and tradition decide | leaning clergy and tradition decide | 0.10 |
| C1 Survival of the self | continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.00 |
| C2 Shape of time | between one life, then judgment and cyclical return | between one life, then judgment and cyclical return | 0.00 |
| C3 The human condition | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | 0.10 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight | leaning achieved by effort or insight | 0.20 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | essential and prescribed | essential and prescribed | 0.03 |
| D3 The body | leaning to be celebrated | leaning to be celebrated | 0.00 |
| E1 Exclusivity | leaning many valid paths | between one true path and many valid paths | 0.06 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | leaning an intentional act | leaning beginningless or natural | 0.50 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | leaning a people, inherited | between a people, inherited and an individual choice | 0.18 |
| E4 Standing of nature | animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacred | 0.04 |
Positions for Candomblé rest principally on Candomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil; for Religious Daoism, on Daozang liturgical corpus and Quanzhen/Zhengyi practice. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.
The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.