> I often suffer from a severe lack of imagination when I need
> it most though and what would be nice is a list of examples
> for such things. Is anyone aware of a netbook of animist
> actions taboos and attitudes??
If you just want ideas, you could always start off with the book of
Leviticus, which has such taboos as:
- Forbidden foods
- More specific food prohibitions: Foods forbidden in certain seasons
(leavened bread during Passover), foods that are permitted only if
properly prepared (animals must be butchered the right way)
- Prohibitions on actions on certain days (e.g. "work" on the Sabbath)
- Fast days
- Prohibitions against "mixing" (yoking different animals together,
sowing a field with mixed grains, weaving different fibers into one
cloth)
- Categories of things that make one "unclean" (like touching a corpse),
things one is forbidden to do while unclean (like offer sacrifices), and
ways to become clean again
I think these are all the kinds of things that could be used as animist
taboos. e.g. "If you touch anything of Chaos, you become unclean, and
cannot use any Practice X spirits until you purify yourself by bathing
once in dirt and once in water..."