Category: free download

The Tarot Reader as Healer: Why Now, Why You, and How

On By benebellIn cartomancy, conferences, divination, free download, Learn the Tarot, professional tarot, tarot, tarot card meanings, tarot community, tarot exercises1 Comment

The following is from a keynote presentation I did at the Northwest Tarot Symposium in 2022, the materials now made freely and publicly available.

The subject of this presentation was one more often seen as taboo: using the tarot to do health readings.

Spiritual health and its interaction with physical, psychological, and social wellness had been gaining serious attention in medical literature. So I wanted to consider those perspectives in a discussion on spiritual health and tarot.

What this post provides is a summary of the workshop, the PowerPoint presentation slides I used during the keynote that you can now download and walk through, and all the handouts and resources that were provided to the attendees.

Continue reading “The Tarot Reader as Healer: Why Now, Why You, and How” →

Yamantaka, the Wrath of Wisdom and Destroyer of Death: Rites & Rituals

On By benebellIn free download, grimoire, personal spirituality, traditional witchcraft18 Comments

“Wrath of Wisdom and Buddhist Magic: The Rites of Yamantaka”

This is an open informational mini-course on a closed esoteric practice, and builds on what was covered in the preceding course on Kuan Yin (Avalokitesvara) and the Six Syllable Mantra.

Yamantaka will be our entry point into doctrinal medieval Buddhist magic as we explore ritual practices around mandalas, mantras, mudras, and empowerment rites. Which is a bit like throwing you in the deep end of the pool to teach you how to swim. But hey, that’s how I was taught how to swim, so you’re welcome. What’s that species where the mama bird throws the babies off the edge of a cliff and the baby birds either learn how to fly or they die?

I kid. Think of this as just a witchy social studies class. But for those who want to go down the rabbit hole, this write-up will provide you with a well-rounded starter pack, accompanied by exquisite public domain high-res downloads of religious art and Yamantaka mandala references.

Continue reading “Yamantaka, the Wrath of Wisdom and Destroyer of Death: Rites & Rituals” →

Om Mani Padme Hum in Asian Magical Traditions

On By benebellIn free download, Fu talismans, grimoire, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft9 Comments

The Six Syllable Mantra (Om Mani Padme Hum 唵嘛呢叭咪吽) is the foundational entry point for Asian folk magic traditions. This is a mini-course where we’ll be covering both the doctrinal Buddhist foundations and the practical applications.

Part 1 focuses on Doctrine; Part 2 focuses on Ritual. The subsequent Video 2 is for ritual, to convey a direct empowerment so you can experience the magic and the Mystery for yourself. Both videos are now up on my YouTube channel and also linked in this companion article, where I’ll highlight some of the key points from the video and also drop in the references you might need for the recommended practicum.

Buddhist Mysteries emphasize the distinction between conceptual understanding (which Video 1 strives to deliver) and direct realization (which Video 2 strives to deliver). Dedicated, repetitive, sincere resonance with the Mantra itself, which Video 2 helps to facilitate, is how you receive direct realization and actualization.

Continue reading “Om Mani Padme Hum in Asian Magical Traditions” →

Protective Talismans for the Chinese Natal Year, Ben Ming Nian 本命年

On By benebellIn astrology, free download, Fu talismans, grimoire, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft5 Comments

Wow. I’ve been blogging here for over 12 years. I posted about the last Year of the Horse and crafting natal year protective talismans in 2014. Across East Asia, parts of Southeast Asia, and Tibet, you’ll find this belief in natal years and having to take extra precautions if it’s your natal year. Anyway, for those who have been asking, this page will have the download of all natal year Fu talisman design templates.

Natal Year Fu Talismans 本命年符

Inside the zip file folder is a “READ ME” document that explains how to use natal year Fu talismans, and also, has a reference table of the Chinese zodiac sign corresponding to each and every year, from 1937 to 2056, which you may find helpful for figuring your own Chinese zodiac sign, if you don’t know it already, and identifying all of your Natal Years. The READ ME will also explain the anatomy of the Fu sigil design.

Continue reading “Protective Talismans for the Chinese Natal Year, Ben Ming Nian 本命年” →

Mandala of Heaven 周天: Taoist Alchemy Course

On By benebellIn divination, feng shui, free download, grimoire, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism9 Comments

$40

A Cultivation Practicum

This is an introduction to Taoist inner alchemy, by way of cultivation work with the Zhou Tian, or Mandalas of Heaven, grounded in canonical source texts and living tradition. Key features of this curriculum are:

  • A 200+ page structured textbook and workbook (that serves as a companion and book of your study notes, personal reflections, and log of experiences)
  • Primary canonical texts translated into English (I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this obscure text translated into English before) with annotations
  • Practice instructions that go beyond the free, publicly available lectures and guided experience prompts
  • Structures the free, publicly available material into theoretical foundations and practical application
  • Emphasis on ethical grounding and safety
  • Participant Question & Answer feature (a password-protected FAQs page tailored to you)

The two core lectures on the Lesser Mandala of Heaven 小周天 and Greater Mandala of Heaven 大周天 are already available free to the public, which you can access:

  1. A Taoist Secret to Cultivating Personal Power: On the Lesser Mandala of Heaven, Xiao Zhou Tian 小周天
    1. Video Lecture
    2. Supplemental Notes
  2. Advanced Introduction to Taoist Alchemy: On the Greater Mandala of Heaven, Da Zhou Tian 大周天
    1. Video Lecture
    2. Supplemental Notes

This deeper-dive cultivation practicum organizes what was introduced in those two lectures into a sequential system that becomes praxis-oriented.

The course book, which is a workbook, is a guide on how to integrate those core practices.

In other words, the two free lectures introduce the ideas. This course is where the cultivation actually happens. It is a structured container for the teachings.

The coursework expands the scope in depth and breadth, curating a curriculum to study, practice, and self-reflect on the Mandalas over a period of 100 days,  guided by a 200-page course textbook, through which you will:

  1. Notably increase your internal vitality, awakening and actualizing otherwise untapped core powers, &
  2. Master the foundational principles and symbolic systems shared among many lineages of folk magic across Asia, essential in Taoist mysticism and esoteric Buddhism.

Deliverables

  • A 200+ page cultivation manual and workbook (digital PDF delivered to your email inbox; you can order a printed spiral-bound copy of the book via a third-party print-on-demand site at-cost). Your course text becomes your one-stop consolidated resource with all of the following and more:
    • Authoritative reference tables and diagrams
    • Organized sections with clear, beginner-accessible explanations of core Taoist principles, especially in the area of inner alchemy
    • Step-by-step guided practice instructions
    • Canonical sources and textual translations, so that you know where these practices come from and how they were historically understood
    • Reflection prompts and line space for you to log your insights and experiences right next to the reference materials– this helps to reinforce your learning, and also serves as a journal– you’ll be able to refer back what you wrote in here and assess your own progress
  • MP4 downloads of just the guided meditation. I’ll send you two versions: one that has Heart Sutra musical incantations in the background layered beyind my voiceover narration, and a version that’s the voiceover narration only.
  • 300-dpi resolution digital image of the cover design (17.25” x 11.25”), which can be be used for art prints, wall hangings, etc. In Taoist and various Eastern esoteric traditions, such a design would be called a form of Spirit Map (靈圖, líng tú) or magical painting (術畫, shù huà).
    • Cover design features four mandalas from the post-Geluk era (circa 17th c.) representing the canonical four Buddha families and generally symbolic of a four-fold cosmological system of protective guardians.
    • The central seal that spreads across both the front and back covers is the Blue Medicine Buddha. The 64 hexagrams appear both as an 8×8 square diagram and as a full circle.
  • Original translations and annotations of excerpted chapters from the Dao Men Yu Yao 道門語要 (Fundamentals of Taoist Alchemy), circa 1271 – 1325, specifically the two chapters on the Lesser Mandala “運小周天之法” and the Greater Mandala “行大周天之功” with explanatory annotations
    • Fundamentals is a collection of much older canonical essays compiled by Huang Shang 黃裳, a Taoist priest of the Zhongpai 中派 (Middle Pillar Lineage), a tradition of Taoist inner alchemy
      dated back to the Yuan dynasty founded by the master Li Daochun 李道纯.
    • The essays date back to the Yuan dynasty, received texts of the Lineage, while the date of Huang Shang’s compilation is unclear, though speculated to be the Qing dynasty.
    • The Middle Pillar Lineage was known for its syncretizing of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.
    • The term “黃裳,” Huang Shang’s namesake, is a direct reference from Hexagram 2, Line 5 of the I Ching.
  • QUESTION & ANSWER WITH BELL | Course Participants Only FAQs Page. Email me your questions and I’ll compile the Q&As into a password-protected page for course participants only. This is your opportunity to ask me any questions you have related to these subjects.
    • Admittedly I’m not great at responding to emails, especially ones with questions that may involve a thoughtful, thorough reply. But the questions submitted through this course curriculum will be prioritized, and I’ll answer them via multimedia formats on a password-protected FAQs page.
    • You can ask anything related to this subject matter. Or ask how I personally practice, or apply certain principles. Feel free to ask about my perspective, or ask the questions on Taoist mysticism that you can’t seem to find anywhere else in English.

Download the

Course Syllabus

Through the framework of the Lesser and Greater Mandalas of Heaven, this course introduces the foundations of classical Taoist inner alchemy. It will consist of studying translations and annotations of canonical source texts on the Mandalas of Heaven, guided practice, and reflective work.

Download an Excerpt

Read the First 49 Pages

For a sampling of what’s in the course book, click on the above link to a PDF to read the first 49 pages, which outlines your learning objectives, gives you the table of contents, and introduces the premise of this Work.

Continue reading “Mandala of Heaven 周天: Taoist Alchemy Course” →

Tarot and I Ching Correspondences (Reference)

On By benebellIn divination, free download, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), tarot, tarot card meanings, tarot symbolism13 Comments

I’m an I Ching aficionado and also a tarot aficionado, wrote chonky books on both subjects, so naturally I’ve thought long and hard about how the two systems reconcile. This page is a download of a tarot and I Ching correspondence table for your easy go-to referencing.

PDF

DOCX

Continue reading “Tarot and I Ching Correspondences (Reference)” →

Create Your Own Metaphysician’s Day Planner: Downloadable Templates

On By benebellIn astrology, cartomancy, create your own deck, divination, free download, grimoire, personal, personal spirituality, promotional, tarot community, traditional witchcraft22 Comments

A few weeks ago I announced that we were retiring the annual Metaphysician’s Day Planner offering, after nine consecutive years of making them, each one custom-made to order with your birth chart and that year’s solar return chart. Plus the companion Metaphysician’s Guide that comes with the year ahead’s astrological forecasts, auspicious dates, inauspicious dates, and the dates to notable astrological or astronomical events.

Although we won’t be selling and making them anymore, we also didn’t want to leave you in a lurch, especially since we acknowledge that many of you have come to rely on it year after year. First, thank you so, so very much for your support over so many years. That’s amazing! Second, thank you for your understanding, patience, and sympathies that it’s just no longer feasible for us to be doing this, as our process is entirely manual and “old school” in this new world of everything getting generated instantly by digital automation.

I changed my mind and I am offering a “MDP Lite” version for 2026, which you can learn more about HERE. The layout design for many of the classic sections have been updated, and I will be updating some of the reference content as well.

You can still download the templates for the past day planner design and layout, however.

Continue reading “Create Your Own Metaphysician’s Day Planner: Downloadable Templates” →

A Taoist Secret to Cultivating Personal Power

On By benebellIn feng shui, free download, grimoire, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism14 Comments

This is Part I of a two-part video lecture that introduces a Taoist secret breathwork practice known as the Lesser Mandala of Heaven, or Xiao Zhou Tian 小周天.

Rooted in classic Taoist inner alchemy (內丹, neidan), it teaches you to unlock a hidden energy circuit that runs through your body, up the spinal Du 督 meridian and down the frontal Ren 任 meridian, forming a continuous loop of vitality.

By circulating the triple treasures along this hidden energy path, you harmonize the body’s three dantian 丹田, or energy centers, with the three realms and cycles of the universe. Taoist masters believe this alignment refines your essence, restores internal balance, and elevates your personal power.

To round out the discussions, we’ll be covering:

  • Guarding the Center 守中 baseline Taoist practices and their textual/historical origins
  • The Guarding of the One 守一冥想 guided meditation
  • Principle of Union of Heaven and Humanity (Tian Ren He Yi, 天人合一)
  • Ethical foundations (de, 德) and the Three Virtues as the basis of cultivation
  • Lifestyle precepts
  • The Du 督 and Ren 任 meridians
  • Jing, Qi, Shen 精氣神: The Triple Treasure
  • About Your Dantian (Three Internal Fields)
  • The Internal Body Clock & Wu Xing
  • Personal ritual space mirroring Taoist cosmology and numerology
  • The Six Omens of spiritual awakening, confirming readiness for Greater Mandala of Heaven work
  • Study of the translations and annotations of the Fundamentals of Taoist Alchemy 道門語要 (1271 – 1325) source text
This orbit is set up to attune with the cyclical convection current of nature: heat rises and expands, as it rises, it then cools, contracts, becomes denser, and so the denser, cooler flow sinks down, contracting.

The video is timestamped, and you’ll find a step-by-step guided practice on how to direct breath up and down this internal orbit, transforming your body into a living mandala and tuning it to the rhythmic cycles of nature.

This practice is more typically transmitted from teacher to disciple, but here, let’s see if we can offer a more direct and more easily accessible method.

Whether your goal is improved health, increasing your energy reservoir so you can get more done in a day, or to unlock your mystical potential, this is a cultivation technique worth your while to learn.

Continue reading “A Taoist Secret to Cultivating Personal Power” →

Overview of Western Art Movements: Art History Timeline (Handout Download)

On By benebellIn create your own deck, free download, Magical in the Mundane, personal, personal spirituality1 Comment

Back in 2021 after completing SKT the Third, I shared a scan of my personal art study notes here, “Download My Art Study Journal.”

I converted the handwritten notes from pages 25 – 33, and integrating notes from other pages in that notebook into the following cleaned-up and expanded handout:

Download Handout

Art History Timeline

PDF

DOCX

The PDF file will be easier to work with. However, for those who want to cut and paste or edit the contents in the handout to create something more custom-tailored to your own needs and purposes, feel free to do so from the DOCX file.

Continue reading “Overview of Western Art Movements: Art History Timeline (Handout Download)” →

Critiquing Your Own Art (Handbook)

On By benebellIn create your own deck, free download, Magical in the Mundane, personal, personal spirituality8 Comments

I’ve written about my self-taught art journey during the pandemic here. I found a bunch of MFA art program syllabuses online and aggregated them together into my own curriculum, then scoured the interwebs for online courses, video lectures, tutorials, books, blogs, anything and everything I could get my hands on to learn composition and the core principles of art making.

You can also download my art study journal here, which is what this handbook, a free download, is based on.

Critiquing Your Own Art

PDF Download

It reads as if after you’ve produced a work of art, you’re supposed to run through the checklist of items for review page after page in this handbook and self-audit how well you did in each of the categories. Yes and no.

It’s funny, whenever I endeavor to unpack something into its parts to analyze, people accuse me of being too analytical at the cost of creativity and intuition.

But if you observe me in the everyday, you’d think me a hypocrite, because in life, I very much operate off intuition rather than pure, cold logic. I go off my feelings way more than I go off rational deduction.

Yet rational analysis is the necessary checks and balances to your supposed intuition. Your intuition can get tainted by bias. So you have to be hyper self-aware and mindful.

While I would be the first to agree that you do not need a checklist to determine and define what is or is not great art, there is some value to deconstructing why we consider certain pieces “great art” and others not.

And if you can deconstruct that, can you then use it as elements to construct “great art”? I don’t know, but why not try? Even if you fail, you’re going to learn valuable lessons from that failure, so I welcome it, don’t you?

If anything, this sort of guided checklist helps you to more likely spot areas for improvement in your craft.

Anyway, that’s how this handbook got started, and you’ll see that the contents are extracted from that art study journal from 2021, which I kept as reference throughout 2020 while I was working on the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot. I converted the content into, well, a bunch of concrete, tangible points for consideration when critiquing your own art.

It’s not like every single one of the points in this handbook will be 100% applicable to you. It’s more about using it as a general reference, to help you navigate self-assessment of your craft.

Here’s the MS Word doc version for those who want to cut and paste around, and change it up to make it personalized:

Critiquing Your Own Art

DOCX Download

The content within this handbook is free for you to use, share, adapt, and build upon in any way that serves you, be that for personal or commercial purposes. Whether you distribute the PDF or DOCX as-is, remix it into your own content, my goal is for this to reach those who will benefit from it. So do whatever you Will with it.