I've spent today bumming around the forum and looking for places to contribute, and this thread feels like a good place to start.
I was thinking the same thing.
I can't say I have a proper woo, mainly because I never experienced that non-rational leap of faith necessary to actually believe. But two of my core interests are history and anthropology, which lead to a lot of funny stuff, like:
- Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and the Vipassana tradition of Buddhism. I have never done much beyond studying and a few practices because I feel like they require a level of commitment that can't be met by going to the local Rinzai group a couple times a week. I also practice mindfulness meditation, though that's a very different thing, done for very different reasons;
- Mazdaism/Zoroastrianism. I'm fascinated by its imagery and tenets, and adhere (most of the time) to the principle of "good thoughts, good words, good actions". I feel that's more common sense than actual faith, though. Sometimes I find myself "believing" in Ahura Mazda and then immediately rationalising it as the Big Bang, the Universe, the Logos, or what have you. I'm not sure that's what old Zarathushtra had in mind;
- various and varied so-called "occult traditions", which include the Hebrew Qabalah, Sufism, and mysteric cults like those of Eleusi and Babylon. Mainly from a historical point of view, though. I'm less interested in Western occultism, like the Hermetic tradition and Theosophy - I feel like whatever interesting concepts there were have been buried under so much theorising and secrecy, schisms and counter-schisms, not to mention countless influences from other traditions, that it's not really worth the time to investigate something that can probably be found elsewhere;
- Chaos magic. I have been reading a lot about it lately and it's an interesting approach. It also ties in with what is probably my only woo, that is, that as long as someone believes in something, that thing is very much real.
And finally, I believe a lot of what Discordianism (however you want to define it) says has a layer of truth, or at least usefulness. This is why I'm also a Pope, specifically Pope Haumavarga of the First Paradraya Temple of Disgrace Hill. Low self-esteem has kept me from canonising myself, but I'll get there eventually.
