History Main / ReligionIsMagic

** While priests don't receive magical powers from their gods directly, ''faith itself'' has been known to invest supernatural powers in sacred objects. Dios's staff in ''Pyramids'' became imbued with tremendous magic due to thousands of years of accumulated belief in its absolute authority. Mightily-Blessed-Are-They-That-Exalteth-Om Oats does a wonderful job with his vampire-beheading axe.

** Actually, they are all treated as slightly different things, or different kinds of magic; for instance, at the start Egg Shen is asked if he believes in magic-he says he believes in Chinese black magic. Shortly after he says he also believes in monsters, ghosts, and sorcery.

-->-- [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]] designer '''Andy Collins''', on 4th Edition Paladins

* ''Manga/InuYasha'' is crawling with Shinto {{Miko}} and Buddhist priests, but their abilities seem to be more inborn than related to their spirituality, particularly in the case of main character Kagome (nominally identified as a miko, who inherited her powers from an actual miko that she's the {{Reincarnation}} of).

* ''ComicBook/{{The 99}}'', a group of superheroes granted mystic powers based on the 99 names of God in Islam.
* Ragman, from Creator/DCComics, gains his powers from a Judaic artifact created as a replacement for the Golem of Prague.

* Most followers of Oshilasama in ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'' are able to cast spells using [[{{Mana}} Nono]], thanks to years of rigorous training that looks a bit like stereotypical Shaolin monk exercises (though some degree of natural talent is required for training to do anything, and usually only men are allowed to train, though women can be born with the talent). The name of the religion seems to denote they worship someone named Shila (with [[{{Keigo}} o]] and [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics sama]] for politeness's sake), but precisely how that worship is carried out is never mentioned - maybe the god/goddess just likes to watch CatFolk sweat?

* Possibly so in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' for at least the followers of R'hllor. The existence of R'hllor and his opposing deity haven't actually been confirmed and some of what his priests call his power could just be the magic that's used elsewhere, but the priest Thoros is somehow able to bring [[spoiler: Beric]] back from the dead several times, apparently without the [[BloodMagic cost of blood or life]] commonly seen by other characters. Unless[[spoiler: his haggard appearance has something to do with it..]].

* ''LightNovel/OurHomesFoxDeity'' is practically dripping with Shinto magic; most of the main and supporting characters can use it in one form or another. The title references the god Inari and the god Ebisu is a supporting character, both figures from Shinto religion.

** In "The Tower of the Elephant", thieves avoid the temples, because strange dooms fall on those who violate them.
** In ''The Hour of the Dragon'', the priests of Asura can see through illusions. One of them can also wield the ArtifactOfDoom, blurring the lines a little. Both the Asuran and Mithran priests are mentioned as having magic, just not nearly as powerful as [[BigBad Xaltotun's]].

* In perhaps the biggest subversion of this trope, the sorceress Zora in Brian Michael Bendis's ''ComicBook/{{Powers}}'' claims to have gained her powers by rejecting all things spiritual and accepting that [[AGodAmI she was her own God]].
* In the Creator/{{Vertigo|Comics}} comic ''{{ComicBook/Fables}}'', strong belief in anything can create magical power.
* Comicbook/DoctorStrange uses magic by invoking various occult (and fictional) deities, particularly a triad known as the Vishanti. He has also been shown using ascetic practices like retreating from society and fasting.

* The comic ''Greenberg the Vampire'' is about a Jewish vampire plagued by Lilith, mother of all succubi. Both his mother and a rabbi use Kabbalic magic to combat her although only to limited effect. In the end it [[spoiler:is ThePowerOfLove]] that defeats her. He also mentions that Jewish symbols would burn him but Christian ones wouldn't.
* In ''ComicBook/TexWiller'' almost all magic comes from religion, be it Voodoo (mostly the followers of the baron La Fayette, who believes himself the earthly incarnation of Baron Samedi, but there's a few others), Santeria (a sister religion to Voodoo practiced in Cuba, one of their priests had gone mad and [[AGodAmI believed himself a god]], and had the power to back it up), Indian shamanism (most Indian shamans have actual powers. Some, however, are charlatans), Buddhism (Tibetan former monk Darma, who is actually shown consulting and taking orders from what he calls the Voice of His Land), even a form of Satanism (Mefisto and his son Yama), among others. El Morisco is the only notable exception, as [[FantasticScience he treats it as a science]] and learns everything he can [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic while also trying (and sometimes succeeding) to deduce how it works]]-and is all the more powerful for it.

* ''LightNovel/RentalMagica'':

* A major element of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', where each religion appears to have its own brand of magic since mages identify themselves by which church they belong to. Kaori being a part of a combination Christian/Shinto church effectively allows for her to combine magic styles. In contrast, the series' users of PsychicPowers are influenced by science. Any and all religious objects (crosses, Aztec sacrificial knives, clerical vestments, etc) are enchanted with powerful magic.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* In ''ComicBook/TexWiller'' almost all magic comes from religion, be it Voodoo (mostly the followers of the baron La Fayette, who believes himself the earthly incarnation of Baron Samedi, but there's a few others), Santeria (a sister religion to Voodoo practiced in Cuba, one of their priests had gone mad and [[AGodAmI believed himself a god]], and had the power to back it up), Indian shamanism (most Indian shamans have actual powers. Some, however, are charlatans), Buddhism (Tibetan former monk Darma, who is actually shown consulting and taking orders from what he calls the Voice of His Land), and even a form of Satanism (Mefisto and his son Yama), among others. El Morisco is the only notable exception, as [[FantasticScience he treats it as a science]] and learns everything he can [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic while also trying (and sometimes succeeding) to deduce how it works]]-and is all the more powerful for it.

* By WordOfGod, the Force in ''Franchise/StarWars'' is supposed to represent spirituality or religions in general or something (Creator/MarkHamill described it as "Religion's greatest hits."). That makes sense when you think about how the Jedi regard it, but when you look at what they can do with it, it makes it seem like an overdose of this trope. It even gets called an outdated religion by an Empire guy who gets the iconic Force-choke, and Vader is disturbed by his "lack of faith." KnightTemplar Vader! ''[[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Jedi_Path:_A_Manual_for_Students_of_the_Force_%28real-life_book%29 The Jedi Path]]'', an in-universe textbook, has a number of endnotes. In one of them, the writer noted that the Jedi tend to be smug and inflexible, but they have a reason. The Force is essentially God, even if no one in-universe calls it that. When two Jedi discuss the Force, they're discussing God - and they can call on it to perform, basically, miracles.

* In the ''Literature/IronDruidChronicles'' there is of course the title character. There is also a coven of Slavic witches and kabbalistic magic.

** Followers of the Lord of Light can live many times longer than a normal person, cloak themselves in a {{Glamour}} to maintain beauty, cast curses, birth living shadows, change the weather, and even resurrect the dead. Some of the more impressive ones require blood sacrifices, but they're nevertheless quite real.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the cleric class gains the ability to cast spells (usually healing) through the service of his/her deity. This has made it usual for [=RPGs=] to have a magic-using character class with religious overtones which can heal and bless (or curse) their allies. D&D's ones up until fourth edition even abided by the rules of VancianMagic, although in third they did have the ability to cast one class of spell (usually either ''cure'' or ''inflict'' wounds) spontaneously by expending prepared slots. The most powerful (non-Epic) cleric spell (Miracle) also involves the cleric literally praying to his god and asking for a miracle to happen.

** Note that depending on the edition and campaign setting, it's sometimes ''faith'' that powers clerical magic rather than a god doing anything--not only is the existence of gods unconfirmed in ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'', but two of the more-or-less major religions don't even ''have'' powerful spiritual beings that could in theory provide the magic.

** Paladins have always run the gamut of this due to the fact that they are religiously themed but not necessarily bound by the strictures of a god. What gives a paladin their power is their Oath, a way to consolidate everything that the paladin in question believes in and wants to achieve with their power. As such, changing or breaking one's Oath is possible and only alters how one's powers manifest.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Ironclaw}}'' each major religion has its own system of magic, the Phelan have {{Druid}}s, Lutarism has the Blessed (both of whom draw power from animistic spirits), and the Church of [[CrystalDragonJesus S'allumer]] has clerics who perform WhiteMagic. Though in S'allumer's case there is some doubt that the spells actually come from the holy light and not the caster's own power like most non-religious magic, but a rare few priests can perform sacerdotal prayers that definitely are, and even fewer manifest apparently miraculous "charisms". Zhonggese wizards on the other hand follow the more typically Eastern view that powers come from enlightenment, with Taoists explicitly as one of the more common varieties.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': "Miracles", along with [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic Sorcery]] and [[PlayingWithFire Pyromancy]], are one of the three types of magic. Miracles are obtained by [[{{Plunder}} looting corpses]], [[TouchedByVorlons receiving them directly from the gods themselves]]... or [[PowersAsPrograms from certain NPCs who give or sell them]]. That's right. Not only does religion give you superpowers, it lets its practitioners ''[[SuperEmpowering give other people powers too]]''.
** Although there is a good reason other people can teach miracles- each one is cast by memorising and invoking a tale of the gods; they're literally just teaching you the story or selling you a copy of it.

** Franchise/IndianaJones, of course, goes after the [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Holy Grail]]--as well as the [[Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk Ark of the Covenant]], a mystical/sacred artifact in the Judaic tradition, and thus in the Christian tradition as well.

* Worth noting that several prominent Catholic clergymen had reputations as alchemists and/or magicians during the medieval period... including Robert Grosseteste (Bishop of Lincoln), Roger Bacon (a monk), and ''Pope'' Sylvester II.
** Although in Sylvester's case this may have been [[MaliciousSlander rumors and lies]] his enemies spread to discredit his affinity for Eastern--read Islamic--learning (he liked Arabic numerals over 200 years before they gained wide acceptance in Europe). Grosseteste and Bacon considered themselves scientists in an age when the line between "science" and "magic" was fuzzier than it is now -- observing and experimenting with natural phenomena (as they did) was one thing; attempting to summon spirits was definitely on the wrong side of the line. Bacon's reputation for being a wizard came along a bit later (it was definitely established by the sixteenth century).

* The bread and butter of an Egyptian priest consisted of enchanting amulets for sale to customers. There was a certain tendency throughout much of Egyptian history to assume that even the gods could be coerced into obedience with the right ritual observances. "Thou shalt not take the Lord's Name in vain" was in fact a Commandment against attempting to coerce the Hebrew god that way, despite the common notion that it means you aren't supposed to say "Oh my God". That idea is made doubly ridiculous by the fact that "God" is not YHWH's name. The commandment probably also has something to do with not swearing false oaths by God, or using God as an excuse to do evil things, like start wars (at least, wars he didn't tell you to start, which he was pretty big on in the Old Testament).

** An interesting note is how matter of fact the treatment of the supernatural can be in some Buddhist traditions. For example, in many Tibetan monasteries, part of the oath you take when you become a monk is that you are not a spirit disguised as a human being. Other monasteries are placed specifically to be bindings for demons, oracles and divination are fairly common practice for lamas, and there are many lamas who in their belief have repeatedly reincarnated and continued their teaching. Part of the reason China's destruction of monasteries and abuse of monks during the Cultural Revolution was so devastating was the loss of knowledge of the spiritual landscape and the whereabouts of reincarnated lamas.
* There are multiple passages in the Tanakh (as well as the Old Testament for Christians) chastising believers for treating religion as magic. One of the more poignant passages is Isaiah 1:11--
-->''"The multitude of your sacrifices--what are they to me?" says the Lord. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats."''
** There's also 1 Samuel 15:22-23:
--->''Does the '''Lord''' delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the '''Lord'''? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams! For rebellion is like the sin of divination; and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.''

** Erdtree Worship, Golden Order Fundemntalism and Primordial crucible Incantations are all types of magic that focus on the power granted by the [[SentientCosmicForce Greater Will]], though each embodies different aspects: Erdtree Worship focuses on the worship of the [[WorldTree Erdtree]] as a divine being in and of itself, Golden Order Fundamentalism is more about the worship of Queen Marika the Eternal and the study of her Order (which is why it scales on both Faith and Intelligence) and Primordial Crucible is focused on channeling the life energy of the Primordial Crucible, the 'primordial form' of the Erdtree from which all life originates.

* ''Literature/OfFireAndStars'': Six Gods are worshiped, with six Affinities for magic which are linked to each one as ElementalPowers. Dennaleia also finds that her magic stronger when she's using it in their Sanctuaries (i.e. temples). Later it turns out that magic is usually explicitly a result of someone having a bond with a god (mostly one, though in rare cases multiple ones).

* ''LightNovel/AscendanceOfABookworm'': When the story starts showing people casting more elaborate magic spells, many of those spells turn out to require calling upon the setting's gods.

* [[AllMythsAreTrue All the religions above could work]] in ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'', provided the [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve practitioners follow proper form and faith in execution of their chosen miracles.]] By the time ''Deadlands: Hell on Earth'' rolls around, you can just faith yourself up some [[ILoveNuclearPower mushroom clouds]], provided you've touched The Glow (and it's touched you back). Having said all that, a PlayerCharacter is most likely to run across (or be) a miracle-working Protestant, since they're statistically the most common faithful in the timeline of the game, so your stock "Blessed" is all about healing the sick and whacking bad things with a hickory stick.

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' has a few mild examples. By smelting silver crosses into weapons and by dipping weapons into holy water, they are thereby enabled to kill vampires with. Also, [[BadassPreacher Alexander Andersen]] can use copious amounts of Bible pages to teleport somehow. He also stabs himself with a Helena's Nail, one of the nails that was nailed into the hands of Jesus Christ himself during the crucifixion. The result is him turning into a mass of magic thorn vines that can set vampires and ghouls on fire.

* In comics, there's Brother Voodoo for Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} and Empress for [[Franchise/TheDCU DC]]. Then again, at least both characters go to the effort to name check the Loa they're invoking. The Houngan, on the other hand, an old DC character, used techno-voodoo. How a syncretic religion like voudon got boiled down to zapping little Robo Sapien dolls with a soldering iron is a little mind-straining.

** As with ''Series/Merlin2008'', the Old Religion was a pagan faith that was mostly tied to the old gods of Britain, the Avalonian Pantheon, and dominated by the High Priestesses - though it's also noted that the High Priestesses have a certain connection to Gaia and Hecate (who, as with the Dresden Files, is implied to have some relationship to the Queens of Faerie) too. The Old Religion was a dying faith even when Merlin was young, however, thanks to Uther's Purge, the fact that with one thing and another, Merlin ended up killing the last three High Priestesses, and the simple fact that after the Asgard-Avalon Wars, the Avalonians had largely retreated to their home plane to lick their wounds and sulk. Consequently, a very rare form of magic, with only a few living still knowing much about it, and only three living practioners, all of whom grew up when it was common - Merlin, Doctor Strange a.k.a. [[spoiler: Taliesin]], and [[spoiler: Nimue]].
* In the Film/NightAtTheMuseum [[{{Prequel}} prequel]] fanfiction, ''FanFic/ChildOfMoonlight'', anything that is considered magic, from protective amulets to the tablet, involve invoking one of the [[Myth/EgyptianMythology gods or goddesses]].

These ''could'' be intended as a TakeThat at "fluffy bunnies" or "[=McWiccans=]." Many of these "wanna-blessed-be's" think that Wicca actually ''is'' an inherited trait and that the Salem witch trials as part of the "Burning Times" in which innocent women were burned at the stake for practicing the "old religion". In reality, both innocent men and women were accused of devil-worship and not pagan religious practices. The confusion comes in because at many times in history they were treated as synonymous. In Salem, the execution method of choice was hanging, not burning--although Giles Corey was pressed to death in the effort to extract confession.

* The first three ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movies featured magic artifacts and powers from Judaism, a corrupted version of Hinduism, and Christianity. The [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull fourth]] was more psychic powers / sci-fi, but as the film itself says "it depends who your god is".

* The abilities granted to clerics and the consecrated in "Literature/AnthologiesOfUllord" includes divine magic that is related to the god the mortal worships (or has been granted the favor in the case of the consecrated). The powers can be anything from prophetic dreams, healing magic, invisibility to destructive elemental blasts.

* In S. M. Stirling's ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}'' series this mostly takes the form of visions and exorcism. Members of Asatru, the Catholic Church, Buddhism, Wicca, and First Nations religion all receive the first, the latter are performed by Juniper, a Wiccan high priestess and Father Ignatius, a Catholic paladin and well as Rudi who is basically Myth/KingArthur reborn as a Wiccan.

** While priests don't receive magical powers from their gods directly, ''faith itself'' has been known to invest supernatural powers in sacred objects. Dios's staff in ''Pyramids'' became imbued with tremendous magic due to thousands of years' accumulated belief in its absolute authority. Mightily-Blessed-Are-They-That-Exalteth-Om Oats does a wonderful job with his vampire-beheading axe.

** Religious faith in itself has a certain amount of magical power, which is for example the source of crosses repelling vampires - it's not actually the crosses themselves, but that the fact that they symbolize the user's faith, and the main character achieves the same thing using a pentacle amulet (that being a symbol of magic, which he has more faith in than any conventional religion). Further, as faith in what one is doing is an absolute must for human practitioners, some can even use any religion as part of their magic.
** The books also makes {{MacGuffin}}s out of a few religious artifacts. The three Knights of the Cross carry swords and in each sword, one of the nails that pierced Christ is in the hilt. The Shroud of Turin is the plot of a whole book. In ''Skin Game'', set ten years after the ShroudOfTurin escapade, [[spoiler:the other items from the crucifixion and resurrection, an “ancient wooden placard”, a “circlet woven from thorny branches”, a “clay cup”, a “folded cloth” (the real Shroud), and a “knife with a wooden handle and a leaf-shaped blade”,]] are found and described as ''weapons''. ThirtyPiecesOfSilver is the basis for a whole arc. Also, the Knights of the Cross can wield faith-magic that Harry can't touch, despite one of them continuously stating that he is [[FlatEarthAtheist agnostic]].

** In "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword", Conan's sword is given the power to kill an Eldritch Abomination; it is the high priest of Mitra who identifies it. This is the only piece of unequivocal WhiteMagic in all Howard's stories.

* In L. A. Banks ''Neteru'' series, prayer, blessed earth and water and holy items are all used to combat the forces of Hell. This includes not only Christianity but a number of other religions as well.

* In the Bernard Cornwell series ''Literature/TheSaxonStories'', the Vikings have this attitude, frequently assuming Christianity is simply an opposing form of magic to that of the Norse Gods. Cornwell, with his usual anti-religious asperity, highlights this when Ivarr the Boneless demands, after being told of the power of St. Sebastian (shot full of arrows then healed) by King (later St.) Edmund, a demonstration with Edmund as test subject. [[HumanPincushion It ends as you might expect.]]

* In ''Literature/RamaII'', Nicole's belief in the Senoufo religion is borne out when a prophecy she received when she was a child comes to pass when she is given the manna melon and eats it while trapped in a pit on board the spaceship. She also uses a vague power like flight to escape being trapped on New York. At the finale, it is revealed that the Senoufo beliefs are inspired by direct contact with aliens, and thus accurately foretell that Nicole will visit the stars and spread the Senoufo lineage there. As belief though is not normally allowed the power to create physical effects as happens once in this book, something like magic is involved and not just prescience.

* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' the priests of the House of Light can perform miracles if their faith is strong enough: they can cure wounds and diseases, erect barriers, (and also can use "Light" offensively, though most have sworn oaths against it). Named priests take it to another level, with them being able to resurrect the dead, heal all not-instantly-lethal wounds on people around them or kill dozens of mages at once through these miracles. On the side of evil, the drow use "Night" to empower themselves in various ways in service of their twin-goddesses, the Sve-Noc.

** The rule about not fighting on sacred ground was assumed to be a social convention until one episode when it was mentioned that the last time an immortal was killed on sacred ground was a Roman temple...in Pompeii...just before Vesuvius erupted.

** ''TabletopGame/LeviathanTheTempest'' has Rituals, elaborate rites which focus a Leviathan's divine nature to accomplish anything from making it rain to driving an entire town insane to snuffing out the sun.

** [[EldritchAbomination Chaos]] is the opposite, however, where sucking up to the gods is a sure recipe for getting new and cooler ways to horribly kill more people. Or they might turn you into a mindless EldritchAbomination. It depends on whether they want a laugh, or if they want something dead, or if they regard you as 'disposable' at the time.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' plays with this to different ends depending on the culture. Magic is everywhere waiting to be manipulated, and different civilizations have built up different rituals around how to do this---some of them directly conflate religion with magic, some don't. In general all clergy can use magic to some degree or other, but [[WizardingSchool The Empire]], some of [[{{Magitek}} the Skaven]], and [[{{Necromancer}} the Vampire Counts]] can also field "secular" magic users.

* In ''VideoGame/LordsOfMagic'', the world is divided into 8 "faiths" who worship the standard four elements, plus life, death, order, and chaos.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': "Miracles", along with [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic Sorcery]] and [[PlayingWithFire Pyromancy]], are one of the three types of magic. Miracles are obtained by [[{{Plunder}} looting corpses]], [[TouchedByVorlons receiving them directly from the gods themselves]]... or [[PowersAsPrograms from certain NPCs who give or sell them]]. That's right. Not only does religion give you super powers, it lets its practitioners ''[[SuperEmpowering give other people powers too]]''.

* In J E Dash's (who's Wiccan) ''Webcomic/TheChallengesOfZona'' Tula get's her magical powers from the Earth and Moon goddesses while [[TheDragon Gruach]] gets his from [[BigBad Shuach the Fire god]].

** An interesting note is how matter of fact the treatment of the supernatural can be in some Buddhist traditions. For example, in many Tibetan monasteries part of the oath you take when you become a monk is that you are not a spirit disguised as a human being. Other monasteries are placed specifically to be bindings for demons, oracles and divination are fairly common practice for lamas, and there are many lamas who in their belief have repeatedly reincarnated and continued their teaching. Part of the reason China's destruction of monasteries and abuse of monks during the Cultural Revolution was so devastating was the loss of knowledge of the spiritual landscape and the whereabouts of reincarnated lamas.

* Wiccans, as well as other pagan and neo-pagan religions, do use ritual magic to varying degrees. The mistake Hollywood and literature generally makes is thinking that the magic is the point. Actually, the magic comes in more of a consequence of the worldview than anything else: the idea is that the world is a spiritual place, and the supernatural has an effect on the ordinary world. Since as a witch you are supposed to know something about the supernatural, you can use that knowledge to help yourself or others. However, the effects of ritual magic (sometimes spelled as magick to distinguish it from fantasy magic or sleight of hand) are somewhat limited to things that can disguise themselves as coincidences. A simple way to think of pagan ritual magic is as "giving the universe a nudge in the right direction".

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'': Worshiping a deity grants a branch of magic. For example, worshiping the earth goddess Entoura grants DishingOutDirt powers, worshiping the goddess of the netherworld Lavas grants necromancy powers, and worshping the goddess of life and light Isawera grants holy powers.

* Magical Buddhism is mentioned to exist in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' (and Shou may actually use it), but the majority of the Buddhist characters use their natural power or other acquired abilities when they need to fight.
** On the Shinto side, being a shrine maiden naturally equals having great power. The protagonist of the series, Hakurei Reimu, is considered a terrible shrine maiden of a run-down godless shrine but, even if it weren't for the mostly harmless conflict resolution system of Gensokyo at which she contractually excels, her powers would make losing impossible. Kotiya Sanae, a recent addition, is a shrine maiden capable of performing miracles. This has less to do with her position as a shrine maiden and more to do with her having a god for an ancestor.

*** To be fair, the majority of Taoists that appear are either an opportunist literally [[DeliberatelyBadExample called "wicked" within the narrative]] and discussed as not particularly faithful, or [[MisaimedFandom opportunist disciples of said wicked Taoist]] who used it as a method to prolong their lifespan.

--->''Does the [[AC:Lord]] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the [[AC:Lord]]? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams! For rebellion is like the sin of divination; and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.''

* The angels in ''Anime/SteelAngelKurumi'' apparently run on a combination of advanced technology and Taoist magic, to the point where the title character's creator had to travel back in time to find a Taoist priest powerful enough to activate her and her [[spoiler:combined Angelic/Demonic heart]]. Then again, it seems a lot of it is based on personal spiritual power; it's implied that the reason Nakahito can't [[ElementalPowers mess with the elements]] like his brother is that powering Kurumi takes too much already.