Category: personal spirituality

Are Asian Folk Traditions “Pagan”?

On By benebellIn conferences, Magical in the Mundane, opinion, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism1 Comment
Maybe I’m Not a “Witch.” Maybe We’re Excluded for a Reason.

There was a fun witchy banner I scrolled upon with this happy, inspiring message of “Pagans and Witches Unite!” It then featured Stregheria, Feri, Cultus Sabbati, Luciferian, Haitian Vodou, Santeria (Lukumi), Palo Mayombe, Wicca, and then a catch-all “Indigenous Shamanic Paths.”

No special call-out to Asians?

And by “Asian” I really do mean continental, islander, north, south, east, west, there was NO representation there at all. For the largest most populated continent in the world, making up more than half the global population of magical traditions and practices, people just decided to tuck all of that under “Other”?

It seems like Asian magical traditions are always getting left out.

Continue reading “Are Asian Folk Traditions “Pagan”?” →

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 witchcraft3 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), Taoism6 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” →

Is magic and mysticism a replacement for trauma therapy?

On By benebellIn opinion, personal, personal spirituality, traditional witchcraft9 Comments

This commentary sums up my responsive thoughts to a certain heated, well, highly-engaged – we’ll call it – provocative discussion that was going on in my social network. The assertion presented was: Magick is not a replacement for therapy and definitely not a form of trauma therapy. By extension, anyone making such claims is unethical, misleading, and hurting vulnerable populations.

Just for the full context so you can catch me if I’m off, the quote was:

“Guys, Magick IS NOT a replacement for therapy and it’s DEFINITELY NOT a form of trauma therapy. Please do not listen to anyone who tells you differently. Such a claim is unethical, misleading; and even worse, hurtful to vulnerable people who seek healing. I am a licensed therapist with 20 years of mental health experience and an occultist. I hope this means something. . . . Jessica says magicians posing as ‘magick healers’ are no different than evangelical faith healers who prey on the vulnerable. She say the key is EMDR, not LBRP.”

I want to start by saying there is nothing there that I disagree with. In principle, the author of this original post is right. And also, this is the right messaging.

“Magick,” beyond Aleister Crowley’s definition of “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will,” is use of ceremonial rituals, sigils, visualization meditations, meditations in general maybe, mantra work maybe and so by extension, affirmations (?), herbalism to an extent, and various other “woo-woo” practices like candle magic, spell jars, spellwork, trying to time certain forms of workings to seasons, lunar phases, or planetary movements, and/or using divination as a form of diagnostics tool.

So what do I really think? Can such modalities that we categorize under “magick” replace trauma therapy administered by a licensed, qualified healthcare provider?

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Seeing Auras; Ascribing Meaning: Sensory Experience vs. Moral Evaluation

On By benebellIn personal, personal spirituality8 Comments

Cross-posted from my newly minted Substack

I see auras. And also, I pay no attention to them. For most of my life I presumed it was a defect with my eyesight or brain or both — which by the way, that’s most likely it.

That said, medical explanations don’t take away from the spiritual implications, at least not for me. Ocular migraines and severe astigmatism are both known to cause a person to see a halo-like glow around people. Chronic dry eyes and corneal irregularities compounding ocular migraines and astigmatism can then make the glow appear to bear color.

Synesthesia can also be another culprit for what we think of as seeing auras. Your senses get cross-wired, so you see color when you hear sounds, hear musical notes when you see colors, and feel notes and numbers on a musical scale in different bones; likewise, someone’s presence — which we can all sense, it’s the “vibes” you get off a person — can get color-coded, and that’s the aura color a synthesthete might see.

Having not just one or some but all of the aforementioned conditions is probably why, medically speaking, this is what I see when I look at people:

Trying to use colored pencils to show what auras look like to me…

Continue reading “Seeing Auras; Ascribing Meaning: Sensory Experience vs. Moral Evaluation” →

Frater Setnakh’s Tarot Coins and Archangels Set

On By benebellIn astrology, deck review, divination, grimoire, Magical in the Mundane, numerology, personal spirituality, tarot, tarot symbolism, traditional witchcraft6 Comments

Frater Setnakh is one of the most incredible, detail-oriented artisans of ritual artifacts I’ve come across. I’ve previously reviewed the 72 Angels Talisman Coins and Cards he sent me, which I keep on display in my sitting room. Here I’ll be showcasing his latest offering, Tarot Coins, along with the Guardian Angel Coins, or Seven Archangels.

The detailing on these coins is incredible, so I’ll also be showing a zoomed-in view of several of the coins, photo essay style. You can click on any of the images and magnify the photo to see just how fine the craftsmanship is here and each coin’s delicate engraving.

Per the ritual artifact description, this is the “world’s very first collection of tarot coins inspired by the Rider-Waite deck.” And personally I have yet to see tarot coins crafted at this level of detail and intricacy. They’re simply exquisite.

Continue reading “Frater Setnakh’s Tarot Coins and Archangels Set” →

Advanced Introduction to Taoist Alchemy

On By benebellIn Fu talismans, grimoire, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Magical in the Mundane, numerology, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft2 Comments

This is Part II of what we started in Part I on the Lesser Mandala of Heaven. Part II covers the Greater Mandala of Heaven, and in doing so, provides an advanced introduction to Taoist alchemy.

We are continuing from Part I, so I’ll presume you’re already familiar with what we covered there. If you haven’t watched that video lecture “A Taoist Secret to Cultivating Personal Power: Inner Alchemy Basics,” please do before proceeding.

In this introduction, I want to explore the inner logic that underlies one of the world’s most sophisticated (in my opinion) systems of spiritual cultivation. I intend for this intro to be a deep-dive into the heart of Taoist alchemy by delineating the Greater Mandala of Heaven.

The ultimate goal of Taoist alchemy is to transform the finite into the infinite, matter into spirit, and limitation into transcendence. We cover this ground by first understanding the distinction made between inner alchemy and outer alchemy.

Philosophically, this is a system and tradition that presents a compelling perspective on how Change happens.

Historical Textual References

In addition to the two texts mentioned in Part I, these are some of the oft-cited sources of insight on the Greater Mandala of Heaven 大周天. The titles are hyperlinked to the full texts over at ctext.org (the Chinese Text Project). While CTP as a site has its limitations, it’s one of the best free, accessible, and online databases for primary sources of pre-modern Chinese texts, so it’s the most user-friendly for folks like you and me.

Continue reading “Advanced Introduction to Taoist Alchemy” →

2026 Metaphysician’s Day Planner $17

On By benebellIn astrology, cartomancy, divination, feng shui, grimoire, holistic horoscopes, Magical in the Mundane, numerology, personal spirituality, promotional, tarot, tarot community13 Comments

The Metaphysician’s Day Planner (MDP) is going to continue, at least for another year, though for 2026, as a “Lite” scaled back offering. It’s $17 for the personalized day planner customized with your natal chart and 2026 solar returns chart, e-delivered to your e-mail address as a digital file (PDF). We recommend using Lulu.com (not sponsored) a third-party print-on-demand site to print the physical spiral-bound copy of your MDP.

For a section by section, feature by feature walk-through of the 2026 MDP, CLICK HERE.

Continue reading “2026 Metaphysician’s Day Planner $17” →

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), Taoism12 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” →