Taoist Mysteries of the Six Holy Kings

On By benebellIn I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Tao of Craft (book), Taoism1 Comment

In my video “Taoism: A Decolonized Introduction,” I made a passing reference to the Six Ancestral Sage Kings (or Six Holy Kings) and their significance in Taoism, promising that I’d dedicate a standalone video on the subject, so here we are.

Everything you need to learn about the Tao can be learned from the Six Holy Kings – or so goes an axiom credited to Confucius.

He isn’t the only one to uphold the Six Kings as the paragon of aspirational virtue and wisdom. Even Confucianism’s rival school of thought, the Mohists, would name-drop the Six Kings, 堯舜禹湯文武.

Cultural references to the importance of the Six Holy Kings continues well into the modern era with the founding of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen cited the importance of the new Republic upholding the tradition and values of the Six Holy Kings (“中國有一個道統，堯、舜、禹、湯、周文王、周武王、周公”).

Chinese historian and philosopher Li Zehou 李泽厚 notes that the Six Holy Kings are shamanic rulers, wū 巫, and that their divine right to sovereignty comes from their alignment with Heaven, which is received on the basis of their abilities to commune with Heaven. The shamanistic-historical traditions of the Chinese civilization comes straight from the Six Holy Kings. (You can read more about this in Chapter 10 of I Ching, The Oracle.)

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When the Middle Path Means You Belong Nowhere

On By benebellIn opinion, personal30 Comments
Just thought it’d be fun to share some snapshots of how I mark up my copy of I Ching, The Oracle with notes.

Every facet of my disposition – even fate, the cards I’ve been dealt in life – seems to be on a cusp. Astrologically by both Eastern and Western charts I’m a cusp baby. Cultural identity wise, mine is the hyphenated experience. I’m agnostic when it comes to party lines, but you’ll certainly hear the far right calling me too woke, and the far left calling me too trad.

I’m often too structured and austere for the creative arts community and too sensitive, too mystical-leaning for the corporate world. I like agendas, strategic plans, and realistic goal-setting; I value efficiency, utility, and productivity, all attributes that do not go over well with the creative arts community. I also account for unseen influences, trust my psychic impulses, and value empathy, compassion, mercy, softness, vulnerability, and kindness, attributes heavily frowned upon in the corporate world.

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Seven Get-To-Know-You-Better Questions

On By benebellIn personal35 Comments
Photo of us from 2011.

I came upon a TikTok video presenting these seven questions for getting to know someone better and it inspired me to answer these questions in a blog post myself, to share with you a little more about me.

I hope likewise you’ll choose one of the seven questions to answer in the comments section or treat it as a tag and answer all seven on your platform.

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Red Tarot by Christopher Marmolejo (North Atlantic Books, 2024)

On By benebellIn book review, cartomancy, divination, tarot, tarot community, tarot symbolism5 Comments

“When rationality runs dry, it’s Red that will reconcile this world, a hue vibrant and vital inside its brown.”

And so opens Chapter 1, Zero, of Red Tarot: A Decolonial Guide to Divinatory Literacy by Christopher Marmolejo. This is going to be a tarot book like no other. I can tell already. :: hearts for eyes ::

“To be born, this work broke open my heart, and so let this reading be opened by my blood offering, a requisite pound of flesh…”

Marmolego’s writing is going to draw out your feels, that’s for sure. Either you will be fully onboard this train or you will be left scratching your head. You’ll see what I mean. Let’s continue.

Red Tarot is not an easy read, but it’s not intended to be. It’s filled with dense layers covering symbolism, mythology, history, present day politics, literature, and so much more. This book is about shedding red light on each card in the tarot to reveal it as a prism of political praxis, inspired after Prof. Sandy Grande’s Red Pedagogy.

Each tarot card entry draws from four key disciplines:

  1. literary fiction as political expression,
  2. gender studies and theory,
  3. anti-colonialist philosophy of education and decolonizing pedagogy, and
  4. performance studies, whereby theatrics, divination rituals, ceremonial rites, and social expressions are revelatory of core truths in the human experience.

This is achieved by weaving in the teachings of Toni Morrison, bell hooks, Paulo Freire, and José Esteban Muñoz.

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Wisdom of Pooh Tarot: Christopher Robin Box Set

On By benebellIn deck review, tarot, tarot community17 Comments
Wisdom of Pooh Tarot. Created by Serefina & Angel Mesa. Illustrated by Kat L. Amsel.

Winnie-the-Pooh is my childhood, and to date remains one of my favorite characters and accompanying series of stories. To see one of the most beautifully produced tarot tributes to Pooh come alive by Rue & Vervain is an incredible honor.

The production quality of this box set is top tier, whether you’re talking indie or traditionally published. Not just production value, but Amsel’s artwork, staying true  – simultaneously – to the spirit of what Milne and Shepard created and to the spirit of the RWS tarot is no small feat, and few in the past have achieved it with a themed deck.

Also I just noticed the compass in the map — it spells out POOH!

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Personal Energy Audit: Spiritual, Emotional, Mental, Physical

On By benebellIn free download, personal, personal spirituality24 Comments

This was something I found helpful from a leadership workshop I participated in, and so I would like to share it with you. I believe the original source or credit goes to Tony Schwartz in The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working (2011).

It’s a personal energy audit worksheet, and then based on your self-assessed scores, set goals and commit to practices that will raise your energy levels in these four fields: spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical.

Download the Worksheet

PDF  |  DOCX

We often talk about productivity and time management, when really perhaps the conversation should be focused on productivity and energy levels. If you don’t have sufficient energy to invest in your endeavors, then it’s harder to be productive. So you want to make sure you have sufficient energy, at all times.

This worksheet helps you to audit and assess your energy levels, and thus immediately implement changes as needed to raise your energy levels in the areas where they are low.

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I Ching Oracle Cards (Free Printables)

On By benebellIn cartomancy, create your own deck, divination, free download, Fu talismans, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), oracle deck, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism13 Comments

Download the digital files to a text-driven 64-card I Ching oracle deck for a free companion tool to my book, I Ching, The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, 2023).

This is a serviceable everyday personal divination deck that also doubles as an easy, accessible introduction to the I Ching.

It makes for a great study tool as flash cards and for learning the Ba Gua trigram and Wu Xing alchemical phase correspondences.

For your convenience, I’ve also uploaded the files onto makeplayingcards.com. External link and info below.

The listing is $23.20.

  • $22.95 of it goes to makeplayingcards.com, not me.
  • Only $0.25 of it goes to me.

Yes, that’s right. A quarter.

But if you are on a tight budget, you can download the printables file and crafty craft your own DIY copy of the deck.

Apart from the six-line hexagram images, the card faces are text only. No one is trying to wow you with artistry here. =P

This deck is intended to be a functional beginner’s tool for learning the I Ching, to be used in tandem with the book, I Ching, The Oracle.

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Secret Book of the Three Sovereigns

On By benebellIn free download, Fu talismans, grimoire, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, Tinkering Bell, traditional witchcraft8 Comments

Also known as the: 三皇文 (sān huáng wén); 三皇經 (sān huáng jīng); 三皇内文 (sān huáng nèi wén); Version transmitted to Ge Hong: 小有三皇文 (xiao you sān huáng wén)

Is the Seal of the Nine Immortal Realms 九老仙部印圖 from the Secret Book of the Three Sovereigns 三皇內文遺秘, which is now canonized in the Daozang, or Taoist Canons, part of the lost, legendary grimoire, the Book of the Three Sovereigns 三皇文?

According to lore, during the Three Kingdoms Era (220 – 280 AD), the Taoist mystic and later an ascended master Bó Hé 帛和 finds this text buried inside a stone wall atop Mount Xīchéng 西城山. From Bó Hé’s teachings arose of the earliest traditions of Taoist magic: the School of Bó Taoism 帛家道 (bó jiā dào), or The Way of Bó. Popular among the upper class during the Jin (266 – 420 AD) and Wei (386 – 534 AD) dynasties in the northern central plains of China, the tradition focused on study of the Book of Three Emperors and formulated their own approach to talismanic magic, invocation of gods, and alchemy.

Then, around 300 AD, atop Mount Songshan 嵩山, the Taoist occultist Bao Liang 鲍靓 receives this text painted on silk, as transmitted to Bó Hé. Bao Liang was a renowned master of various occult practices, from astrology and alchemy to necromancy. He married his daughter Bao Gu to the alchemist Ge Hong.

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Wills & Trusts: Estate Planning Kit (Free Download)

On By benebellIn free download, personal19 Comments

If a digital file of templates for a living trust, last will and testament, and other common features of an estate planning kit would be of interest to you, then you can download one for free. See below.

ESTATE PLANNING KIT

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE
Last Updated 2024 March 8

THE DISCLAIMERS:

  • This is not legal advice.
  • I am not your attorney.
  • These documents are provided for general educational purposes only.
  • All documents are keyed to the State of California (I’m a California and New York licensed attorney.)
  • Laws change frequently and so the laws applicable at the time these documents were drafted may be outdated by the time you see these documents.
  • You should not be using these documents as-is.
  • You should retain legal counsel in your jurisdiction to give you detailed and specific legal advice custom-tailored to your estate planning needs.
  • These documents bear significant legal implications, so if you do not fully understand what you are reading in the documents, then do not use them. Seek qualified legal counsel to assist you.
  • Always consult the legal professionals in your region to ensure that your estate plan is aligned with local laws and regulations.

THEN WHY PROVIDE THESE?

Times are tough and not everyone can afford an attorney. If you weren’t going to do anything at all and were going to die intestate (i.e., die without a will, trust, or any estate planning in place), then this is better than nothing.

SO… if you were planning on doing nothing, then this last will and testament template plus funeral instructions codicil, even the power of attorney and medical directive would be a step up from nothing.

My family has had to learn firsthand that there is a big difference at probate court between someone dying without a will in place vs. someone with a valid will. Do your loved ones who survive you a huge favor by getting a last will and testament in place.

But if you were planning on hiring an attorney to do your estate planning, then IGNORE THIS POST and do not use these documents. Rely on your attorney’s counsel.

Even if you don’t (and shouldn’t!) use these documents as provided, they’re a good starting point of reference for you to consider how you want to approach your own estate plan and what you would need to gather for safekeeping within that plan.

Also, if you are a licensed attorney yourself but aren’t a wills and trusts attorney, then you may find these starter templates useful.

I dare say this though– if you’re the detail-oriented, research-loving Type A personality who can capably do your own complex tax returns and you negotiate your own contracts, with a spirit of diligence and precision toward all things DIY, then it’s not terribly hard to start with these templates and create your own estate plan. Just sayin’. =P

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