Secret Book of the Three Sovereigns

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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Changes to the YouTube Channel and Access to Past Videos

In an effort to curate the publicly visible videos on the Benebell Wen YouTube channel, many past videos are now unlisted but still publicly available via the Playlists tab.

For a ballpark sense of how many videos are now unlisted, as of this posting only 129 of 405 total videos are publicly visible in the general Videos tab and thus only those 129 videos are searchable on the YouTube platform.

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Crafting with a Ba Gua Mirror in Traditional Asian Witchcraft

Learn a little more about this common ritual tool in traditional Asian folk magic. I’m inviting you to give the ba gua or eight trigrams mirror a try.

This video covers a few pointers on how to use a ba gua mirror to tell whether you’ve been hexed or cursed (a folksy practice that’s interesting to learn about, at the very elast), how a ba gua mirror can amplify your spell-crafting techniques, a simple intention-setting candle spell, how to make your own ba gua mirror if you can’t source one, and how to integrate this one tool and folk practice into what you’re already doing.

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Thunder Rites (雷法) | Tinkering Bell #9

This is a free introductory course into Lei Fa, a classical form of Taoist sorcery. Lei Fa (雷法), translated into English as Thunder Rites or Thunder Magic, is a tradition of ceremonial magic and Chinese occult craft that rose in popularity during the Song Dynasty of China (A.D. 960—1279). In Eastern esoteric traditions, Lei Fa is considered one of the more advanced practices.

Chinese characters for Lei Fa, Thunder Rites. Left: Oracle Bone Script. Right: Traditional Chinese. Click to download.

There are both inner and outer alchemical forms of Thunder Rites. Methodologies are premised on the belief that thunder is the divine command of Heaven and a practitioner can harvest the power of thunder to absorb powers from Heaven and use those powers to both exorcise demons and heal sickness (because, for the most part, historically sickness was attributed to demonic possession).

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Bloodstone for Shielding | Tinkering Bell #8

Craft your own bloodstone talisman for shielding and cloaking, inspired by what we read from Pliny the Elder, the Grand Grimoire (Red Dragon), and The Book of Secrets of Albertus Magnus.

In Episode 8 of our Tinkering Bell series, we’re talking about bloodstone. Specifically, it’s about looking to a couple of medieval sources for inspiration to craft a bloodstone talisman, done over the course of about 8 days. This talisman is for personal shielding and divine protection, and according to lore, one of the most powerful shields against demons, warding off curses or those trying to curse you, and all mannerisms of bad juju.

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Integrating the Culture-Specific Craft I Share into Your Path

I’m writing this post mostly for my own benefit because I get the question asked so often and I’m kind of getting to the point of laziness where I dread typing and rehashing out my answer. Now in the future I can link to this post.

Everything I share….everything…is set with the intention, the hope, and aspiration that if you’ve found it, resonate with it even when it’s not your culture or even anywhere close to what ordinarily enters your personal path and craft, that you will nonetheless feel an untainted, anxiety-free freedom to integrate it into your path.

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On Spell Oils (Cf. Anointing Oils)

Introduction to Spell Oils

A spell oil is at its essence a form of alchemy where you combine certain herbs, stones, or other natural ingredients for their metaphysical properties and the specific combination and proportion of ingredients used is all significant for yielding a particular result. The result is one where life force in your environment is modified or amplified in such a way as to render those energies more conducive for achieving the success that you’re seeking.

This primer will cover the basics on spell oils, how to craft your first spell oil, and also notes for consideration if you, as a practitioner, decide to craft spell oils for others at some point and how to go about doing so.

Spell Oils vs. Anointing Oils

I mark a distinction between spell oils and anointing oils, though let’s acknowledge that not every practitioner does. So, since I’m marking a distinction, I should probably explain what I think the difference is.

When I craft a spell oil, it’s only one single bottle at a time, for a specific purpose, intended for a specific beneficiary. It’s custom crafted. I don’t personally craft spell oils in bulk, but I’m also not a commercial proprietor (meaning, it’s perfectly fine and legit to be crafting spell oils in bulk, under specifically defined circumstances, however). When an oil consists of a very specific proprietary recipe and a specifically instructed ritual is used to activate the oil once in the hands of an individual, even when made in bulk, I would still consider that a spell oil.

An anointing oil is not so much a spell per se as it is an energy clearing, energy modifying, or energy amplifying mechanism. Maybe I’m splitting hairs here, I don’t know. There’s something a little more “general purpose” to anointing oils, if you’re asking me. However, it could be specific in terms of working with a particular deity. But to me, that’s still not exactly a “spell.”

An anointing oil assists. It becomes part of the practitioner’s toolkit. It’s folded into the greater ceremonial process of a ritual or working.

A spell oil is the working. It’s not part of a toolkit. It’s a done deal and it’s intended to help the recipient manifest something. A spell oil is a spell. An anointing oil by itself is not a spell.

I guess I also think of spell oils as something for everybody, anybody. Whereas anointing oils I think of as more tailored toward practitioners of craft and for facilitating that craft. Of course, lines do blur between the two.

This post is about spell oils, hence the “(Cf. Anointing Oils)” because we won’t be talking about anointing oils.

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Practica of Esoteric Craft (Tinkering Bell Series)

Some of you are familiar with the Tinkering Bell video series already. This page is a consolidation of all episodes so that you can work through the materials as a free comprehensive practica on esoteric craft. Each video and accompanying text below is one practicum for you to work through. In other words, there’s a “homework assignment” for you to do after each episode.

I’ve designed this series to be a collection of practical applications of craft for you to actually try out. Take notes during your process to document your own methodologies and also your impressions of the craft. When you’ve finalized something that works for you, take the time to add it to your personal grimoire.

In the links provided to each episode’s instructional page, you’ll find one section titled “Homework: Your Practicum.” That is where you’ll find the recommended practicum to try out for yourself, based on the material covered in the episode. All written content and reference files are also provided so that you can write out a comprehensive page or page spread in your own grimoire after each practicum.

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Seal of Changes | Tinkering Bell #7

The Seal of Changes is a template for crafting 64 talismanic sigils that harness the 64 powers encoded into the I Ching: Book of Changes. In this practicum video, I’ll share with you my favorite one: the Seal for Raising an Army based on Hexagram 7.

This work is dedicated to the public domain.

Download the blank template for the Seal of Changes:

Seal of Changes (Blank Template)

Digital Design in JPG (Public Domain)

If you want to fully understand how to operate the Seal of Changes for controlling the 64 powers from the I Ching, then you’ll first need to understand the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching and some of their metaphysical and occult correspondences. A great place to attain a solid foundation to that regard is my “I Ching and Practitioner” course, which you can find and order below.

“I Ching and the Practitioner”

Course Description

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Holy Anointing Oil or Oil of Abramelin | Tinkering Bell #6

I made a Tinkering Bell practicum video on crafting Holy Anointing Oil, as it had been instructed in the Book of Exodus, and also the derivatives found in later occult texts, such as the Book of Abramelin, a medieval grimoire on Kabbalistic magic, and Aleister Crowley’s Book of the Law.

Today, the day of the posting, January 15, we see the sun and moon in Capricorn already (quite the stellium going on in Capricorn right now actually). Tomorrow January 16 is the new moon in Capricorn and at 6:00 pm Pacific Time (you’ll need to do a time zone conversion accordingly), both the sun and moon will be at exactly 26 degrees. I’m sharing this practicum one day before the new moon so you have some time to make preparations as needed, should you want to try crafting the oil for yourself.

This accompanying blog post is an addendum to the video, where I reflect on my personal impressions. What I’m sharing here are based on the journal entries I logged while crafting this oil.

Watch the video first before reading any of the below, as everything onward will presume you’ve already seen the video.

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