《上清洞真元经五籍符》

This scripture states that the Five Spirits of Taiyi (the Great One) carry out the Five Talismans and oversee the Five Registers (the registers that record lifespan and year of birth). Through these they request the Sovereign Lord to enact the Way of blending and transformation, and to transmit the methods of attaining long life and becoming a transcendent.

The Inner Treasure Talismans of the Five Spirits constitute the method by which the Taiyi Sovereign Lord causes the human body to blend with Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy), to undergo transformation, and to unite with the Dao (the Way). One may write five talismans on one’s natal day (the day corresponding to the year of birth), place them together in a silk pouch, and wear them on the person; it is said this can confer immortality and freedom from death.

Alternatively, at the hour of the natal day within the natal month, one may enter a quiet chamber, write the five talismans, face the kingly direction (the direction corresponding to oneself), and ingest them all at once. After ingesting them, recite this prayer:

“Taiyi’s Five Spirits, register my year of birth; grant me a thousand years and ten thousand years, a lifespan equal to Heaven. The Sovereign Lord holds the talismanic mandate; let my lifespan not diminish.”

If one wishes to ingest these talismans repeatedly, it is best to choose the night of the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the seventh day of the seventh month, or the ninth day of the ninth month.

Following the heading “Certificate of the Five Registers, Five Blendings, and Inevitable Life through Talismanic Transformation,” several methods for writing Fulu (talismans and registers) are listed: some are written in blue-green, orpiment yellow, or vermilion on white paper. There are also the “Taiyi Treasure Talisman for Controlling the Three Hun and Seven Po” and the “Taiyi Treasure Spirit Talisman for Summoning the Sovereign Lord.” The latter should be written with a vermilion brush on white paper at noon on the days of the Eight Seasonal Nodes (Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning of Winter, and Winter Solstice). After ingesting it, recite this prayer:

“The Supreme Three Mysteries, the Sovereign Lord is in the hun; Taiyi’s Five Numina protect and sustain the hun and po and stabilize the body; the Purple Chamber holds the mandate, governing and commanding the hundred spirits.”

The conclusion states that there are twelve Inner Essence Spirit Talismans of the Sovereign Lord Taiyi in all, each formed of the Qi of the Supreme Primordial Jing (essence). These are contents of the utmost truth and secrecy and must not be transmitted casually. There is also the Outer Formula of Taiyi, whose talismanic graphs differ considerably; it belongs to the preceding text of the Zhongjin Dichang Jing (Scripture of the Central Collar and Imperial Glory). The scripture warns that if the talismans used are not the true ones described here, they will have no effect, and it exhorts practitioners to treat them with due reverence and caution.

What Taiyi Dijun, the Thearch of the Great One, described is the intra-embryonic Fulu (talisman) for untying the three passes and twelve knots. One should choose one’s own natal day, or one of the eight nodal festivals (the Beginning of Spring, the Spring Equinox, the Beginning of Summer, the Summer Solstice, the Beginning of Autumn, the Autumn Equinox, the Beginning of Winter, and the Winter Solstice). When preparing to carry out the practice of untying the knots, first swallow three of these talismans and face the direction that belongs to one’s natal destiny.

The talisman is to be written in cinnabar on the white membrane inside green bamboo. This white membrane grows within the hard nodes of the bamboo; only later, when the interior of the node becomes hollow, can it contain numinous Qi (vital energy). For this reason, a talisman written on the bamboo membrane is called the “Untying-Knot Nodal Text.”