《清微元降大法》Vol. 20

This scripture documents the thunder ritual system of the Qingwei lineage (an important Daoist school), primarily describing the divine pantheon and operational methods of the Great Unity Blazing Brilliance Five Thunders technique.

Regarding the Great Unity Blazing Brilliance Five Thunders (also called Great Unity Awesome Transformation Thunder or Fire Mansion Divine Origin Thunder), the founding master explains that this method contains twelve ritual approaches, capable of operating according to directional alignments and governing fortune and misfortune across the sixty-year Jiazi cycle. The term "Blazing Brilliance" refers to its radiance that thoroughly illuminates heaven and earth, ensuring immediate response when invoked, with awesome spiritual efficacy beyond measure.

The scripture details the iconography and responsibilities of thunder deities:

• Great Unity Flaming Commander Blazing Light Quake Glory Celestial Lord (Zhu Lang/Zhuang Yao): wields either a sword or fire wheel, embodying Mars' power
• Great Unity Mysterious Movement Sky-Soaring Roaring Thunder Perfect Lord (Xun Guang/Zhu Biao): wears celestial crown with three eyes, green face and golden armor, holding a fire pearl in left hand and sword in right

Subsequent sections record practical thunder method applications:

1. Supreme Clarity Blazing Brilliance Awesome Transformation Cavern Scripture: contains secret incantations for commanding wind, clouds, thunder, lightning, rain, snow, and hail

2. Functional applications: healing illnesses, hastening childbirth, warding off malignant forces, protecting households, exorcising evil entities

3. Essential techniques for yin-yang timing and invocation talismans

Special attention is given to the command structure of Great Unity Five Thunders:

• Chief Marshal Wu Qiao
• Radiant Flow Supreme General Zhu Xing

The text concludes with detailed descriptions of the Southeast Palace Thunder Activation secret method's divine system, including:

• Thunder Commander-in-Chief Xin Zhongyi
• Meteorological deities: Thunder Duke Jiang Hechong, Lightning Mother Xiu Wenying, Wind Earl Fang Daozhang, Rain Master Chen Huafu
• Five Directional Thunder Kings (Ma Yumou, Guo Yuanjing, etc. guarding east, west, south, north and center)
• Messenger Zhang Wubo

Together these deities form Daoism's complete thunder ritual execution system, summonable through specific talismanic rituals to perform functions including rainfall induction, epidemic eradication, and demon subjugation.

This scripture primarily documents the various Fulu (talismans and registers) and divine hierarchies used by the Qingwei lineage (a major Thunder Rites tradition during the Song-Yuan period). According to standard liturgical procedures, ritual masters must wear specific-colored ceremonial robes when performing these rites.

The text enumerates multiple types of functionally diverse talismanic incantations: those for summoning the Eleven Celestial Lords (high-ranking deities), others for manipulating natural forces like raising thunderstorms, summoning dragons, or reversing tides, as well as healing talismans for curing illnesses or facilitating childbirth, alongside universal talismans for commanding all spiritual beings. Special emphasis is placed on the Five Thunder system talismans, which form the core of Qingwei Thunder Magic practices.

Subsequently recorded are the sacred titles of the True Lords from the Nine Heavens Thunder Department (Daoism divides celestial realms into nine layers), with each True Lord governing Thunder Magic at different heavenly strata—examples include Shenxiao Minglie Zhenjun Shang Fu and Langxiao Minglie Zhenjun Deng Zhao. Also mentioned is the talismanic envoy Yue Quan, responsible for executing Thunder Rites.

The concluding section contains summoning mantras like "Yin Ming Zha Lü Yu" along with the titles of several True Lords and envoys, such as Dongyang Xuanyi Zhenjun Yuan and Dongyin Mingyi Zhenjun Ju. These envoys possess distinct iconographic features—for instance, Envoy Yang Xian appears blue-faced wielding a sword, while Envoy Song Guang is white-faced carrying an axe. The text emphasizes these talismans' immediate efficacy during urgent prayers.

The bracketed characters likely represent esoteric script or transmission markers (e.g., "Xin Jiang Xiu Fang" or "Chen Ma Guo Tian"), constituting confidential elements within the Daoist lineage's internal transmission.

This documents the rain-praying and flood-stopping rituals of the Qingwei School (an important talismanic tradition in the Song Dynasty). When encountering extreme weather, Daoist priests communicate with celestial deities through specific liturgical procedures:

During disasters caused by thunderstorms, hail, or torrential rains, one should recite the "Lightning-Snow-Hail-Rain" true incantation; when prolonged fog requires clearing, the "Fog-Clearing Dragon-Summoning" esoteric mantra is employed. These mantras essentially function as urgent petitions submitted to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the highest Daoist deities), with the "Shangqing Divine Command Cavern Scripture" serving as their foundational text. Through core techniques like "Stirring the Luminous Chaos" (mobilizing the power of sun, moon, and stars) and "Marvelously Governing the Primal Origin" (regulating the movement of celestial and terrestrial Qi), they form the complete disaster-averting rituals recorded in the twentieth volume of the Qingwei Yuanjiang Great Methods.

The entire system emphasizes "governing techniques through the Dao," maintaining that only when one's cultivation reaches the state of "spiritual unity with the Dao" can these natural forces be effectively mobilized. Each mantra corresponds to specific hand seals (mudras), ritual footsteps (gangbu), and visualization requirements (imagining divine forms), all of which require strict lineage transmission for proper practice.