By Jason Read
I have long been interested in far eastern spirituality and
martial arts and I have been interested in magic. My main beef with any magical system is that
it is too complicated. I mean like if I want to do a money spell, it would be
like never mind easier to spruce up my suit , dust off my resume and go job
hunting. I found Chinese magic to be complicated. What is so difficult are the
longevity of ritual and the hand mudra’s all that stuff is hard to understand.
The school of magic this gentleman works with is the Taosist
Maoshan school. Often times magic was separate from the official religion of
Taoism. Not every Taoist subscribes to
magic. Certain magics could be taught in the temple. Most magic though was kind
of informal folk magic practiced by the common people as opposed to high ritual
in the temple. There are 4-5 other
schools of Taoist magic. It must be noted that Maoshan magic preceded the
oncoming of Taoism. Taoism and Taoist magic have absorbed element from Buddhism
that came from India. As the Chinese migrated to different lands, they took
their magic with them. The magic took on the local flavor of where the people
migrated to.
Taosism and Taosist magic operate on the principle of Chi or
bodily energy. Our bodies produce energy that travels through meridians on our
body. Energy can be directed and stored. There are objects meant for storing
chi so that it can be used later. Another aspect of Chinese magic is fu
talismans. Artists who make these are called Fulus. The amulet or talisman can
be used for repelling evil or attracting wealth or love.
Much like western magic there is reverence for the ancestors
and gods. Ancestors can be biological, or they can be ancestors of the magical
school, otherwise known as lineage. As in Western Magic offering to the gods
and ancestors are given. The Chinese have gold money which is burned and given
to the gods. There is also red money that is burned to the ancestors. This
gives the ancestor money to spend in the afterlife which is pretty like western
tradition. Also, like western magic tradition there is spirit flight.
Similar to the witches sabbat Taoist do some meditation that
transports them to a mountain for a party or spiritual experience. Wudang Mountain
is the most famous as it has a Taoist monastery. The Taoist do not ingest any
chemicals or anoint themselves with flying ointment.
In Taoism there are also methods of divination. Most notable
is the I-ching. The querent throws the bague or tangrams to get a reading. The different
bagua means different things. If you are
checking out different magical systems, then give this book a read. Honestly
though I do like the idea of burning fake money to a deity or ancestor. Fu talisman
are something to investigate.