Fu, also known as fruitions, is a kind of magic in Taoism. Talus is a combination of symbols and fruitions. Talus originated from wizard and was first seen in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Ordinary people have come into contact with several symbols in their daily life. Whether it's attached to the wall, worn around the person, or attached to the car, the power of the charm is always in the shadows. Fu, is not a simple psychological suggestion, it is a gathering of divine power. Today, the poor road takes you into the world of charm
Detailed explanation - Fu
The charm is composed of five elements: the "charm head", the "main deity", the "body of the charm", the "foot of the charm", and the "heart of the charm".
If we use the analogy of a person to describe a talisman, the head of the talisman is like a person's head; the main deity or Buddha is like a person's mind and heart; the body of the talisman is like a person's abdomen and intestines, which is where we write the function of the talisman; the feet of the talisman are like a person's feet; the talisman's gallbladder is like a person's liver and gallbladder. If a talisman does not have a gallbladder, it is like a door without a lock, allowing bad people to enter freely. Therefore, the gallbladder of a talisman holds a very important position for it.
The symbol at the top of a talisman has been diverse since ancient times. Different schools of talismanic magic have their own ancestral masters and thus their own unique symbols. For instance, the common "three hooks" seen on many talismans represent the Three Pure Ones (Yuanshen Tianzun, Lingbao Tianzun, and Daode Tianzun) or the Three Public Deities (City God, Earth God, and Ancestral Master). When the "three hooks" are placed at the top of the talisman, they represent the Three Pure Ones, but when they are placed below the command or the name of a deity, they represent the Three Public Deities. When writing the "three hooks," one should silently recite the incantation: "With the first stroke, the world trembles; with the second, the ancestral master's sword flashes; with the third, all evil spirits flee a thousand miles away." Each stroke should be executed precisely, which is known as "stepping on the symbol at the top." There are various types of symbols at the top of talismans, such as "command" and "thunder command," and the specific type used varies among different sects. Generally, when summoning deities or commanding troops, "command" is often used as the symbol at the top. If the "three hooks" symbol for the Three Pure Ones is not present, one must recite: "Heaven is round, earth is square, the nine laws and regulations, now I write, all evil spirits hide."
The "Fu Dan" is the soul of a talisman and its master. Whether a talisman can fully exert its efficacy largely depends on whether there is a Fu Dan guarding within. Generally, when writing a talisman, it is called "Ru Fu Dan", which means inviting the ancestral master (deity) to sit in the talisman and guard its entrance. Commonly seen Fu Dans include the character "Gang", "Jing", "Ma", "Hua", and so on, too numerous to mention. But what is a Fu Dan? A Fu Dan is composed of some secret characters.
The "Crossed Symbol Foot" is used to conclude the writing process of a talisman and it holds an extremely important position. (Note: In the Laung Mei Talisman Method, the three hooks on the top of the talisman represent the "True Fire of Samadhi".)
Drawing ceremony:
There is a certain procedure for drawing talismans, and it must not be done carelessly or in the wrong order. Generally speaking, when drawing talismans, a ritual altar must be set up and a ceremony performed (especially by Taoists), which is known as the "General Altar Rite". The general talismanic incantation in the General Altar Rite includes the deities that Taoists usually believe in, such as the Earth God, the City God, the Green Emperor of the East, the Red Emperor of the South, the White Emperor of the West, the Black Emperor of the North, the Great General Zhuque, the Great General Xuanwu, and the Great General Heisha, etc. For example, the general talismanic incantation in the General Altar Rite diagram set up by ancient Taoists in Dunhuang when drawing talismans.
The Taoist priests also need to build an altar and carve two seals of the Heavenly Emperor on it, both on the front and the back. There are also some rituals that do not require a "main altar" or an altar to be built, such as the "Invoking the Immortals with a Broom" ritual. When invoking the immortals with a broom, three plates of fruits, three cups of tea and three cups of wine are offered on the altar in the main hall, or on a temporary table set up outside the house in a certain direction, which serves as an offering table.
Before drawing the talisman, one must first purify the mind - concentrating intently, being sincere and earnest, eliminating distractions, and focusing the thoughts. One also needs to purify the body, face, hands, and rinse the mouth. Additionally, one should prepare offerings such as fruits, rice wine, incense, and candles, as well as writing tools like ink, cinnabar, and yellow paper. The Taoist priest first uses divine incantations to consecrate these items to endow them with divine power.
(1) Writing Spell: Summon the Five Thunder Gods, bind the evil spirits and subdue the demons, protect my life and ensure my immortality. Swiftly as commanded by the law.
(2) Water Spell: This water is no ordinary water. A drop of the water of the north, the water of Ren and Gui, in the inkstone will bring forth clouds and rain in an instant. The sick person who swallows it will have all diseases eliminated. Evil spirits who swallow it will be crushed like dust. Swiftly as the law commands.
The Dragon Boat Festival is an auspicious day for drawing talismans and making talisman water. Most talismans are drawn and made on this day. This is especially true for the talismans used to drive away evil spirits during the Dragon Boat Festival. There are four days in a year when one should not draw talismans randomly. If one does so on these days, not only will the talismans be ineffective, but they may also cause harm. These four days are the ninth day of the third lunar month, the second day of the sixth lunar month, the sixth day of the ninth lunar month, and the second day of the twelfth lunar month. The best time to draw talismans is at midnight or at the end of the night. It is said that at this time, the yang energy is waning and the yin energy is growing, and it is the time when yin and yang meet. The spiritual energy is the strongest. The next best times are at noon, at dawn, and at dusk.
During the process of making talismans, Taoists need to activate their own spiritual fields to seal and infuse spiritual energy into the talismans. In modern terms, this means magnetizing the ink and cinnabar with their own physiological electric fields to form a tiny magnetic field on the talisman, thereby inducing changes in the karma of the primordial energy of heaven and earth. To activate such a physiological electric field, one needs a special genetic endowment, known as the "spiritual root". People without the genetic gene of the spiritual root, even if they learn the method, cannot emit spiritual energy.
The special genetic endowment of talismanic spiritual roots requires the inheritance of family genes. Therefore, in order to maintain this inheritance, the Zhengyi School that uses talismans usually does not take monastic vows. On the other hand, the Quanzhen School, which does not use talismans, takes monastic vows. The Quanzhen School mainly cultivates the essence, energy and spirit through internal alchemy to form the Three Flowers Gathering on the Crown and the Five Energies Converging on the Head, thereby generating supernatural powers acquired after birth.
The spiritual energy that can be sealed in paper talismans is limited. It is most effective to set up an altar and perform rituals on the spot and use it immediately. The intensity of the human body's bioelectric field is limited and cannot fully magnetize the ink and cinnabar on the talisman. Similar to the demagnetization process after preparing magnetized water, the talisman can only be stored for a short time.
In Taoist talismans, there are distinctions between "innate talismans" and "acquired talismans". An "innate talisman" is formed with a single stroke of power, as the saying goes, "a single point of spiritual light is a talisman". However, for an "acquired talisman", the rituals and rules are rather complicated. Therefore, it can be said that drawing talismans is both difficult and easy.
Classification of symbols
There are several types of talismans, although each school may have different names for them, their applicable occasions are roughly the same:
* Talismans for safety (to protect the entire family's safety, etc.)
* Talismans for warding off evil spirits (to relieve children's frights, ward off ghosts and evil spirits, etc.)
* Talismans for curing diseases (to promote health, etc.)
* Concealment talismans (to get through difficult times, protect oneself during magic battles or when geomancers go up the mountain to prevent evil spirits, etc.)
* Talismans for wealth (to enhance financial fortune, business luck, etc.)
* Talismans for changing fortune (to resolve all kinds of misfortunes, etc.)
* Talismans for having children (to aid conception, ensure children's intelligence, etc.)
* Talismans for protecting the fetus (to safeguard the fetus and its vitality, etc.)
* Talismans for career advancement (to promote career promotion and success, etc.)
* Talismans for love (to attract love, enhance relationships, etc.)
* Talismans for resolving legal disputes (to resolve verbal conflicts and lawsuits, etc.)
Talu - Indicates the structure of the symbol
The components of Taoist talismans include characters, star constellations, and amulets. Some talismans also feature deities, but characters are the main element. Since the core of Taoist talismans is Chinese characters and their variations, they can be read in their original form. The characters specifically used for drawing talismans are called talismanic characters. Both talismanic characters and talismans have phonetic readings, known as talismanic sounds. Talismans are composed of talismanic characters and other components such as star charts, deities' images, and amulets. Understanding the meanings of these components enables one to comprehend the structure of talismans: From the above introduction, it can be understood that talismans are formed by the main component of talismanic characters and other elements in accordance with certain rules.
Simple symbols are composed of one or a few simple symbol characters, while complex symbols are made up of multiple or even multiple layers of components, which makes them extremely difficult to understand.
Not only do the components of the constitutive symbols vary in form among different sects, and are only passed down secretly from master to disciple within the sect, making it difficult for outsiders to gain access and understand them, but also the combination of various components, whether in a positive or reverse order, and their positions up, down, left and right, are extremely hard to sort out.
For instance, as previously mentioned, the "Five Talismans of Lingbao" (also known as the "Five Directional Talismans of Lingbao") makes it difficult to distinguish its components and the structural way among each component.
There are still many characters that, in terms of their appearance, only show layers of smudges and ink splashes. Sometimes they form a large ink blot, and sometimes they turn into silhouettes of deities. Their structures often seem mysterious and unfathomable. In fact, they can also be interpreted or analyzed. However, to dissect them, one must trace their writing process instead of merely racking one's brains in front of their completed forms.
These symbols, which are only black ink drawings without discernible structures, were widely circulated among various Daoist schools of the Thunder Method after the Song Dynasty. Here, we have specially selected the "Symbol of the Great Fire God" from the Thunder Method to give a glimpse of them.
The Fire-Flaring Great Deity, whose full name is "The Nine-Heaven Fire-Flaring Command Great Deity, the Flame Emperor Deng Tianjun", is named Xie and styled Bo Wen. He is the commander-in-chief of the Thunder Department. His appearance is extremely fierce and powerful. After this talisman takes shape, it is clearly a silhouette of this
