Across families
Shinto 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: 0.13 (0 would be identical).
Kami are everywhere — in rivers, mountains, ancestors and the occasional remarkable person — and the religion is what you do rather than what you believe. There is no sin to be saved from, only impurity to be washed off.
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
A2 Personhood
Both sit at between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address — a gap of 0.00.
D3 The body
Both sit at between to be disciplined and to be celebrated — a gap of 0.02.
B1 Source of truth
Both sit at between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience — a gap of 0.03.
D2 Centrality of ritual
Both sit at essential and prescribed — a gap of 0.03.
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good
Both sit at between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight and leaning achieved by effort or insight respectively — a gap of 0.05.
A3 Plurality
Both sit at many powers and spirits — a gap of 0.06.
A4 Locus
Both sit at fully present within it — a gap of 0.07.
E4 Standing of nature
Both sit at animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.07.
E3 Locus of belonging
Both sit at a people, inherited and leaning a people, inherited respectively — a gap of 0.07.
A1 Divine reality
Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.08.
C3 The human condition
Both sit at ignorant but fundamentally sound and leaning ignorant but fundamentally sound respectively — a gap of 0.10.
E1 Exclusivity
Both sit at leaning many valid paths — a gap of 0.10.
B3 Institutional authority
Both sit at leaning clergy and tradition decide — a gap of 0.12.
Where they part company
C2 Shape of time
Shinto: leaning one life, then judgment. Yoruba Ifá: leaning cyclical return. A gap of 0.47 on an axis running from “one life, then judgment” to “cyclical return”.
B2 Reading of sacred text
Shinto: leaning metaphorical, or no text at all. Yoruba Ifá: leaning literal and binding. A gap of 0.40 on an axis running from “literal and binding” to “metaphorical, or no text at all”.
All seventeen axes
| Axis | Shinto | Yoruba Ifá | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine reality | a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly exists | 0.08 |
| A2 Personhood | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address | between impersonal principle or order and a personal being one can address | 0.00 |
| A3 Plurality | many powers and spirits | many powers and spirits | 0.06 |
| A4 Locus | fully present within it | fully present within it | 0.07 |
| B1 Source of truth | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experience | 0.03 |
| B2 Reading of sacred text | leaning metaphorical, or no text at all | leaning literal and binding | 0.40 |
| B3 Institutional authority | leaning clergy and tradition decide | leaning clergy and tradition decide | 0.12 |
| C1 Survival of the self | between ends at death and continues in some form | continues in some form | 0.37 |
| C2 Shape of time | leaning one life, then judgment | leaning cyclical return | 0.47 |
| C3 The human condition | 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 | 0.05 |
| D2 Centrality of ritual | essential and prescribed | essential and prescribed | 0.03 |
| D3 The body | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | between to be disciplined and to be celebrated | 0.02 |
| E1 Exclusivity | leaning many valid paths | leaning many valid paths | 0.10 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmos | leaning an intentional act | leaning an intentional act | 0.15 |
| E3 Locus of belonging | a people, inherited | leaning a people, inherited | 0.07 |
| E4 Standing of nature | animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacred | 0.07 |
Positions for Shinto rest principally on Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, and Jinja Honcho practice guidance; 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.