The Tao of Craft by Benebell Wen

Author:Benebell Wen [Wen, Benebell]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: REL065000 Religion / Taoism (see Also Philosophy / Taoist)
ISBN: 978-1-62317-067-7
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Published: 2016-07-28T16:00:00+00:00

YIN AND YANG IS NOT BLACK AND WHITE

I want to address the notion of white magic and black magic, from my perspective. Taoist magic is not identified by the dichotomy of white versus black,2 or good versus evil,3 or at least I do not identify energy in that way.4 Rather, metaphysical energy (harnessed in a way that has been called “magic”) is either creative or it is destructive.5

Energy is characterized as yin-dominant or yang-dominant. We work through the binary of yin and yang, and within the yin, there is yang, which can expand until yin dominance becomes yang dominance. Likewise, within yang there is yin, which can expand until yang dominance becomes yin. In other words, an intent to create through light and work within the subjective framework of “white magic” can quickly slip into destructive work that might otherwise be characterized as malevolent. Also, any time I have spoken of benevolent or malevolent energy in this book, I am addressing the intentions driving the force behind the energy, not the energy itself.

A Fu sigil harnesses energy to create—or more accurately, add to or amplify a life force—or it is used to destroy, to take away from or weaken a life force. An example of creative work might be enhancing a person with greater financial wealth prospects so that person may use that wealth to achieve his goals. But another example of creative work is triggering physical pain in a person’s body or creating a torrent of misfortune and directing it toward someone, which few would call acts of “good” or “white magic.”

Destructive work might be taking away from what a person has built, which is often the function of curses. Destructive work can also be the banishing of existing pain in an individual’s life or removal of karmic merits that would otherwise lead to misfortune, which that person would hardly consider “evil.” Destructive work can involve dismantling malignant and malicious forces that have been harming someone.

Note further that in Taoist cosmology (and in the law of conservation of energy), energy is in fact neither created nor destroyed; it is transferred. A practitioner summons energy from a particular source and transfers it to the beneficiary in question to manifest an intention, or the practitioner pulls energy away from the beneficiary and redirects it elsewhere, to another source. Thus, the practitioner must be aware at all times that energy does not appear from nowhere and does not simply vanish at your command. It comes from a source and was taken from that source and transferred to you by your summoning or invocation. When it seems to disappear, it has only disappeared momentarily from your line of sight; the energy has been redirected elsewhere and is having an impact elsewhere.

There are consequences to this. The impact elsewhere could very well be detrimental to your personal karma. Most consequences are tolerable, but others are not worth the gain that the energetic working has yielded. That is why the beneficiary’s vow, which this book explains, is a recommended safeguard.

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