Magick, Shamanism & Taoism : the I ching in ritual & meditation

361 Pages·2001·87 MB·English

by  Richard Herne

Red Dragon, Yellow Horse
The I Ching in Ritual & Meditation
The Red Dragon of Heaven descends from the light of the sky.
The Yellow Horse of Earth comes forth from the darkness of the Underworld.
Uniting in ecstasy, clashing in war, from their play arise all life and death.
This book is primarily concerned with the Book of Changes and its links to Taoism,
the magickal practices of the Chinese Wu, and related schools of thought. My ambi
tion has been to open up the I Ching so that it can be approached on several levels, all
of which are important aspects of the overall whole.
Whereas most books on the I Ching focus on the system's oracles as a means to
divination, my work builds on that important base to include the potential for mag
ickal rites and meditations, blending traditional ideas with contemporary experimen
tation. In this way, it allows for a greater personal appreciation and assimilation of
the primal elemental forces that underpin the Trigrams and Hexagrams. In doing so,
it not only describes the basic tools appropriate for Chinese-style magick, but also ex
plains the symbolism and esoteric theory behind their use.
Parallels that I have drawn between Taoism and other worldviews such as shaman
ism, Ninjutsu, Shinto, Thelema, and Tantra help to broaden and explain fundamental
occult concepts. Hexagram correspondences bring together interpretations of the fig
ures with related symbols, gods, ritual instruments, and appropriate magickal work
ings in a way never before attempted in a work on the I Ching.
-Richard Herne
About the Author
Richard Herne (Great Britain) has been actively involved in the study of many East
ern and Western magico-spiritual philosophies for twenty years. He teaches Thelemic
pagan philosophy and is an official representative for the National Centre for English
Cultural Tradition based at the University of Sheffield.
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The I Ching in Ritual
& Meditation
Magic/(,
Shamanism
&
rr'aoism
Richard Herne
2001
Llewellyn Publications
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0383, U.S.A.
Magick, Shamanism & Taoism: The I Ching in Ritual & Meditation © 2001 by Richard Herne. All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, includ
ing Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications except in the case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Edition
First Printing, 2001
Book design by Donna Burch
Cover illustration © 2001 Mark Busacca
Cover design by Lisa Novak
Editing by Andrea Neff
The quoted material on page 33 originally appeared in Aleister Crowley's book The Holy Books of
Thelema, York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1983, pp. 60-61. The quoted material on page 83 origi
nally appeared in Aleister Crowley's book Liber Aleph, York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser, 1991, p. 57.
Used by permission.
The original black-and-white illustrations in this book appear courtesy of artist Tanith Hicks.
Permission to use this artwork is gratefully acknowledged.
Illustrations of mudras (pages 91-95, 144, and 155-156) by Carrie Westfall.
The original Chinese character illustrations in part 4 were drawn by the author.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Herne, Richard, 1969-
Magick, Shamanism & Taoism: the I ching in ritual & meditation / Richard Herne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56718-207-0
1. Yi jingo 2. Taoism. 1. Title.
PL2464.z7 H47 2000
299'.512582-dc21 00-052029
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Printed in the United States of America
Acknowledgments
My great thanks go out to all the friends and many other kind people of the Island
and elsewhere, too numerous to mention all by name, who have given me their en
couragement for this book. Special acknowledgment, though, must go to Tony and
Fiona Trowbridge (yes, it's here at last!), and Frater D. in the north of Alba (Keep up
the great work, and I hope this helps your quest!).
As always, my deepest love and gratitude are reserved for Tanith, for so many rea
sons that it would be impossible to list all of them. Thank you for your artwork, your
magickal masks, and your continual support. Without your assistance and much val
ued trust in my work, this book might never have been written.

Contents
List of Figures and Mudras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Preface .......... . .... . ................ ... Xl
PART ONE
History and Philosophy
Chinese Magick and Taoism .......................... 3
The Philosophy of the Way . ... .. .................... 27
PART TWO
The Temple and the Magickal Tools
Introduction . 37
The Temple ..... 39
The Ritual Sword . . . 43
The Robe .............. . 47
Equipment for Making Talismans. 49
The Bell . . . . . . ... 53
The Magick Mirror 55
The Drum ... 59
The Spirit Wand 61
The Fan .... 65
The Ritual Light 69
Incense 73
Mudra 77
Contents
PART THREE
Practical Magickal Work
Introduction . . . . . . . 83
Banishing and Purification: Assuming the Form of Fudo 89
Stone Warriors . . . . . . . . . . 97
Consecration of the Ritual Tools . 101
Investigating the Hexagrams . . 103
Pathworkings . . . . . . . . . . 107
Chi-Kung and the Cosmic Winds .. . . . . . .. . . 109
The Magick of Talismans .. .. . 115
Mu-Jen ...... . 123
The Gate of Dreams 129
In 0 Musubi .... 137
Invoking the Dragon Force . 141
Working with the Astral Body. 147
The Mountain Invocation 155
K'un Meditation . 159
Ch'ien Meditation 163
The Trigram Wheel ...... 165
PART FOUR
The I Ching Hexagrams
Hexagram Table .... 171
Introduction . . . . . . 173
The Sixty-Four Hexagrams 175
Appendices
A: The Eight Taoist Immortals ..... 305
B: I Ching, Tarot, and the Qabalah .. 315
Vlll
Contents
C: Pronunciation of Chinese .. 319
D: A List of Gods, Goddesses, and Spirits 321
Chronology of the Chinese Dynasties 329
Glossary . . .... . ...... . 331
Selected Bibliography and Further Reading . . 337
Index ... ... . .. . . .... . 341
List of Figures and Mudras
1. Lao-Tzu riding upon a water buffalo into the West
(from a Sung dynasty incense burner) . . . . . . .. . ........ 10
2. Chang Tao-ling, founding father of religious Taoism
(based on traditional Chinese paintings) . . . . . . . 19
3. The Tai-Chi, representing the primal unity of Yin and Yang 28
4. The fang-sheng. .. ....... . ..... . 42
5. The ritual sword. . 45
6. Two types of ritual fans 67
7. Examples of Chinese lanterns 71
8. Fudo, god of wisdom and fire 90
Mudra 1. The Fists of Anger . 91
Mudra 2. The Triangle of Fire . 92
Mudra 3. Sword in the Scabbard ...... 92
Mudra 4. Sword drawn from Scabbard;
Scabbard placed on head ... .. . 93
Mudra 5. Sword in the Scabbard .. . .. . 94
Mudra 6. Sword drawn from Scabbard, ready for use 94
Mudra 7. Sword in the Scabbard . . . . . . . 95
9. Chinese characters for shih kan t'ang . . 98
10. The Seal of Lao-tzu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
IX