The Taoist Magick Circle

LBRP Compared to Fusion of Five Elements

"The Order to which I belong, does not believe anything; it knows, or it doubts, as the case may be; and it seeks ever to increase human knowledge by the method of science, that is to say, by observation and experiment." (24)

""The first impression of the savage about the universe is of a great mysterious jumble of things which come upon him without rime or reason usually to smite him down.  Long later, man developed the idea of connecting phenomena, at least a few at a time.  Centuries elapse; he begins to perceive law, at first operating only in a very few matters.  More centuries; some bold thinker invents a single cause for all these diverse effects, and calls it God.  This hypothesis leads to interminable disputes about the nature of God; in fact, they have never been settled.  The problem of the origin of evil alone, has quite baffled Theology" (61)

"This boy is a desperate magician confined within the circle of this forest.  His plan is Action; he is all for Magick; give him a Wand and a host of Demons to control, and he is happy.  For my part, I prefer the Way of the Tao, and to do everything by doing nothing." (64)

"There are two ways of preventing a rise of temperature from the sun's heat.  One is to oppose a shield of non-conducting and opaque material: that is Cyrils's way, and at the best it is imperfect; some heat always gets through.  The other is to remove every particle of matter from the space which you wish to be cold; then there is nothing there to become hot; and that is the Way of the Tao." (69) - Aleister Crowley speaking as Simon Iff in MoonChild.

    The LBRP (Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram), and the Taoist practice of protection, labeled Formula 7 in Mantak Chia's book Fusion of the Five Elements, are found to be nearly identical.  The symbols differ,  but the overall intent is the same. The pentagram in the LBRP, are replaced by images of pure children in the four quarters (the children are also associated with various organs in the body, emotions, as well as other qualities, just as their qabalistic equivalents), while the archangels used in the LBRP are exchanged for animals. The understanding is that there is an archetypal or archangelic force behind the outward crystallization, the pure children and the pentagram. The Blue child and Turtle correspond to the kidneys and North, the Red child and Pheasant, heart, South; the Green child and Dragon, liver, East; the White child and Tiger, lungs, West. These symbols are then connected by a ring of fire,  just as the pentagram are joined by the white line forming the magick circle in the LBRP. Finally, the Yellow child (corresponding to the spirit, the officiating Sun) and Phoenix, spleen, ascribed to the top of the body, above the head, is described as a fiery dome overseeing the circle or aura of the practitioner.

    Similarly, there are Taoist exercises for drawing energy from the planets, and stars, through the chakras, and circulating it through various channels/meridians, in a circuit known as the Microcosmic Orbit.  These practices coincide with their western equivalents in the Kabbalistic Cross, Middle Pillar, and the COBOL (Circulation of the Body of Light) exercises.  The technique of running the energy down from the top of the head,  following a path around the groin, and up the spine, additionally illustrates the route taken by the kundalini energy through the chakras in yoga.

Bibliography

Crowley, Aleister. Moon Child. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, 1997.

Chia, Mantak, and Chia, Maneewan. Awaken the Healing Light of the Tao. Huntington, NY: Healing Tao, 1993.

Chia, Mantak   and Chia, Maneewan. Awaken Healing Energy Through the Tao. Santafe, New Mexico: Aurora Press, 1983.

Chia, Mantak, and Chia, Maneewan. Fushion of the Five Elements. Huntington, NY: Healing Tao, 1993.

�2004 Ian Axir.  All Rights Reseved.