“heart seals refer to myths about the origin of the deity’s relationship with the officiant’s lineage. Ritual inscriptions of heart seals constitute messages designed to remind the thunder deity of his obligations to obey the summons, and respectfully cajole him to acquiesce to the authority of the Daoist officiant.”

“The Daoists ... around Meicheng are exclusively male, have families, and consider themselves Orthodox Unity (zhengyi ...) Daoist priests. ... Many lineages in Meicheng also transmit investiture in ... the Tradition of the Primal Emperor (Yuanhuang jiao ...).”

p. 234

[according to the cultic manuscript Yin Jiao C^u-mai, which “parallels” (fn. 8) “narratives about Yin Jiao included in two great Ming vernacular novels, Fengshen yanyi ... , chps. 1, 7, 8, 9, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66, 99; and Beiyou ji”.] “Yin was the nominal son of King Zhou

p. 235

..., the ... ruler at the close of the Shang ... dynasty. ... The King’s wife became pregnant with a boy by the breath (qi ...) of the Thearch of Purple Tenuity (Ziwei dadi ...). After his birth, the King exiled ... the boy to the harsh wilderness, where he ... hunted and ate tigers and foxes, was suckled by a white deer, and

a large white bird would shelter his body with her wings to protect the boy from the cold.

{“he who acknowledged God took refuge under the wings of the Shekinah (Shab. 31a; Sanh. 96a)” (“ShL”)} {“the "Shekinah" with the Jews is called, , "the holy bird" (m); and that phrase, , "to betake one's self, or to come to trust under the wings of the Shekinah", is often used (n) for to become a proselyte” (GEEB)} {cf. “UWSh” 1337-42}

He was later taken in and raised by a certain Marquis Yin ... . ... During this time, an adept known as Shen the Great Perfected (Shen da zhenren ...) ..., who had studied thunder rites from the age of nine under the tutelage of a certain Peng Chengrun ... on Mount Qingcheng ...,

had a vision that he would find his man resting under a mulberry tree.

{Said to Nathanael : “Before that Philippos called thee, I saw thee when thou wert under the fig tree.” (Euangelion according to Ioannes 1:48)} {>abu Bakr recognized that Muh.ammad “could sit under that tree after Jesus.” (SB, p. 80; EMFL 53:419b)}

Sure enough, Shen found Yin Jiao and managed to convince the ... young man that ... he ought to learn the thunder rites ... . ... When the time came to receive transmission of the rites (chuandu ...), Yin made a solemn oath to heaven and earth to ... embrace the power of thunder to serve the people of his [nominal] father’s realm ... as a demon-quelling agent of Shen the Perfected. The Upper Thearch (Shangdi ...) heard Yin’s pledge and bestowed upon him a yellow halberd and a golden bell ... . Shen the Perfected then gave Yin Jiao a single grain of golden elixir (jindan ...), which Yin ingested and, after ... three years in a cave, Yin too became a perfected being. [fn. 9 : “Yin Jiao consumes seven magical beans and transforms into a fantastic and fearsome being with three heads, six arms, blue face, red hair, and an extra eye on his forehead.” (Fen-s^en Yan-yi, cap. 63)] The Thearch of Purple Tenuity then invested Yin with celestial rank.

p. 236

He became formally known as Celestial Lord Yin Jiao in the Imperial Presence of the Northern Culmen , the Upper General who Embodies the Dao and Protects the Country, who ... Brandishes Numinous Power, the Upper Marshal who

Cuts off the Left Ears of Demons as Trophies ...,

{Petros likewise amputated the ear of Malkhos (Euangelion according to Ioannes 18:10).}

the Most Powerful Great Year of the Earth Office ... . ... Yin Jiao also took his place as the stellar deity Great Year (Taisui ...), a baleful star associated with the planet Jupiter, and as god of the Earth Office (disi ...), the place in the early Celestial Master cosmology where deceased souls without much merit find themselves.” [fn. 10 : “For more on the celestial body Great Year (taisui ...) as a baleful star,” vide :- “ChBBS”.]

p. 237

“When an ordinand – a candidate or ordination – is about to begin the ordination process at the end of his training, the transmission master (dushi ...) confers upon him ... liturgical names : one Daoist (daoming ...) ... and, if he is being initiated into the local ... tradition, a local liturgical name (faming ...) as well. A typical Daoist liturgical name consists of three characters : a surname, a generational name, and a personal name. ... His generational name is taken from the poem that his lineage uses to mark its generations. ... The final character of the Daoist name is the personal

p. 238

name in the liturgical moniker and is given by his transmission master.

After a Daoist passes from this mortal life to the celestial bureau that awaits him, the personal character in his Daoist name will become his talismanic symbol, his heart seal. Future generations of Daoists in the lineage will ... recite an accompanying incantation that pairs a verse with each stroke of the character. The accompanying incantation is composed by the transmission master and is included in the Daoist’s ordination certificate. Inscribing the heart seal and intoning its accompanying incantation is a major mechanism with which to summon past masters to participate in ritual performance and beckon them to lend their numinous power.”

p. 267

[quoted from TT 1220:224 (“Secret Essentials of Possession”) 19a-20a] “The ritual master ... holds his breath ... visualizing Marshal Ma and his generals in the water. ... Sip the Golden Light Dipper ... water and spit it on the child’s body. ... All the souls, quickly exit the gate at the crown of the head, Tai Guang ..., You Jing ..., Shuang Ling ... . [fn. 33 : “These are the names of the three cloudsouls.”] ... The seven whitesouls are not yet complete. I now hypnotize you. Ghost-qi thoroughly penetrates through.”

p. 268

[quoted from TT 1220:224.20a-b] “Visualize three cloudsoul spirits within the golden colour of the character, looking like Daoist priests. Then shout :

“General He (has) imprison(ed) these living cloudsouls!”

Visualize General He with a white face, a free-and-easy headcloth, with the form of a twenty-eight year-old scholar, guarding the living cloudsouls in front of the altar. Then chant :

“Cautiously I invite the Great God of Flying Fire to quickly and urgently cover these cloudsouls. ... The three cloudsouls, seven whitesouls, and spirit lords of the six offices, quickly exit the crown of the head. ... I cautiously urge the envoys of the solar palace Zheng Yuanzhen ... to quickly take the living cloudsouls into custody. ... I cautiously invite the envoy of the lunar palace Ding Wenfu ..., to quickly upturn the living cloudsouls and capture them.””

p. 269

[quoted from TT 1220:224.21b] “then shout : “General He, firmly control the living cloudsouls.”

Then chant : “Numinous official Marshal, force the spirits into his body.””

[quoted from TT 1220:224.21b-22a] “Visualize ... all three cloudsoul spirits of the heart, lungs and liver as human Daoist priests ... . Visualize General He riding a red cloud from the Russet Heaven ... . Then sip the water and spit it all over the child’s body, visualizing General He entering the three palaces of the child with the water, and driving out

the cloudsouls, rolling upwards from the water.

{With these cloudsouls’ rolling out of the body, cf. the technique of freeing the astral body from the material body by rotating the astral body within the material body.}

... visualizing the three cloudsouls coming up from the oesophagus and the general with a spotted tiger-skin {if spotted, it ought to be snowleopard-skin} bag conquering them just under the throat. Visualize the general wrapping up and bagging their heads, sending them to the lower elixir field to pacify them. The child will then become possessed. ... When the questioning is over, shout saying :

“General He, quickly return the living souls!”

Visualize the great general opening the spotted tiger-skin bag and releasing each of the souls back to the three palaces of heart, liver and lungs. ... Shout out the child’s name, and then he will awaken.”

[according to TT 1220:224.24a-b] “a ghost-interrogating talisman ... invites Liu Yan ..., Deng Bowen ..., and Xin Hanchen ... to beat the ghost and get him to quickly tell his name. If the spirit has taken possession of the body, then using the Spirit Interrogating Talisman ... will cause the evil spirits to give up their own names. ...

[according to TT 1220:224.24a-26a] After examination of the evil spirit, the practitioner uses the Fiery Gaol and Great Lightning of the Capitol Heaven Talisman to invite the divine lords of the gaols of heaven and hell ... to force the evil spirits into prison”.

p. 271

[quoted from TT 1220:225 (“Method for Possessing Living Children”) 8b-10a] “chant the following :

“... Enter the cloudsouls and extract them from the body, ghostly spirits attach themselves to it. ...” ...

Visualize the flying dipper of singularity constellation, visualize flaming light criss-crossing, and incant, saying :

“Hesitantly, I invoke General Mei Who Extracts Souls and Comes in to take Possession, Envoy He, Supervisor of Souls, to quickly go to this visible body and capture its living souls. Visualize them coming down from the Heavenly Gate ... . ... Visualize pulling out first, the ... soul, second, the soul of roaming and transforming ..., and third, the soul of universal light ..., like three infants, ... coloured green/blue, red and yellow.

“Peng Ju ..., Peng Qiao ... and Peng Zhi ... quickly leave the body. [fn. 43 : “These are the Song names for the three shi ... .”] ... Envoy He, imprison and supervise the three cloudsouls. ... I cautiously invite Great Female Star(s) who Protect(s) and Support(s), the Seven(th) Lady of the Eastern Dipper, to befuddle the souls of this child ... . True Lady of Wonderful Sagacity, powerful knights Cui Suyin ..., respond to my summons : ... with the speed of fire, control and enter this living child, possess his body and say the names quickly.”

p. 272

... chant :

“Peng Ju, Peng Qiao, Peng Zhi, quickly exit the gate at the crown;

Tai Guang, You Jing, Shuang Ling, quickly descend into the Central Camp.

The souls of the living leave this body, ghost-spirits, [come] possess it. ... I now communicate with the spirits, ghost-sprites ... .” ...

Then chant, saying :

One turn, and Heaven and Earth move.

Two turns, sun and moon are beclouded.

Three turns, the essential spirits are befuddled.

Four turns, the whitesouls and the cloudsouls are incomplete.

Five turns, move mountains and topple peaks.

Six turns, receive the deities of the one hundred and six bone joints.

Seven turns receive the 12,000 spirits of essential light.

Eight turns receive the 14,000 spirits of personal shadows.

Nine turns receive the three cloudsouls and seven whitesouls are controlled, and evil spirits of the departed possess the body. ...

Again, recite :

... terrible, urgently and quickly spirit-lords! ... Doing the Pace of yu, supervise the living cloudsouls ... . When the living cloudsouls exit the body, the ghost-spirits possess it. ...

“Mounted on flying dragons, flying on watery clouds, mounted on flying tigers, they howl and roar as they race along. Spirit generals and envoy-troops, fly and catch them [on the] fly, soaring! ... Stars of the Southern Yang : Bi, Fu, Biao, Kui suppress the inauspicious spirits. Shao constrains ..., Kuan, Xin stars captures evil spirits. Adjutants observe the enlisting of ghosts. ...

p. 273

Heaven’s Gate and Earth’s Axle, enter into this water ... . ... Shake heaven so heaven collapses, quake earth so the earth splits! ... Cautiously I entreat the three great generals Han ..., Gao ... and Yao ... to enter into my water. ... The twenty-eight astral houses move like arrows! ...””

p. 271

“This method ... invokes the three Corpse-parasites Peng Ju ..., Peng Qiao ... and Peng Zhi ...to quickly enter the gate at the crown of the head, while the three cloudsouls Tai Guang

p. 272

..., You Jing ... and Shuang Ling ... must quickly go down to the Central Camp ... . Then the ghosts are caused to possess the body.”

p. 273

“Once the evil spirits have possessed the body, there is a process of interrogation : the practitioner must first open the throat, and then perform the throat spell, after which he interrogates the evil spirit to find their names ... . ... after this the ritualist will invite the faceless general serving Marshal Ma to interrogate the ghost. ... Once the spirit has been bound, ... ritual master ... commands : “Ghost-spirits quickly leave, human souls quickly enter!” and then calls out the child’s name”.

“There was, for example, the official instal[l]ment of Daoist cults on the five holy mountains following a petition of Sima Chengzhen ... in 721 A.D. ... . [reference :- “RCh”, p. 234]

An antique local Thunder deity in Sichuan developed into the cult of the god of literature Wenchang dijun ... that in the Yuan-period attained imperial sponsorship throughout the country. [reference :- “TCh”, pp. 105, 120-1]

The cult of the Emissary from the Nine Heavens ... emerged at Mount Lu ... in Kiangsi province in the T>ang period and gained imperial support.” [reference :- “ICNH”]

p. 285

“The Heavenly Lord Deng is the Great Divinity of Blazing Fire. ... The Spell to Control Bad Spirits of Lord Deng reads as follows :

[quoted from TT 1220:80.31a] ... I transform my body into the demon king ..., with a

p. 286

body that is tall ten thousand zhang ... . I have bronze teeth and iron claws that let the radiance of lightning soar afar. ... Fast Thunders and attacking lightning fill the heavenly stars ... . ...

[quoted from TT 1220:80.31b] Both of my eyes shine up radiantly, enlightening heaven and earth.”

[TT 1220:231.1a-13a] “the Secret Rituals of the Magic Agents of the Three Luminous Spheres of Orthodoxy and Unity of the Heaven of Highest Purity ... address the three spirit marshals Chen Danian ..., Ma Sheng ... and Zhu Sengqi ... .” [fn. 47 : “TT 1220:231.1a also lists their presumably worldly styles (zi ...), (Ma) Dezhi ..., (Chen) Fuzhi ... and (Zhu) Fanzhi”.]

"Secret Rituals of the Magic Agents presents the ... Rituals to Seal Mountains ... [TT 1220:231.9ab] ... :

1220:231.__

project the __ Dipper

to be __ thee

and grasp the vital breaths of the __

9a

Southern

in front of

South to engulf thy body

Northern

behind

North to blow and spread them out

9b

"the magic agents are righ in front ..., with all their generals attending them ... . ... inhale one draw of vital breaths from the Gate of Heaven ... ."

p. 290

“The Great Rituals of Metal and Fire in Shenxiao Heaven ... contains ... rituals ... under the guidance of three divine patrons ... who are Heavenly Worthies ..., representing the three heavens Divine Empyrean, Jade-green Empyrean and Mercury Empyrean. ... the True Lord of Luminous Response and Fine Marshal of Fire Bells, Heavenly Ding of Metal and Fire ... is accompanied by four Lads of Fire Bells ... .” [according to TT 1220:198:2b-3b]

p. 291

[quoted from TT 1220:198.21a-b] “You visualize how the True King orders Heavenly Ting to ride a dragon, drive forwards the thunders and roaring fires, and heavenly Ting descends sounding his hand bell. ... Urgently, urgently act as on orders of the Bells of Metal and Fire in the Stream of Mercury-red Heaven ... .”

of head

cosmic locality

left eye

"God-emperor of the Sun"

right eye

"God-emperor of the Moon"

space betwixt eyebrows

"the thunders reside in the Hall of Seals"

mouth

"the green sea"

p. 294

[quoted from TT 1220:80.28a]

“God-emperor Taiyang ..., God-emperor Taiyin ...

One hand holds up the Thunder axe, over ten thousand miles”.

p. 295

[quoted from TT 1220:80.28b]

“At the first turn [of the brush], heaven and earth are agitated;

at the second turn [of the brush], earth [has] water and wind;

at the third turn [of the brush], the rumbling of Thunder sounds;

at the fourth turn [of the brush], the fire of Thunders comes forth;

at the fifth turn [of the brush], lightning and hail are born;

at the sixth turn [of the brush], sun and moon are shrouded in darkness;

at the seventh turn [of the brush], heaven and earth connect and unite”.

“Generalissimo Zhao Gongming ... knows a “well-hell” ... that a Thunder specialist may use to accomodate ... wicked spirit troops ... . The “well” ... may be drawn on the ground to ... pin down demoniac forces that ... cause mental disarray. In chiao-offerings ... the spirit-prison serves to seal the Gate of Demons ... . The well-amulet also appears useful in ... the Appeasement for the Dragon ... [“ThE&RD”] which is performed when new architectural sites are inaugurated.”