According to ancient legends, thousands of years ago a mysterious being known as the Nine Tail Fox taught her devotees the secrets of witchcraft and alchemy. This witch cult survives to this day and is practiced in many Chinese and Japanese communities in relative secrecy. From her origins with the ancient Wu Shamans and the Tantric dakinis, the author explores this unique and often overlooked form of witchcraft. Learn the history of the Fox Immortal and her influence on Asian politics and history. Investigate the Tantric origins of the Fox Goddess. Learn the secret rituals from the Chinese grimoires that invoke the help and aid of the Fox Immortal as a personal magical tutor. Learn the ways of glamour and fascination taught to devotees of the Fox Temple. Investigate the mysterious tantric rites of the Tachikawa Ryu. Investigate the Mysteries of the white branch of death and the red branch of sexuality. Learn some of the many spells used by the Fox cult of witches. --------- This may be a topic wholly new to the average western reader though it will have familiar elements, after all, all true Mysteries in the true sense of the word have a common thread. Some readers may be familiar with the Lady Fox from various pop-cultural references in Japanese anime or Hong Kong movies and even video games. It is Kitsune, the fox spirit of the west that is most accessible to the average western audience. However the cultus of the Fox goes far further back than her appearance in Japan and Korea, her roots seemingly going as far back as the ancient tantric mysteries of India. I am a practitioner in the magical tradition of Taoism and it was in China that I learned the basics of the Fox Fairy as she is sometimes called. However China is a very conservative country and it seems obvious to me that a lot was implied but never spoken of, or perhaps even forgotten. I ventured into the depths of the mysteries of the Fox Lady and the path took me in many directions and through many synchronicities on that journey. While I preserve the fox tradition as passed to me, I do add some further material, also based on traditions that connect with her 'sadhana' [glossary]. I expect there will be an outcry from some Taoist and Shingon purists since in a sense I am resurrecting the heterodox Shingon cult of the Tachikawa. The logic of this decision will become clear. I am certain this is the correct move. In this way, we rise above the apparent shallowness of the Fox Temple as seen in contemporary Hong Kong for example, where the Fox Fairy has merely become a means to become a more attractive person in the world of film and music. In this book, I am giving the keys to true gnosis of the Path of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

There are many books on how to do magick, but not so many with stories about actually doing it and what happens. NakedTantra lays bare the inner states of the two brave souls involved in this extended magical work. An experiment, two people, two countries, one mind, experimenting in tantra meta-magick, cosmic astral travel to the land of no boundaries, looking for the doors of perception. Of necessity the contents of this grimoire might be considered erotic. And, with that thought in mind, it might also be that the reader is occasionally aroused by our story as it progresses. Some might find this an unwanted intrusion, into what is otherwise an exploration of a magical world. Others we surmise, will take this in good part, accepting that, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. To those who do not share these sensibilities, and are unmoved by what you are about to read, we offer our sincerest apologies.

For the first time in English, Benebell Wen reveals the rich history and theoretical principles underlying the ancient practice of crafting Fu talismans, or magical sigils, in the Chinese Taoist tradition and gives detailed instructions for modern practitioners who would like to craft their own Fu. Fu talismans are ideograms and writings typically rendered on paper and empowered by means of invocations, ritual, and transferences of energy, or Qi. Talismans can be used for many purposes, such as strengthening or weakening personality characteristics, finding love, earning more money, or easing emotional tensions in the home. The Tao of Craft shows how metaphysical energy can be harnessed to amplify, strengthen, weaken, dispel, or block other metaphysical energy and to rectify perceived imbalances in the material plane. Supported by an abundance of detailed charts and images, this book serves as a step-by-step handbook that gives readers the knowledge and confidence to craft their own Fu talismans for personal empowerment. Wen, author of Holistic Tarot, delves into historic and cultural contexts of the Fu, from the neolithic period of Chinese history to contemporary practices of esoteric Taoism. Providing a solid foundation in the principles of Eastern spellcrafting, she highlights the blending of Taoist metaphysical practices with Western approaches to magic by pointing out eclectic, integrating, and harmonizing facets from other cultures and religions. Historically, Fu talismans were used by medieval Chinese for alleviating illness; averting misfortune, magical attacks, and curses; defending against assaults; and avoiding poverty. This book shows Western practitioners that the skill and knowledge to develop an interactive relationship with spirit realms are still available to them today, and serves as a practical handbook for accumulating Qi energy from sources in the environment and channeling it in concentrated form into their own Fu talismans.

Possibly the most profound and far-reaching effects of Buddhism on Chinese culture occurred at the level of practice in religious rituals designed to cure people of disease, demonic possession, and bad luck. A basic concern with healing characterizes the entire gamut of religious expression in East Asia. By concentrating on the medieval development of Chinese therapeutic ritual, the author discovers the origins of many surviving rituals across the social and doctrinal frontiers of Buddhism and Taoism, including transmission to persons outside the Buddhist or Taoist fold. The author describes and translates many classical Chinese liturgies, analyzes their structure, and seeks out nonliturgical sources to shed further light on the politics involved in specific performances. Unlike the few previous studies of related rituals, this book combines a scholar's understanding of structure and goals of these rites with a healthy suspicion of the practitioners' claims to uniqueness.

The book you now hold in your hands is a training book for a real Taoist School somewhat unknown in the West and misunderstood in Asia. In the West, academics tend to focus on either philosophical Taoism or its manifestation in a distant historical past. In actuality Taoism has moved with the times and has a new vocabulary of which the academic scholar has no inkling. Yet, all Taoism is rooted in over 5000 years of history. One may read an academic text on Tang Dynasty rituals and terminology and think that is how modern Taoists work, which mostly, just isn't the case. Taoism in Asia has developed and evolved. This is particularly true in folk Taoism which is as far removed from Taoist orthodoxy as much as say Gnosticism is from the Catholic Church. After my studies with teachers in China and Malaysia. and having returned to the United Kingdom, I looked for books on the subject in English., I found not many at all. Academic works were highly impractical and focused on the past or the Daoist Canon. Most other works were the usual texts on Qigong, alchemy and very westernised approaches to Taoism. There was very little actual material on real Taoist magic, and those that were published were either mostly guesswork or so unwieldy as to be impractical. In other words there was a deficit of actual workable material for those who want a way in. Thus the idea of this series of books was born. The main focus of this volume is to introduce the reader to the real training methods, theory and spells used by the Chinese schools of magic. It is not an academic study nor a piece of missionary work from some Buddhistic-Taoist mix, such as Quanzhen or other orthodox Taoist 'churches'. Here you will meet the methods of the Chinese schools of magic, their Gods, their methods and their way of working. If you are wondering why there is no bibliography, that's because the sources are an oral tradition and currently not in print. I hope it opens the door for you and takes you beyond what you imagined Taoism to be.

What is the relation between the economy, or the mode of production, and culture, beliefs, and desires? How is it possible to think of these relations without reducing one to the other, or effacing one for the sake of the other? To answer these questions, The Micro-Politics of Capital re-reads Marx in light of the contemporary critical interrogations of subjectivity in the works of Althusser, Deleuze, Guattari, Foucault, and Negri. Jason Read suggests that what characterizes contemporary capitalism is the intimate intersection of the production of commodities with the production of desire, beliefs, and knowledge.