Across families
Religious Daoism and Yoruba Ifá
Different families with 13 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.11 (0 would be identical).
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.
A vast memorised divination corpus, a remote supreme being, hundreds of orisha, and a personal destiny chosen before birth that can be renegotiated. The source tradition for most of the Afro-diasporic religions in this matrix.
Where they agree
A1 Divine reality
Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at many powers and spirits — a gap of 0.00.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at leaning clergy and tradition decide — a gap of 0.00.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.00.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.00.
C1 Survival of the self
Both sit at continues in some form — a gap of 0.04.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Both sit at leaning literal and binding — a gap of 0.05.
A4 Locus
Both sit at leaning fully present within it and fully present within it respectively — a gap of 0.06.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound — a gap of 0.06.
E1 Exclusivity
Both sit at between one true path and many valid paths and leaning many valid paths respectively — a gap of 0.06.
A2 Personhood
Both sit at leaning a personal being one can address and between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address respectively — a gap of 0.10.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at leaning achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.10.
D3 The body
Both sit at leaning to be celebrated and between to be disciplined and to be celebrated respectively — a gap of 0.10.
Where they part company
E2 Origin of the cosmos
Religious Daoism: leaning beginningless or natural. Yoruba Ifá: leaning an intentional act. A gap of 0.58 on an axis running from “an intentional act” to “beginningless or natural”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Religious Daoism | Yoruba Ifá | 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 | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address | 0.10 |
| A3 Plurality | many powers and spirits | many powers and spirits | 0.00 |
| A4 Locus | leaning fully present within it | fully present within it | 0.06 |
| B1 Source of truth | leaning revealed and fixed | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | 0.13 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | leaning literal and binding | leaning literal and binding | 0.05 |
| B3 Institutional authority | leaning clergy and tradition decide | leaning clergy and tradition decide | 0.00 |
| C1 Survival of the self | continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.04 |
| C2 Shape of time | between one life, then judgment and cyclical return | leaning cyclical return | 0.27 |
| C3 The human condition | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound | 0.06 |
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good | leaning achieved by effort or insight | leaning achieved by effort or insight | 0.10 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | essential and prescribed | essential and prescribed | 0.00 |
| D3 The body | leaning to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | 0.10 |
| E1 Exclusivity | between one true path and many valid paths | leaning many valid paths | 0.06 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | leaning beginningless or natural | leaning an intentional act | 0.58 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | between a people, inherited and an individual choice | leaning a people, inherited | 0.26 |
| E4 Standing of nature | animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacred | 0.00 |
Positions for Religious Daoism rest principally on Daozang liturgical corpus and Quanzhen/Zhengyi practice; for Yoruba Ifá, on Odu Ifa corpus and Abimbola’s scholarship. 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.