Maoshan School of Taoist Magic

 

 Practical Chinese Magic

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.