Tao 道 and Fa 法 in the Taoist Cult of Marīci 摩利支天大聖 and a Coastal Cult in Present-Day Northern Taiwan. Basic Aspects of the Study of Taoist Religion and Folk Religion

Abstract

The divinity Marīci 摩利支天大聖 was a T'ang-import that came to China with Tantric
Buddhism. Marīci turned Taoist and became a Thunder divinity known as Mother of the Dipper 斗姆. The presentation illustrates and scrutinizes the development under the perspective of Tao 道 and Fa 法, the latter term meaning ritual and exorcist methods 道教法術 in religious Taoism. The article compares the findings again referring to Tao and Fa, with the results from a study of an unorthodox coastal cult in Northern Taiwan that is realized in a Yin-miao 陰廟, which means a cult beyond the limits of officially recognized religion.