Laurence Yep Quotes

Man has not really vanquished Shamanism and its spooks till he possesses the strength to lay aside not only the belief in ghosts or in spirits, but also the belief in the spirit.

In America, magic has never been an important part of peoples' lives.

Hardest of all for Europeans to negotiate are traditional African religions, whose transactions with unseen powers are central to the running of life in many areas, the main weapon in the struggle against the forces of evil.

Authors as diverse as Rudyard Kipling, E. Nesbit, and J. R. R. Tolkien have shaped modern paganism as greatly as any theological underpinnings.

As a boy, I found myself drawn to Arthurian legends, and then to Celtic mythology, and then further east into the mysticism of Asian religions.

I am not religious in any way, but I have a pagan ideology and pagan values.

From the beginning of time, we've told stories, Shamans and Medicine People, and not to be pompous about it, but I feel like that is the lineage I take down and where I come from. There is magic to storytelling.

Magic, like technology, is a tool.

The very idea of supernatural magic - including miracles - is incoherent, devoid of sensible meaning.

I don't want to participate in traditional Indian religious ceremonies - dance in a sun dance or pray in a sweat lodge or go on a vision quest with the help of a medicine man. The power of these ceremonies has an appeal, but I'm content with what little religion I already have.

I've found a more personal, pagan kind of religion to satisfy the spiritual side of things.

Magic has been around forever, and it's also been in trouble forever. I'm not suggesting that there was ever a time when the practice of magic was celebrated by those in power. Actually, such practices were routinely demonized by monarchs and organized religions precisely because magic is inherently democratic.

Paganism is infectious, more infectious than diphtheria or piety.

It is no coincidence that so many religious beliefs date back to times when no science could possibly have accounted satisfactorily for many of the natural phenomena inspiring scripture and myths.

Contemporary paganism gives me a subjective lens through which the world in which I live can be interpreted on an aesthetic and an ethical basis. I'm interested in narrative, myth, and story, in folklore and the way we connect to the turning of the seasons and the natural world.

In more recent years, I've become more and more fascinated with the indigenous folklore of this land, Native American folklore, and also Hispanic folklore now that I live in the Southwest.

Witchcraft and priestcraft, were introduced into this world together, … and has gone on, hand in hand together

In the schools of the Western countries, there is always the subject 'Religion.' The Classics are China's religion.

I think I'm a witch because I'm very connected to nature.

My father was a shaman. He told me that time doesn't exist. He didn't use a clock. He didn't know when my birthday was.

Magic is what it is, and those who work it can be male or female; it doesn't matter. What matters is power.

I don't really believe in the supernatural, as far as the negativity.

Folk tales, fairy tales, religion, the occult - these are the things I'm most passionate about, even more than cinema. And I'm very passionate about cinema.

I can't explain witchcraft.