Varieties.  
Throughout its history, many schools and branches of Taoism emerged, organized around particular lineages, texts, or sacred mountains and temples. In the modern era, religious Taoism in China is described as being organized around two enduring traditions:  
- Zhengyi (“Orthodox Unity”) Taoism is the principle non-monastic Taoist denomination, traced to the Celestial Masters tradition that began with Zhang Daoling in 185 CE. Zhengyi priests live in society (often marrying and maintaining households) and function primarily as ritual specialists serving local communities through public services. These services include such as jiao offerings/renewal rites, zhai fasts and purification observances, funerary and salvation rites, exorcistic and healing rituals, and the use of talismans and registers that confer ritual authority.  
- Quanzhen Taoism (“Complete Perfection”) represents the monastic form of Taoism, founded in the 12th century by Wang Chongyang. It emphasizes celibate communal life, formal ordination and precepts, meditation and contemplative discipline, and inner cultivation practices such as internal alchemy (neidan). It is framed explicitly through a "Three Teachings" synthesis that combines Taoist cosmology, Buddhist meditative and monastic models, and Confucian ethical self-regulation.  
These two traditions developed during the Song dynasty and grew to become recognized by the imperial government during late imperial China. There are also various smaller Taoist groups and traditions of practice.  
One modern, interpretive framework created by Eva Wong divides the major "systems" of Taoism into five categories: Magical Taoism, Divinational Taoism, Ceremonial Taoism, Internal-Alchemical Taoism and Action and Karma Taoism.  

Magical Taoism.  
Magical Taoism is one of the oldest Taoist systems, and its practices are similar to the shamans and sorcerers of ancient China.   Magical Taoism believes there are various natural powers, deities, and spirits (benevolent and malevolent) in the universe that can be made use of by specialists who know the right methods. Their magic can include rainmaking, protection, exorcism, healing, traveling to the underworld to help the dead, and mediumship.  
Protection magic can include the use of amulets and fulu, as well as specific rites. Protection rites often include ritual petitions to the celestial deities of the northern bushel. Divination is also a widespread practice. A commonly used method of divination in magical Taoism is sandwriting (planchette writing).  
According to Eva Wong, the main sects of magical Taoism today are the secretive Maoshan sect, not to be confused with Shangqing), the Celestial Masters and the Kun-Lun sect (which is strongly influenced by Tibetan magic and make use of Taoist and Buddhist deities).  

Divinational Taoism.  
Divinational Taoism focuses on various divination techniques to help one predict the future and live accordingly. This practice can also carry deeper spiritual significance, since it can help one appreciate the flux of the Tao. This form of Taoism owes much to the ancient Fangshi, the Yin and yang school of thought, and often relies on the I Ching.  
This tradition also relies on the cosmology of Wuji and Taiji, along with the teachings of yin and yang, the five elements and the Chinese calendar. There many forms of Taoist divination, they include: celestial divination (which include various systems of Chinese astrology, like Tzu-wei tu-su), terrestrial divination (feng shui), the casting of incense sticks with hexagrams on them and the interpretation of omens.  
Contemporary divinational Taoism is practiced in temples and monasteries by various individuals and may not be sect specific (it is even practiced by non-Taoists). This Taoist practice can be found in the Mao-shan sorcerers, the Celestial Masters sect and the Dragon Gate Taoism and Wudang Mountains sects. There are also many lay practitioners that are not affiliated with any specific sect. These lay Taoist practitioners are called "kui-shih".  

Ceremonial Taoism.  
Ceremonial Taoism focuses on ritual and devotion towards various celestial deities and spirits. The basic belief of ceremonial Taoism is that through various rites, human beings can honor the deities and these deities may then grant them with power, protection and blessings. Rituals and festivals can include chanting, offerings, and the reading of scripture. These rites are mostly performed by ritual masters who have trained extensively for this role and who may, through their mastery of ritual, intercede on behalf of laypersons.  
There are various kinds of festivals in Ceremonial Taoism, including "Great Services" (chai-chiao) and Ritual Gatherings (fa-hui) that can last for days and can focus on repentance, rainmaking, disaster aversion or petitioning. There are feast days which honor specific deities. 164 Funerals and birthday blessings are a common service.  
There is a complex and large pantheon in Taoism. It includes various deities classified into various ranks within an administrative structure, at the top of which are the celestial lords (t'ien-tsun). These include judges, heralds, officers, generals, clerks and messengers. The main division is between "earlier heaven" deities, who have existed since the beginning of time and "later heaven" deities, mortals who later became immortal.  
146 Key earlier heaven deities include the Three Pure Ones, the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West, the Mother of the Bushel of Stars, the Seven Star Lords of the Northern Bushel and the Three Officials (Celestial, Earth, and Water). Some key later heaven deities include: Immortal Lu Tung-pin, and Emperor Kuan (Kuan-yu). Taoists may also honor local spirits and deities, as well Buddhist deities (like Guanyin, Amitabha, etc.).  
The largest and most prominent sect of Ceremonial Taoism is the Way of the Celestial Masters, also known as Zhengyi Dao.   The patriarch of this sect resides in Taiwan and this tradition performs numerous ceremonies which are often sponsored by the Taiwanese government. The training for Zhengyi priesthood, who are not celibate, focuses mainly on learning extensive rituals and liturgy, so that they can perform them flawlessly.  
Ceremonies are practiced, to a lesser extent, in the Longmen (Dragon Gate) sect of the Quanzhen School and in the Xiantiandao sect, though these schools understand ritual as mainly a way to develop internal alchemy. During the Song dynasty, a popular form of ceremonial Taoism was the Thunder Rites (leifa), which focused on exorcism and protection. 


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