Taoist Magic Spell

The talisman's spirit is symbolized by the talisman's soul. A talisman is like a person; a person without a soul is like a zombie, and a talisman without a soul is like waste paper. This makes perfect sense.

Some popular talismanic practices mention the concept of “talisman core”. According to the “Complete Book of Talismans and Spells”, writing a talisman is not difficult, and anyone can learn how to do it after seeing it once. However, does a drawn talisman really have magical powers? There is an indispensable symbol in a talisman – the talisman core. Without it, no matter how much you draw it or chant the spell, what you draw is just an empty talisman with no actual effect. The talisman core is like a person's gallbladder. Without courage, a person cannot display bravery. Similarly, the talisman core plays an important role in manifesting the power of the gods. Therefore, the talisman core must be included in every talisman. In fact, the talisman core evolved from the talisman aperture, and it serves a similar function.

There are more than 80 commonly used talisman cores in Taoist talismanism. These talisman cores are composed of a combination of secret characters and have a special mystical meaning.

This passage describes a talisman called the “Sizhenggong Talisman”, which represents the ten celestial stems. When drawing the talisman, you need to recite a specific mantra silently, preferably at the beginning of the drawing, and then turn the brush upside down. For pregnant women or those with eye diseases, be sure not to turn the brush upside down when drawing the talisman.

When reciting the incantations for the twenty-eight constellations, you must concentrate: “Jiao, Kang, Shi, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji, Dou, Niu, Nu, Xu, Wei, Shi, Bi, Kui, Lou, Mao, Ang, Bi, Zhi, Can, Jing, Gui, Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, Zhen.” These are the names of the twenty-eight constellations.

When drawing the Six Trigrams Talisman, the incantation is recited: “Jiazi, Jiaxu, Jiachen, Jiawu, Jiachen, Jiaxin, Timao, Dingchou, Tihai, Dingsi.”

The Seven Star Talisman is a charm used to ward off evil spirits. The symbols are drawn in a specific way and the incantation is recited while drawing them to drive away evil forces.

When performing the Five Elements Talisman, you need to recite: Open the Heavenly Gate, Close the Earthly Door, Leave the Human Gate, Cut the Ghost Path, Break the Ghost Belly, Gold, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth.

The composition of the talisman mainly includes the talisman head, talisman aperture, talisman core and talisman foot, which contain the secret characters and hidden words of the main gods and Buddhas. In some Taoist talisman diagrams, the symbol on the top of the talisman often has three parallel dots, representing the Three Primes of Taoism: the Primordial Lord of Heaven, the Lord of Moral Law, and the Lord of Spiritual Treasure. If these symbols and the names of the gods are drawn under the *imperial decree*, they represent the three realms of the city god, the earth god, and the ancestral gods, thus forming a complete talisman.

The process of drawing a talisman requires sincerity of heart and concentration of breath, and is far from simply picking up a brush and following a model. Even if the talisman is drawn well, it needs to be used in conjunction with incantations and footwork. Those learning talismans should first have a clear understanding of the names, images, functions and magic weapons of the various gods, and learn to visualize and understand the connotations of the talisman, and understand the specific meaning of each symbol and image. In addition, cultivating one's moral character is also crucial. Otherwise, the charms drawn will be empty in form and have no effect. Only when one's merits reach a certain level can one ascend from copying charms after the manner of others to spontaneously creating charms with innate spiritual light, that is, innate true charms. Learning charms should be done step by step, and one must not rush into it, thinking that one's merits are complete, and scribbling as one pleases.

The basic principle of talismans is to combine the energy of the practitioner's essence, spirit and mind with the energy of the natural universe, and to regulate the energy field between the human body and the world and the spiritual world through various talismanic diagrams. It can be said that talismans are also a form of qigong expression. They are a manifestation of the operation of the energy of heaven and earth and the pattern of yin and yang messages. They are the product of the interaction between the universe and the human body and the unity of heaven and man. The talisman method of our school aims to cultivate virtues internally and manifest talismans externally. Practitioners of the art of talismans must first practice the art of qi and dan gong, and have a solid foundation in internal cultivation. Only by basing oneself on the primordial spirit and concentrated essence recognized through internal cultivation can one master the art of communicating with spirits and reaching the divine. As the ancients said, “Drawing talismans is easy, communicating with spirits is difficult. Dan gong, in which the spirit is concentrated and the essence is condensed, is the true art.”