Tag: Tao of Craft

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.

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An I Ching and Tarot Divination How-To– Give This a Try

On By benebellIn divination, Fu talismans, I Ching, personal spirituality, promotional, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, tarot, tarot community20 Comments

I’m going to walk you through an easy beginner’s methodology for I Ching and tarot divination. We’ll be doing a simple one card tarot draw plus casting I Ching hexagrams by the coin toss method. So in addition to the instructions here for the I Ching divination, I’m presuming you have a tarot deck and know how to operate one. If not, no worries. This doesn’t need to be I Ching and tarot. It can just be I Ching! 🙂

I use traditional coins for my personal practice, but we won’t be needing those today. Any three coins of the same value in your change purse will do. Go find three pennies, or three nickels, or three quarters–whatever pleases you. And give them a good wash.

Here I’m using disinfectant soap and water. Dry them thoroughly. You can use a towel. Anything. Just be practical.

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Chinese Oracle Script Divination Cards

On By benebellIn cartomancy, divination, free download, I Ching, oracle deck, personal, Taoism31 Comments
2019 July 2 Update

A revised and improved Version 2.0 of this free divination deck is now available. Go here or click on the banner below.

Chinese Oracle Bone Divination Deck, Version 2.0, Free Deck + Book Set

2015 September 24: Original Posting

Instagram Pic Cards Snapshot

While writing my forthcoming second book, tentatively titled The Tao of Craft, I had to do some intense study of oracle bone script. That’s where the knowledge for the card content comes from. All citations to the amazing references I used are in the book, but one person I want to thank right away is Richard Sears, who runs ChineseEtymology.org. Now, as for the inspiration, that’s a little harder for me to convey.

On a morning I was to drive my parents to the airport, I thought I heard a voice speaking to me in my room, while I was sleeping in bed, and that woke me up. Then after that, no matter how hard I tried to go back to sleep, I couldn’t, so I relented, booted up my computer, and in that same sitting, a complete first draft of this deck was done. I talk more about the conception of this deck in the accompanying 55-page Guidebook. The deck itself is made up of 33 cards.

Card Images Snapshot
Screenshots of the first 18 cards

These cards are not for sale, but I am offering a free license for you to use them. Keep reading for now. (Or skim and scroll down. Whatevs.)

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