Taoist Sorcery and Its Cultural Practice
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ม.ค. 2019
- What is the impact of Taoism on the everyday Chinese culture and the collective consciousness of its people? What are some of the guiding principles underscoring Taoist sorcery? This lecture will discuss some of the practical ways Buddhism and Taoism get syncretized in Chinese occultism.
The practice of Taoist magic will be presented through its two branches: outer alchemy (waidan) and inner alchemy (neidan). We'll talk about the greater spiritual objectives of practicing Taoist magic and what thousands of years of experience and wisdom have to say about how to achieve those objectives.
Starter tips will be offered, such as beginning work with Jiu Tian Xuan Nu, the Lady of the Ninth Heaven, recitation of Kuan Yin's Great Compassion Mantra, and other thoughts for branching out in a direction that's going to make the most sense for you.
Companion blog post: wp.me/p32or0-3NT
You are watching Video #3 in a six-part video lecture series.
Full playlist for the video series: www.tinyurl.com/chineseoccultism
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Taoism is a nature-based religion, philosophy, and tradition of sorcery native to China, formed around 600 B.C. One hundred years later, Buddhism enters China and a modality of it--esoteric Buddhism--is blended in with Taoist magic. This introductory lecture series will cover the ontology, theory, history, and cultural practice of sorcery at the intersection of esoteric Buddhism and Taoism.
Video 1: Introduction to Buddhist-Taoist Esotericism
Video 2: History of Taoism and Buddhism in China
Video 3: Taoist Sorcery and Its Cultural Practice
Video 4: Taoist Metaphysics
Video 5: Chinese Occultism as a Syncretic Practice
Video 6: Taoist Magic in Contemporary Times
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All videos in this series are closed-captioned for the deaf, hard of hearing, or those whose native tongue isn't English. I've also made my best attempt at accommodating for the blind. If there is room for improvement in these regards, I'm open to friendly critique. Thank you!
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Reference Links:
Jing, Qi, and Shen are discussed (rather lightly) in “Placebo Effect and Magic,” starting at timestamp 6:16:
• Placebo Effect and Mag...
"On Demonology" is a video I did for my Bell Chimes In series that might shed further insight into Buddhist and Taoist perspectives on hell and demonology.
• Demonology | Bell Chim...
“Practica of Esoteric Craft” is a free video tutorial series with supplemental PDF handouts to download. This landing page will take you to past episodes on setting sacred space, a form of Chinese divination called moon blocks, forms of Taoist magic like poison magic (Ku) and thunder rites, and more:
benebellwen.com/2018/02/06/pr...
Learn more about The Tao of Craft, read excerpts, download free reference materials, and Fu talismans or Chinese sigil instructables:
benebellwen.com/the-tao-of-cr...
***
DONATE
Your donations help keep this series free for all. To donate, click the PayPal link below or send me an Amazon gift card to benebellwen@gmail.com.
www.paypal.me/benebell
I CHING & THE OCCULT: ONLINE COURSE
Understanding the I Ching for its occult and divinatory values will expand your capabilities in both Chinese ceremonial magic and traditional witchcraft.
Learn more about the course here: benebellwen.com/2017/07/14/i-...
CHECK OUT MORE COURSES BY ME
I offer both independent study and free courses to help you advance your craft. Check out the full listing here: benebellwen.com/online-courses/
This is so great. What a breath of fresh air after wading through New Age sewage. It's scholarly, it's thoroughly informative, and it's rooted in real tradition and not speculation. I love this, and as a western occultist I especially appreciate this insider's view of the eastern tradition I have always been enamored with but could not truly access.
It's still speculation you know, just that it has dust on it due to age. It's ultimately a waste of time and as the Ecclesiastes says we should simply care for our souls in relationship to God.
@@workinpromowhy are you even on this channel? Haven't your beliefs destroyed enough culture?
@@workinpromoAnd yet, here you are, trolling people minding their business on TH-cam.
I’m a practitioner of western occultism, I’ve been so for many years. I find your knowledge, courses and information very informative, and an amazing contribution to the magical tradition as a whole. I’m definitely keen to purchase your book. Thank you for making this information available, Especially the information on your website… It’s very kind of you to do so. I think that western practitioners can gain Many amazing insights from Taoist sorcery. May the Gods bless you
The best example of a Taoist sorceress can be seen in the film 'The Forbidden Kingdom' (2008). Ni-Chang is an exquisitely beautiful mistress of the black arts, with a mane of long white hair she uses as a weapon to ensnare her victims. She is sent by the Jade Warlord to stop a boy from the future from returning a golden staff to its rightful owner...Sun Wukong the Monkey King.
I love that movie so much
I’m a Japanese-American, I’ve been exploring my ancestral faith although it’s such an exceptionally difficult task sifting the real thing from westernized interpretations. Seeing your work and the amount of sincerity/purity to it is inspirational, not to mention how helpful it is in giving understanding of the beliefs and concepts Japanese people share or even simply inherited from China. Looking forward to a hell of a binge watch, cheers from a child of the sun to a child of the dragon!
I'm learning about the Gnostic traditions from the Middle East. Its so interesting that all over the globe nearly all cultures have occult practices :)
The 8th house can't go away just because you took a 2000 mile boat ride to the other side of the world 😂
It seems that I will be listening to your new series several times. Thanks for your hard work.
She is so correct when she mentioned about the rather secretive nature of Chinese Taoists. In the late 1990's, I ate at Chinese restaurants a lot. One day, I tried a new restaurant and was reading a Buddhist book while waiting. The waitress- who later I found out was the owner, questioned me about the book. A week later, I returned to the same restaurant and, I found out later, the owner called a friend who showed up and questioned me further. The friend invited me to attend a meeting- After two months of meetings, I received transmission of the Dao from the master visiting from Taiwan. Some time later, I asked why they don't advertise, and she answered that they only want sincere people- You don't find them, they find you.
i literally need to study this for myself because everyone around me either dont talk about it or dont know enough and just follow traditions to pray
The idea that you can’t create good without creating evil is quite striking, both in terms of your magic and in the physical world. No up without down. No right without left. It gives me much to consider when I listen to the news. I’m also wondering how Chinese practices view this when they look upon events in the world.
Thank you. Being from an Irish Catholic family, I converted to Jodo Shinshu Buddhism at 14. Boy were my family thrilled 😆 Later I joined Nichiren Shoshu. My Korean sponsor/mother had all these rules: no negativity in front of the Gohonzon and many others. Speaking of the Gohonzon and being western, I almost was incredulous that a "piece of paper" could be anything but just that..a piece of paper. Also being a nurse and Medical assistant I leaned towards the scientific. Having watched your tarot courses, I came to the realization that I was not getting what I should from my faith because of my attitude towards the Gohonzon. Thank you. I am loving the SKT Revelations.☸
Less than 5 mins into your video and im already smashing that subscribe button simply because of your willingness to share your knowledge with all of us so openly and freely. Thank you !
Honestly, your attention to detail and scope of your research is really impressive and i love your dedication to accessibility (especially those subtitles!!). Your voice and perspective are so refreshing and I love that you aren't shy about talking about things like western colonialism, which so often are avoided in spiritual communities. I didn't know I cared about Esoteric Taoism until this series but here I am with your book on order and me frantically scribbling notes!
So happy to hear something in here resonated!
This series is everything I've been looking for! Excited to get your book(s) and continue on this path. Your method of teaching has really been a bridge to learning more about my cultural heritage, in terms of esotericism. Thank you Benebell!
Benabell - I’m absolutely taken with your work! I bought Holistic Tarot last week, and have been watching? hungrily consuming? your videos pretty regularly ever since. HT was a recommendation that I could see was an excellent one. I ordered your deck today, & will definitely be checking out this book and your online courses as well. Am needing to take breaths in between to meditate & digest, but as a Western Buddhist who practices tarot, your work is an answer to my prayers. Thank you for your work and tremendous generosity! 🙏🙏🙏😅❤️
Thank you Benebell. I'm very excited to be on this journey of Taoist cultivation. I am learning much about my heritage that I wasn't aware of either. I hope I can share with many other Taiwanese through my practice.
this youtube channel is a gold mine. i will be feasting on it for days. thanks.
I just wanted to say thank you for making this series and also the free downloads as well, I have to practice in secret since my family doesn't exactly support my interests in doaism etc, so it's really great that I can still learn about my interests and beliefs without getting yelled at---
Loving this series. I always learn so much from you. Thanks for all you do. Now I’m off to contemplate immortality. 💕
Hahaha. Have fun. And thank you!
Benebell Wen 😊💕
This is such a compelling and well-conceived series! The history is so rich and inspiring, and I love the personality, humor and insight you add with your talking head points :)
You are my favorite resource for all things eastern esoteric and occult on youtube--its hard to find such information elsewhere
Much thanks
I'm going to drop this comment here, but I mean it for this whole series. Thank you so much for both these lectures and your book. For years I've wanted to know more about this and have at least some context for it all.
Just discovered your videos. I was thinking about buying your book and now definitely will tonight after seeing your videos! Thank you for your generosity in sharing all of this information. I’m learning Chinese (both traditional and simplified) and am absolutely fascinated with Chinese culture, as well as all types of occultism. 謝謝你 🙏
This is what i desired for a while. I have ordered the Tao of Craft. May you be blessed.
Just finished the video. I saw the first three as well.
I am blown away. Concise, practical and lots of info but highly digestible.
I have had Tao if Craft sitting on my shelf for about 8 months.
Other than my deep love for
Yi Jing I have not been able to delve into The Tao of Craft however this video series is breaking it down for me and making it accessible.
You are giving me the tools to marry my Buddhist background with my love for exoteric Taoism yet in a way that nourishes my desire for deeper esoteric methods of being.... if that makes sense.
In other words you are giving form and context to my practice so that it has a firm foundation and a future.
I look forward to the forth coming videos.
Thank you 🔥☀️🔥🙏🏽
That's incredible to hear. Thank you!
@@BenebellWen WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? FOR ME IT SEEMS THAT THE ONLY TRUE TAOISTS LIFE IN THE WUDANG MOUNTAINS OF CHINA SO I KNOW THEY HAVE ARE REAL BUT I CANT TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY WHY YOU WOULD DO SUCH PRACTICES WHEN I CANT SEE A BENEFIT
Found you from Rune Soup, now I’m 🤯🤯🤯 working my way thru this series. ❤️🌿 🙏 thank you!!!
Finding your channel was like finding a precious jewel because I have been wanting to learn about these things and you teach them in the most concise and didactic way possible. The part about creating good and evil really resonated with me because it's what I always consider with blessings and curses and how one can never tell how they're really gonna affect the target, a really hardcore person may use the hardship a curse brought to them to become stronger while a lazy person who was blessed never learns about discipline and facing hardship, so the notion of white and black magic seems outdated to me. Very nice channel.
Verry interesting ! I am a craft practitioner in the celtic tradition, and the cauldron is a major element of magic representing inner transformation and used in outer practicing, it is also linked to our goddesses. Of course there is white magic, but also working with shadow when in our lifes we face death and suffering, and it is a way to return to the light. All that echoes with what you say ! Thank you.
Amazing!!! This touches my soul so deeply. Can't stop watching and can't help but learn appreciate
Hello, just ordered this book, only then to find youre amazing youtube channel. Thank you so much for helping many help understand their personal relationships with the Tao
Benebell, I am amazed at how things link back and forward. I am loving this series so much. Today was the day when I realised I needed the fact about Tao being water, not a container. It made a lot of what I was taught as a kid make sense. It was like a moment of “Ding ding ding! This is what gramps meant.” 🙏🏻 Thank you!
Very glad to have found this channel. I've been studying all the ancient practices of various religions but did not know Taoiam had some as well.
Thank you so much. This has really helped me to clarify similar enlightened personalities of another world esoteric practice to call upon for help. I am definitely going to buy your book.
I love how you covered this. Thank you for sharing this from your cultural perspective.
You are so generous with your knowledge and very supportive. Thank you.
I've been doing a rabbithole's amount of research on Shintoism. Which led me to Buddhism. Which led me to Taoism. As a Chaos Witch, I am finding this study particularly enlightening and fulfilling. In learning the differences and similarities bound by the cultures in the Far East (for lack of better terms), I begin to understand the histories (both good and bad) of our intertwined past and future.
I'm also a writer. I just had to plug that fact LOL
I really want this book!
This is an awesome series- I've watched it numerous times and keep getting more out of it-
Thank you for sharing this, I have really enjoyed the metaphysical and historical lessons in this series. Have been watching at night with my husband and we have both been riveted.
Oh that's awesome!
Great video, I always look forward to your latest. I've been saying for a while that indigenous Chinese philosophy, especially BaGua/I ching appears to me to be ancient science more than religion. Seems logical to me but I've gotten a lot of push back from my fellow practitioners around me . Thanks for backing me up in this video.
hi, I am a Canadian and currently living in Taiwan and know lots of Hakka folks where I live in North-west Taiwan. I am mostly into western occult practices like Qabbalah and Hermisticism but new to Buddist esotericism. Would love to see more videos from your channel. Thanks
you are fabulous! I love how connected you are to your cultural practices! As an indian practioner of western and eastern occult practices, I can see many similarities with Hindu tantrik practices. I love how you explained that the goal is to be the water not the vessel. The truth must transcend the label! Subscribed and looking forward to more content! Stay blessed!:)
I’m loving this series! Very informative and digestible, as noted. I especially love the insights you provide with regards to how practices grow and change with the many influences surrounding them! This series was my introduction to your channel!
Oh nice! Welcome! 🥰
This series is really awesome. And your website has so much on it, I'm just starting to go through it. I'm going to buy your book, I can't wait to get it! Thank you for providing all of this material!
Watched a few uploads before subscribing, I think I first came across the flip through with your book of methods then started checking out other content, massively impressed, just wanted to drop a comment and say: LOVE your channel. Extremely informative, and highly unique, don't think I've ever come across an expression of eastern esoterics that so closely resembles and resonates with my own interests and practices. ✌😁
I have been loving this series. ♥
Gem of a TH-cam channel, thank you
BTW Bell, I’ve REALLY appreciated this series b/c I am SO ignorant of the subject. Thank you!!
You have such a wealth of information you share .. I am so grateful for what you share .. Thank you very much ...
Oh wow, I bought your book months ago and then watched this whole video without knowing that was you! It's sitting next to my bed, but I haven't really dug in yet.
I'm so excited about this book!! Especially the cloud writing, especially considering the only way I can scry is via the clouds.
Finally somebody talks about this!
I have your book, The Tao of Craft. Today I started on your Taoist Occultism lectures.
What a wonderful discovery!!!! thanks !
What an amazing series of videos.
Wow! This is awesome! I've been instruction of the full Tao.
Absolute purrfection! Thanks for sharing!! I'm listening to this while planting ginseng to share later.
Sooooooooo grateful to find this today. ✨😌✨
Great video. I practice Nichiren Buddhism which includes sutra recitation and mantra chanting in front of a Gohonzon, so I've been particularly interested in hearing the historical information about the power of words, spoken and written in Eastern cultures. Thanks for sharing.
I am very happy to have found this, thanks
i'm beyond grateful for discovering your channel, i adore & appreciate what you're doing
p.s yes im cheap asf but im still buying the book
I really love this series! And I'm currently reading the book as well, as I got it for christmas a few weeks ago 😊
Oh, cool! What good timing. 😁 I just started this series!
hey. thank you so much for providing free materials for someone like me who can't afford much in life right now but still wants to learn. grateful a lot. wish to buy your book someday. thanks .
Wow!!! Weeks searching for information on Esoteric Taoism and what I great surprise (gift truely) that at last I found or was found by such a wonderful material! Thank you so much! A-ma-zing!!! I can't find video 6 of the series though.
Brilliant lecture, thank you for sharing.
Love it, Benebell!!!
Love the passion you bring to this video. ❤❤❤
my name is Guan Ting part of the cheuk clan this vid is informative and really resonates with me
I bought it. Can’t wait to read it!
Wow thank you for sharing… really inspired by all you have built before I have even looked through it.
Learning alot. I appreciate you sharing this. Great content.
I'm loving this series! The wrap up of comparing current scientific discovery with the wisdom of the ancients is always appreciated. I tell people all the time that we once knew all life was connected in vast web beyond our total comprehension. Now we "know" it's true because of various scientific disciplines. One request, Benebell. Please get more volume on the videos. Especially when you're narrating the photos. It's hard to hear. Thank you for all the wonderful work you do!
Ooh thanks for the tip. I'm not sure how to fix the voiceover audio, but I see (or more accurately hear..) what you mean. I'll see what I can do! 😁
Fascinating, thank you Benebell. ☯️✨
Thank you so much for sharing your incredible depth of knowledge and insight. You inspire me!
Ohmyglob!! I’m so excited I found your channel- I’m inspired to learn and to create from what you shared 🙏🦋 thank you... book time & a chart reading ... Sqweee
My cousin,in Shanghai studying eastern + western medicine, along with Kung Fu 🥋, referred me to your page. .
I think you’re absolutely amazing! I love all the details, plus the extras included in the attachments! Your speech & intellect flows good 👍🏼 I’ll buy your books 📚
Nick @ Key West FL USA 🇺🇸
Thank you for sharing!
Such a beautiful smile. Makes the information that much better to receive. :)
whooaa.. i have always wanted to learn about daoist magic stuff.. thanks for bringing out. i hope you live a healthy life and keep running ur youtube channel.
Tao practice living strong here in utah! Thank you!
Thanks ms. Benebell Wen!
Well done. I like how you explain things
You are totally spot on with "western brainwashing" in Taoist esotercism/sorcery, I'm highly picky about the translations I read, not that I can read Chinese but there is definitely a "feel" of it if you will.
Very much appreciate this video of yours.
Love your TH-cam content
i purchased ur book on amazon. cant wait for it to come.
love this!!!
I am an immortalist, that being someone who seek spiritual ways to achieve physical immortality. Most in Western occultism look at this as wrong. I mean I have had death threats for this practice several times. My mother got me books on Taoism as a kid so I would not feel so alone in my beliefs. I am not Taoist but the books brought comfort.
thank you for the knowledge!
well thought out, insightful, and scholarly. Nice work.
Love learning another cultural perspective on esoterica...🎑
"You greedy little bastards" HAHAHA I LOVED IT hahahahah it's since 2018 that i follow you and at that time I didn't have the economic resources to supports you properly Benebell. But every year I tried to support you. I first bought the planner, the next year TOC, then it was the turn of Holistic Tarot and the next one will be surely your IChing course (it's my desire since 2018 but I didn't feel ready and plus being in Italy i Don't know how to deal with phisical copy of your contents). This little series about taoism and buddism it's really informative and, as always, i thank you and bless you for being so open about this practices and also so selfless to put a lot of free contents out here. You are a bless to this community ❤️
Profound and informative.
Amazing contribution!
I don't if anyone mentioned this yet, but people should check out the book "Taoists Classics Part 2" by Thomas Clearly. He does a great translation and understanding in Chinese Alchemy
Super interesting, great series so far
You've just produced this video and I've been really interested for a while. Maybe I'll start with your book
Fascinating!! Good brings evil. Evil brings good. That's the alchemy. The practitioner, is the balance in between the two. Buddha Tibetan does appear to have deities that appear as demons, but defend defeat death, evil beings. Know your shadow ( good/bad). Accept it 👑💛🌅🌅🪄🐉⚡️🚀
Nice video. Thanks for sharing. It was very informative. I love your book The Tao Of Craft too. I'm looking forward to the Tarot book that goes with it. ☯️🙏💯
So cool, muchas gracias.
Truly miraculous!
In a word, "Awesome"!
I just subscribed to your channel. Ive always been a fan of eastern philosophy, as i am native american amd i can spot similarities.