Practical Chinese Magic - Read, Jason

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Résumé :
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, scholars 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 they have 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 on real Taoist magic, and those that were published were mostly guesswork or so unwieldy as to be impractical. 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....

Biographie:
Jason Read has held a long and deep-seated interest in magic, yoga, occult philosophy and the martial arts. Jason began training in the martial arts in his early teens and it was there he got his first glimpse of the world of Far Eastern occultism.Graduating from Southampton University in the 1990s with a BA in History, he took the unexpected step of joining the Royal Navy working as a language specialist in the Communications Technician department. As well as taking the opportunity to travel all around the world he learned to speak and write Chinese as part of his work.On leaving the services as a lieutenant, Jason committed himself to study occultism and magic, initially in the Western Mystery Tradition. However, still, a passionate martial artist, his interests in magic were destined to fall eastwards. To this purpose, Jason lived and travelled in Asia for over a decade searching for a real teacher of martial arts and magic. He found it. Under the apprenticeship of a Maoshan sorcerer and martial artist, Dr. Liang, he studied many aspects of Chinese magic and alchemy which are still largely unknown to most western practitioners. This series of books aims to readdress that imbalance....

Sommaire:
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, scholars 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 they have 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 on real Taoist magic, and those that were published were mostly guesswork or so unwieldy as to be impractical. 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....