The Wide World of Daoism   Daoism may be any of the following    A school of philosophy strictly philosophy as a means for understanding spiritual matters and for a different perception of the world    It can be religious and employ the worship of various gods through the use of idols    It is also known for sorcery the idea of the  elements earth fire water metal and wood and their manipulation are as old as China itself in fact even older  Ultimately all witchcraft regardless of region originated from Shamanism  The branch of Daoism that deals with sorcery in fact has its origins in Chinese shamanism before Chinas ascent from the darkness darkness eg ignorance  One of the errors made regarding Daoism is how it is seen as a single system when in fact different branches of it can be as different from each other as night and day  For example even though Daoist philosophy urges simplicity Daoist sorcery involves heavy ritualization the humming of various sounds through the practice of Chi Kung etc  In other words an accusation may be thrown as mystical Daoism as not being TRUE Daoist philosophy because of the heavy ritualization that makes it far from simple  Not a personal opinion just an illustration  However because there are branches of Daoism that deal with mysticism they are worth a mention  Additionally even withing magical Daoism there are different beliefs  For example as with traditional witchcraft there is the use of familiars  However some forms of mystical oriented Daoism worship Shangdi the one true God and hold the claim that all comes from Shangdi  Now mind worship of Shangdi does not imply it is an Abrahamic faith the rites rituals and prayers are totally different  Moreover because the worship of Shangdi in China has always been influenced by Daoism it is nowhere near as dogmatic as merciless towards heressy  In fact most Chinese religions have no concept of heressy  I am starting to soapbox here so Ill stop typing please look into Daoist magical practices and consider expanding the article    stardingo