Category: Taoism

The Semantics of Devil, Demon, and Ghost: 鬼 Guǐ

On By benebellIn I Ching The Oracle (book), Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft12 Comments

I stumbled upon an online discussion criticizing Fabrizio Pregadio’s translation of gui 鬼 to “demon, devil” [in Encyclopedia of Taoism (2008)], calling this translation inaccurate and problematic. The commenters in that discussion thread preferred the translation of gui to “ghost,” emphatically declaring that gui as ghost is the right approach, and that equating gui to demon or devil is wrong.

The rationale was that demon and devil have a connotation of evil in the West, which the term gui does not have. The term “ghost” is a bit more neutral – they say – and so gui as ghost is the better translation.

Continue reading “The Semantics of Devil, Demon, and Ghost: 鬼 Guǐ” →

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.)

Continue reading “Taoist Mysteries of the Six Holy Kings” →

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.

Continue reading “I Ching Oracle Cards (Free Printables)” →

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.

Continue reading “Secret Book of the Three Sovereigns” →

The Guan Yinzi

On By benebellIn Fu talismans, grimoire, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft14 Comments

also known as the Wen Shi Zhen Jing: Sutra of Magical Spells and Aphorisms for Attaining Primordial Truth

The more recognized naming convention for the sutra is the Guan Yinzi (闕尹子) or Wen Shi Zhen Jing (文始真經) attributed to the gatekeeper who Laozi encountered.

The Guan Yinzi (or Wen Shi Zhen Jing)

According to lore, the gatekeeper at the Western Pass, named Yinxi 尹喜, later given the name Wenshi (文始), transcribed the teachings of Laozi and that text became the Tao Te Ching (道德經). Alternate tellings have Laozi writing the teachings down into two books himself, which the gatekeeper then receives.

Continue reading “The Guan Yinzi” →

I Ching and the 60-Year Lunar-Solar Calendar Cycle

On By benebellIn astrology, divination, holistic horoscopes, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Tao of Craft (book), Taoism16 Comments

My Instagram post from five days ago noted that 2024 (or more accurately, year of the Wood Dragon) corresponds with hexagram 43. Some have been describing it as a forecast or prediction. That’s not entirely accurate, so I thought I’d clarify.

It’s not so much a forecast as it is an application of I Ching theory.

Continue reading “I Ching and the 60-Year Lunar-Solar Calendar Cycle” →

Why is the word “feminist” triggering? Disappointing realizations.

On By benebellIn I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), opinion, personal, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism26 Comments

So I posted this video yesterday:

When I made this video, I genuinely did not think there’d be anything controversial about it. I will even continue the assumption now and say that if you actually watch it in the entirety, you, too, would not reach the conclusion that it’s trying to be anti-male. Nor will you find it laced with any ulterior motive of gender politics.

Heck, now in retrospect, I probably could have titled the video “Tao Te Ching & the Divine Feminine.” Right? It’s just that I have a complicated relationship with the concept of “divine feminine” hence I went with “feminist metaphysics.”

Within hours of its posting, I received the following comments:

This blog post starts with my reaction to the above responses, but then I’ll go off on a tangent to share some unfiltered ramblings with respect to Eurocentric Taoism and cultural appropriation.

Continue reading “Why is the word “feminist” triggering? Disappointing realizations.” →

Dragon Gods, Land Spirits; the Hakka

On By benebellIn feng shui, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Taoism, traditional witchcraft11 Comments

I’m compounding several different topics into one video and probably should have done separate videos for each topic, but for me, they’re all related to each other, and so I guess from that personal perspective, it makes sense for me to be presenting them in one bundle.

Upfront, let’s clarify: I’m not teaching, I’m sharing. I wanted to learn more, went out and attempted to learn more, and this video and companion blog post is just me passing on to you what I’ve learned.

Dragon Gods of the Earth 土地龍神

Image Source: 香港古蹟行腳. 

Dragon god(s) (土地龍神, tǔ dì lóong shén ) are personifications of the land, where mountains and rivers meet, and thus from a feng shui perspective, reveal dragon veins (龍脈, lóong mài).

Rituals (such as 化胎, Huàtāi; in Hakka, it’s pronounced Fā Tói) can be performed to harness the qi or powerful essence from these dragon veins to bless a home and bless lands that the Hakka now occupy to ensure good harvests, prosperity, safety, protection, and good health.

What’s distinct about Hakka dragon spirits veneration is its association with the earth rather than water. Traditionally in Chinese lore, dragon spirits/gods 龍神 and the Dragon King 龍王 are associated with the temperaments of the seas.

Continue reading “Dragon Gods, Land Spirits; the Hakka” →

Your Inner Palace 元辰宮 and the Akashic Records

On By benebellIn Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft20 Comments

This blog post is an addendum and continuation after what I discuss in the video linked above.

The Akashic Records is very much a Western conception, right? The Theosophists of the 19th century formulated a mash-up of Eastern and Western esoteric traditions and from that mash-up came its most popular legacy– the Akashic Records.

Most of us get that the “Akashic” part was inspired by the akasha, a fifth element or essence found in various Asian traditions, associated with the sky, space, aether, and in Buddhism, even a state of mind. But what about the “Records” part?

But first, I’d like to start with the discussion on akasha and godhead.

Continue reading “Your Inner Palace 元辰宮 and the Akashic Records” →

Descent into the Underworld: Guan Luo Yin, a Wu shamanistic practice

On By benebellIn Fu talismans, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft1 Comment

Guan Luo Yin 觀落陰 is a practice of wu shamanism 巫術 found primarily in the South Pacific. While methodologies will differ, one approach is as an astral journey to the underworld to see the spirits of those who have passed on; another is as a method of “remote viewing.”

Some traditions conceptualize the descent as beginning from the entrance to a cave at the base of a mountain (associated with the Kunlun Mountain). Others conceptualize it as a palace with many floors descending (as opposed to ascending the way floors of a building are constructed in the physical earthly world).

This video serves as an introduction to the practice.

See also: