《上清靈寶大法(一)》Vol. 20

Scroll Twenty of the Great Methods of Shangqing Lingbao: "Observing the Five"

Compiled by the Perfected Ning Quanzhen, Gaoshi of Penetrating the Subtle and Perfected of Opening Light and Relieving Suffering, transmitted; edited by Wang Qizhen, Successor Master of Lingbao Lingjiao and Disciple of the Three Caverns of Shangqing

Scripture Lines and Talisman Writings: Gates

Talismans of the Thirty-Two Heavens

Eight Heavens of the East

Taihuang Huangzeng Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Horse.

Taiming Yuwan Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Horse.

Qingming Hetong Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Goat.

Xuantai Pingyu Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Goat.

Yuanming Wenju Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Monkey.

Shangming Qiyao Moyi Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Monkey.

Xuwu Yueheng Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Monkey.

Taiji Mengyi Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Eight Heavens of the South

Chiming Heyang Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Xuanming Gonghua Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Dog.

Yaoming Zongpiao Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Dog.

Zhuluo Huangjia Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Dog.

Xumingtang Yao Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Pig.

Guanming Duanjing Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Pig.

Xuanming Gongqing Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rat.

Taihuan Jiyao Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rat.

Eight Heavens of the West

Yuanzai Kongsheng Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Ox.

Taian Huangya Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Ox.

Xiandingji Feng Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Tiger.

Shihuang Xiaomang Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Tiger.

Taihuang Wengzhong Furong Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rabbit.

Wusi Jiangyou Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rabbit.

Shangjie Ruanle Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Dragon.

Wuji Tanshi Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Dragon.

Eight Heavens of the North

Haoting Xiaodu Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Dragon.

Yuantong Yuandong Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Horse.

Taiwen Hanchong Miaocheng Heaven: This talisman governs those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Tai Su Xiu Le Jin Shang Tian: the fu on the right (a Daoist written talisman) governs people born in the Year of the Snake. Tai Xu Yuan Shang Chang Rong Tian: the fu on the right governs people born in the Year of the Snake. Tai Shi Yu Long Teng Sheng Tian: the fu on the right governs people born in the Year of the Snake. Long Bian Fan Du Tian: the fu on the right governs people born in the Year of the Snake. Tai Ji Ping Yu Jia Yi Tian: the fu on the right governs people born in the Year of the Tiger.

Jiu He Shi He: the fu on the right is used to harmonize relations between husband and wife. Bian Hua Shang Qing: the fu on the right is used to suppress ghosts and evil spirits. Qing Mie San E: the fu on the right is used to cut off evil spirits. Duan Jue Di Gen: the fu on the right is used to treat liver disease. Wan Shen Zhi Zong: the fu on the right is used to treat guest ghosts (external ghosts that disturb a person). Zong Ling Gui Bing: the fu on the right is used to treat blood-corpse ghosts. Hui Chuang Gu Jie: the fu on the right is used to subdue wutong, shanxiao, and other spirits (wutong and shanxiao are types of mountain and household sprites). You Guan Tai Kong: the fu on the right is used to treat nightmares. Zi Hao He Yi: the fu on the right is used to treat shanxiao that have attached themselves to a person. Shen Gong Shou Ming: the fu on the right is used to treat a person whose body has been invaded by evil qi. Pu Sao Bu Xiang: the fu on the right is used to expel ghost qi that has come upon a person. Ba Wei Tu Du: the fu on the right is used to treat lao wen (a prison-related or epidemic affliction). Meng Ma Si Zhang: the fu on the right is used to ward off bandits. Tian Ding Qian Qu: the fu on the right is used to treat dreams of having sex with ghosts. Da Shuai Zhang Fan: the fu on the right is used to treat a person who wakes in the night crying out. Zhi Huo Wan Li: the fu on the right is used to expel ghosts and subdue demons. Liu Ling Ba Chong: the fu on the right is used to treat the appearance of corpse ghosts. Gan You Yu Shi: the fu on the right is used to treat su gui (old ghosts that cling to a person). Ju E San Qi: the fu on the right is used to drive out ghost fires. Jin Yue Qian Lu: the fu on the right is used to drive out ghosts that steal objects. Chen Tian Hou Xing: the fu on the right is used to drive out ghost fires that cause death when they touch things. Feng Huo Guang Ting: the fu on the right is used to suppress evil spirits and expel pestilence.

Shi Qian Jie Shou: the fu, written on the ground, is used to bind ghosts. Wan Wan Jian Xing: the fu, written on the ground, is used to fetter ghosts and to dispel illness.

Mo Wu Gan Fan: the fu on the right is used to treat the "heavenly hanging ghost" (tian diao gui) said to cause convulsions in infants. Gui Wu Yao Jing: the fu on the right is used to treat infant fright-wind (xiao'er jing feng). San Guan Bei Feng: the fu on the right is used to treat infants who cry at night. Ming Jian Gui Ying: the fu on the right is used to treat talking in one's sleep. Bu De Rong Yin: the fu on the right is used to drive out spirits formed from objects.

Jin Ma Yi Cheng.

These talismans (fu) each serve a different purpose. One treats epidemics among the six domestic animals, that is, illnesses of livestock. Another treats gu qi, an affliction thought to arise from gu sorcery or malign qi. Others treat luminescence in the ears and tinnitus, as well as zeng ming, a ringing made by a steaming vessel, and fu ming, a ringing made by a cauldron. A talisman for zeng ming appears a second time, and another treats fright and palpitations, and a rooster that speaks with a human voice.

Some talismans are meant to bring about success in trade and the gathering of wealth, to harmonize affairs generally, and to harmonize relations between men and women. One is used to treat doors that open and close on their own. Taken for three hundred days, one is said to restore essence and qi and nourish the brain. Taken over a long period, another is said to end the need for eating, and another is said to enable a person to abstain from grain. A talisman placed at the four directions of a household is said to bring prosperity and flourishing to the home. Another is said to expel a stillborn fetus, and another is said to enable abstention from grain once again. A further talisman is used for the same purposes as the one before it.

Several talismans are associated with inner alchemy. One is used for Niwan, the region above the head, and Jianggong, the heart region. Another is used to disperse breath and keep the flow of qi unobstructed. Worn or taken, one is said to settle the spirit. Another is said to summon wandering souls, and another is used to ward off evil ghosts. Further talismans dissolve curses and sorcery, remove grievous karmic retribution (yuan ye), that is, calamities thought to arise from old enmities and karmic consequences, and relieve the calamity of carrying a debt of life (fu ming zhi e). One is used to treat illnesses attributed to possession by the ghosts of men and women. Another is used to stop well and spring water from boiling. Worn or taken, one is said to favor encounters with noble people. Another, when worn, is said to ward off disasters and accidents.

The text concludes with the colophon "Shangqing Lingbao Dafa, Scroll Twenty."