Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism
Taoist talismans, also called divine talismans, Taoist talismans, or heavenly talismans, are among the most representative core ritual arts and sacred tokens of the Taoist cultural system. They carry the traditional Chinese view of the cosmos and of life and the idea of saving the world and benefiting people, and they are a concrete expression of the Taoist unity of heaven and humanity.
Handed down and evolving over more than two thousand years, Taoist talismans run through Taoist liturgy, inner refinement and nurturing life, averting calamity and praying for blessings, helping the world and its people, and folk belief. They are the medium and numinous token by which Taoism communicates between heaven and humanity and with the gods and harmonizes yin and yang, and a mysterious and profound spiritual treasure of China's fine traditional culture.
When Taoists make talismans, they must do so with a heart of utmost sincerity, paying close attention to the union of spirit and qi.
The fundamental reason for a talisman's efficacy is this: the maker must have a heart of utmost sincerity, and in making it must unite spirit and qi and pour them into the talisman.
The Corpus of Taoist Ritual (Daofa Huiyuan) states clearly: “A talisman is a joining, a token of trust. With my spirit I join their spirit; with my qi I join their qi. Spirit has no form, yet it takes form in the talisman. When this acts, that responds; when this moves, that becomes numinous.” It also says: “A talisman is the union of yin and yang; only the most sincere in the world can use it. Essence and spirit adhere to one another, spirit relies on spirit, and so by means of a few inches of paper one summons ghosts and spirits, and they cannot but answer.”
This explanation in the Taoist scriptures points straight to the origin of talismans: a talisman is not an ordinary picture or text outlined in cinnabar and ink, but a concrete vehicle of the true trust of heaven and earth, the mutual response of yin and yang, and the congealing of spirit and qi. It is “the numinous writing of the Three Lights, the token of trust of the heavenly perfected,” in essence a sacred medium and numinous token carrying the information of prior heaven and the numinous qi of the cosmos.
Taoism holds that heaven, earth, and the cosmos were generated by the three qi—the mysterious, the primal, and the beginning. When the primal qi gathers it becomes spirit; when it disperses it becomes qi. A talisman is the manifestation, in characters, symbols, and objects, of the flow of the true qi of prior heaven in accord with the spirit and qi of heaven and humanity.
A heart of utmost sincerity is the foundation by which talismans move heaven and earth. When the heart is sincere and the intention steadfast, spirit and qi merge and yin and yang unite; only then can a square inch of paper or silk serve as a medium to summon the host of spirits and carry messages to the Three Realms.
A talisman has no fixed form: it is made numinous by qi and put to use by the heart. With a single pure thought, one can lodge qi and form a talisman, fully displaying the wonder of the Tao following what is so of itself and the working of the unity of heaven and humanity.
Since the Song and Yuan dynasties in China, the Taoist thunder rites have flourished, and talismans have merged and coexisted with dual cultivation of nature and life, forming a complete tradition of thunder-rite talismans. Refine within and clarify the mind, practice visualization of the spirits and perfected beings, gather qi in the Niwan, and move the response at the Mysterious Pass: before the thunder talisman is written, prior heaven has already responded. The might of thunder is not an outward appearance but in truth a transformation of the qi of the heart. The power of a talisman lies not in elaborate ritual but in the union of nature and life and the resonance of heaven and humanity, linking the numinous qi of heaven and earth through the true qi refined within oneself to achieve communion with the true and protection of life, harmony of yin and yang, and even subduing demons, expelling evil and warding off ghosts, and protecting the people.