"'Taoism ... of the Six Dynasties Period".

p. 273 results of repeated evil actions, according to the Yao-hsiu K>o-i C^ieh-lu: C^>ao ("Extract of the Most Important Ritual Rules and Prohibitions") (= TT 204-7) 12:10a-b

offenses

result

specifically

120

 

fall ill

180

deficiency

not succeed in raising domestic animals

190

heedlessness

catch an epidemic disease

530

small evil

have one's children born dead

720

great evil

have no sons, but many daughters

820

misfortune

blindness or deafness

1,080

calamity

die a violent death

1,600

disaster

have no descendants

1,800

catastrophe

misfortune will spread to 5 generations

p. 274 results of repeated good actions

good works

result

300

become Earthly Immortal

1,200

become Heavenly Imortal

divine numerics

p.

quantity

entity specified

277

55,555 myriad

in the Palace of Purple Tenuity: "divine officials, all made from Breaths, all spontaneously born, all clad in winged vestments of green feathers." [name translated "Palace of Purple Fragility" on p. 434]

 

81

levels of the heavens

279

36,000

gods within the body

     
 

deities

in __ (organ of body) : their nature

 

4

liver

 

6

lungs : guardians of the bridge with 12 spans (trachea)

 

12

trachea : Perfect Men Gate-Keepers (who control breath)

 

5

spleen

 

7

kidneys : guard the Side-Gate of the Jade Barrier

 

1

heart : Lord Male, Director of Destiny for the Middle Section

280

1

nose

   

below nose : Old Lord of the 3 Simplenesses

 

2

nostrils : Immortals (each with 6 attendants)

p. 281 deities within, according to the S^an-c^>in Hsien-fu C^>iun-lin C^in ("Book of the Red Jade Forest of the Service of Immortals of Great Purity") (= TT 1050) 1a

in __

is __

Heaven

the Mysterious One of the Great Yan = "the Moving Pearl"

the Great Gulf of the North Pole

"the One"

front of middle level

"the Hall of Government"

lower level

"the Scarlet Palace"

upper level

"the Flowered Canopy with its Jade Pavilion" of 10,000 levels

p. 281 locations of divinities, according to the T>ai-s^an Lao-c^u:n C^un-c^in 1-2b
 

deity

is "original Breath of the __"

dwelleth in the __

in humans is at __

ruler of divine country __

1

Tun-wan-kun ('East King Lord')

Green Yan

East

at summit of skull

P>en-lai

2b

+Hsi-wan-mu ('West Queen Mother')

Great Yin

Flowered Canopy

Scarlet Palace (heart)

mt. K>un-lun

pp. 282-283 as seen by interior vision: statures & clothing of deities in sites of the body

p.

site

deity: __ inches tall

clad in: __

282

hair

2

grey

 

skin

1.5

yellow

282-3

eyen

3.5

5 colors

283

nose

2

green, yellow, & white

 

tongue

7

red

 

brain

1

white

 

marrow

5

white

 

spine

3.5

white

p. 283 "nose" should be, according to Maspero, "pituitary" (which is green, yellow, & white) {with "five colors" for clothes of god of eyen, cf. "iris" 'rainbow'}

domestic rite-of-passage caerimonies, according to the Caelestial Masters

p.

 

for a boy

for a girl

       

290

c^>u-s^ih ('banquet'), at birth

   
 

offered to __ members

10

5

 

gifts to Instructor

100 sheets of writing-paper, 2 writing-brushes, cake of ink, ink-scraper

mat, waste-basket, broom

 

s^en of wine, per person

superior = 5

middling = 4

       

291

hsin-c^>u ('perform the kitchen'), at marriage

giving diluted wine, from t>ien-c^>u ('Heavenly Kitchen'), of tou (= 10 s^en) of water per s^en of wine {cf. water for wine at marriage in Kana (John 2:6-9)}

throwing rice, which is thereby caerimonially "transformed into cinnabar dust."

p. 291 at the marriage-caerimony, "Preserved meat is carved for eating: it is, they say, preserved unicorn". {Praeserved how? If in vinegar, cf. the vinegar offered (Matthew 27:48) in a sponge to Christ, where the "gall" may repraesent the gallbladder of a re>m unicorn/giraffe.}

p. 295 spirits of heaven who are invited to the Fast of the Yellow Talisman (according to the Wu-s^an Pi-yao 54)

group of heavenly spirits

that group’s duty

Caelestial Immortal horsemen & soldiers

numbering 900,000 myriads : come watch the Fast

Terrestrial Immortals

Flying Immortals

Perfect Men

Divine men

horsemen & soldiers in the Palaces of :-

Sun & Moon,

the Planets,

the 3 Rivers & 4 Seas,

the 5 Peaks & 4 Rivers

36 Golden Youths

tend the incense

36 Jade Maidens

cast flowers

those who transmit utterances

come also

those who write requaests

"officers riding the dragons of the postal service who carry official dispatches" in the caelestial world

p. 295 purpose of the caerimony as explained to the spirits of the 10 directions :

"my fellow believer (t’ung-hsin) saves his male and female ancestors of nine generations, their dead souls which are in the Jade Coffer of the Nine Darknesses," in the Domain of Aeternal Night

p. 297 prostrations in the Fast of the Yellow Talisman (according to the Wu-s^an Pi-yao 54)

directional prostrations

direction

prostrations

south

30

west

70

north

50

[east]

?

   

other prostrations

for __

prostrations

Palace of the Sun

30

Palace of the Moon

70

Constellations

365

the 5 Peaks

20 each

World of the Waters

120

the 3 Jewels (the Tao, Sacred Books, Community of the Faithful)

360

p. 297 ascension to heaven of past generations of one's ancestors

souls (hun) of __ past generations of ancestors

exit

into __

9

out of the Darkness of Aeternal Night

Luminous Heaven

7

by means of the Principle of Life of Spontaneity

as Immortals, the Palace of the Southern Summit

process of immortalization within this Palace of the Southern Summit

p. 297 In this paradise there gusheth forth, "in the middle of the courtyard, a spring of liquid fire; the souls bathe in it," their substance melteth into it, "and when they emerge", the Caelestial Venerable of the Original Beginning createth for them a "body of life."

IVO-W, p. 160: "in the Second Heaven in Adamna`n, the souls of the righteous are purified in a fiery stream." IVO-W, p. 102: "At the gate of the Second Heaven ... Before the door is a fiery river. Abersetus is the angel who ... In it ... washes the souls of the saints ... There, too, is a pleasant spring; it cleanses the just".

IVO-W = St. John D. Seymour: Irish Visions of the Other-World. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1930.

Henry Maspero (translated from the French by Frank A. Kierman, Jr.): Taoism and Chinese Religion. U. of MA Pr, Amherst, 1981. pp. 263-298