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.
Continue reading “Changes to the YouTube Channel and Access to Past Videos”
This video is part of a companion course series leading up to the release of my third book, I Ching, The Oracle. I’ve covered this topic previously here, “Mysterious Lady of the Ninth Heaven (Jiu Tian Xuan Nü, 九天玄女).” However, given the personal relevance, we’re revisiting the Lady of the Nine Heavens, now within the context of my Purpose for publishing this new translation of the Book of Changes.
This video lecture course is an overview of the eight trigrams (八卦, Bā Guà). It is part of a companion course series leading up to the release of my third book, I Ching, The Oracle.
Timestamps provided in the video description box (you’ll have to watch on the YouTube platform). Apologies, the editing and audio are a bit choppy. The timing of the slides and voiceover narration are off in a few places.
Let’s make it unambiguously clear that nothing herein is science or evidence-based medicine.
For the last three years, J and I have been routinely applying this multi-purpose antiviral treatment (in addition to getting vaccinated, boosting up the wazoo, and making prudent judgment calls with regard to masking). I sincerely believe this treatment oil has kept us Covid-free throughout the pandemic.
Oh, and not to mention, it’s great for my scalp, controlling dandruff, and promoting hair growth. Just a totally random incidental benefit. =)
You can convert the basic recipe into a mouth wash. Historically a myrrh mouth rinse was used after tooth extractions because the myrrh oil kills bacteria and sanitizes.
The base recipe also makes for a fantastic cologne. I get so many compliments about the scent when I wear this as a cologne.
Continue reading “Antiviral Oil: Holistic Wellness Meets Occult Praxis”
This is a companion write-up to the above video.
Continuing from what I said in the video chat, if this is something you seriously want to do, then start by getting that three-ring binder. Though I think organizing it into eleven sections is sufficient, I noticed you can’t buy packs of just eleven binder dividers. They come in sets of 12, so that’s fine. Having a final “Miscellany” tab is always a good idea anyway.
Continue reading “Taoist Magic for Beginners: How to Get Started”
The above video commentary is a short introduction to esoteric Buddhism, covering the distinctions between sutra-based Buddhism and tantric Buddhism. As noted at the end of the video, this write-up will give instructions to the “homework assignments,” practica [I don’t know why I’m such a nerd and called these “homework assignments”] intended to give you a firsthand experience with Buddhist folk magic.
Timestamp 11:39 Addendum: Oops, I cut out too much of the raw video chat and omitted the part where I talked about where I was going with this. =) So if you were left confused, it’s not you, it’s me. =) Continuing from what I am saying at this timestamp, if tantric esoteric Buddhist cultivation is characterized as a “shortcut” to the destination but one that’s far more dangerous and riskier terrain, then endeavoring to take this route all but requires a highly skilled guide to help you navigate the tougher terrain. It’s not a route you’d want to go at on your own or, worse yet, with a guide falsely self-proclaimed as a lama or spiritual leader who will lead you astray, or who isn’t equipped to help you deal with mara. Thus, the framing of the question shouldn’t be “is it open or closed,” but rather as “what, really, would be the most assured path for you?” Can you fully trust someone else’s claim of endowing you with the empowerment you’re seeking?
As a beginner-level introduction, these practices are intended to be general enough for all, so you’ll be encouraged to piecemeal neutral elements often found in esoteric Buddhism and graft it onto your preexisting practice, and most importantly of all, your local environment.
Just like esoteric Buddhism takes on the indigenous practices and magical systems from the land it touches, be that Bön folk magic syncretized with Buddhism in Tibet, Taoist mysticism with Buddhism in China, Shinto in Japan, or tantric Buddhism melded with Tai and Hmong shamanic practices in Southeast Asia, you’ll be working with features of esoteric Buddhism syncretized with what’s native to you.
Cory Thomas Hutcheson, author of New World Witchery: A Trove of North American Folk Magic (2021), has brought together an incredible assembly of folk practitioners from across North America– Mexico, the United States, and Canada.
You will get an own voices insider perspective of Appalachian mountain magic, brujeria, curanderismo, Detroit hoodoo, Florida swamp magic, French Canadian sorcellerie, Irish American folk magic, Italian American magic, Melungeon folk magic, New England cunning craft, New Orleans voodoo, Ozark folk magic, Pennsylvania powwow and braucherei, Slavic American folk magic, Southern conjure, and more.
North America stretches five thousand miles across, nestled in between two great oceans, and within that space, frozen tundra, glaciers, pine forests, deciduous rainforests, blooming deserts, prairies, and towering groves of redwood.
This is the homeland of hundreds of Indigenous nations for millennia, a land ravaged with invasions and displacements, of dark legacies but also a hope for and collective effort to forge a brighter future.
Continue reading “Complete Book of North American Folk Magic, edited by Cory Thomas Hutcheson”
Líng Tú 靈圖, or spirit maps, are oft referenced in the Taoist Canons (道藏經). They’re a recurring feature in the Canons that have always intrigued me, and how the term “Líng Tú” is used in the scriptures.
So that’s the topic for video #6 in this series.
Let’s summarize the three classifications of spirit maps: (1) maps of spirit realms for the purposes of astral journeying or spiritual cultivation, (2) enshrining divinities or creating thresholds for which communication between the physical and spirit realms can take place, and (3) Fu, which are talismanic edicts or petitions to regulate spirit forces in a way that will influence physical forces.
This is a crash course on the Wu Xing 五行, Five Dynamic Movements, though you’ll often see it called the Five Elements of East Asian metaphysics. These are five alchemical agents of change to describe how yin and yang qi create, destroy, and thus transform the physical world.
1/30/2023 Erratum Update: A few of the correspondence rows in the Metal and Earth columns got flip-flopped in the subsequent reference chart. If you downloaded the table before 1/30/2023, please delete it and re-download the rectified version. <3
I say “East Asian” here because it’s not limited to any one culture, ethnic group, or nationality, not to mention the concept itself is much older than modern-day borders.
Since I made reference to some of these regions, below is an excerpted Appendix E from I Ching, The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, forthcoming 2023).
While the maps are not drawn to scale (I did them myself, by hand…) at least they help to give you a mental reference of where these kingdoms or states are located in geographical relation to one another.
