How the Daoist Yin Fu School Handles the Magical Water Used for Drawing Talismans

In talismanic spells, the sourcing and use of talismanic water has distinctions between yin and yang. In the article "Daoist Yin Fu School on the Sourcing of Water in Talismanic Spells," it has been discussed in detail. For example, when using the True Water of Heavenly One, this water possesses complete spiritual nature and extremely vigorous life energy, making it most suitable for creating talismans that gather and generate prosperous life energy, such as talismans for requesting children, talismans generally needed to supplement and benefit the body for treating illnesses, and when combined with seasonal timing, one can create talismans for improving vision, which have excellent effects on eliminating eye diseases such as cataracts. Sourcing water according to seasonal terms is one method, but often seasonal solar term water is difficult to collect, so there are artificially produced special waters.

In the blog article "Daoist Yin Fu School on Thirty-Six Types of Talismanic Water" detailing their preparation methods, thirty-six commonly used types of water are described, each with special effects. These thirty-six waters are very commonly used in alchemical pill making and are excellent for preparing talismans. In traditional Chinese medicine, they are also frequently used to treat certain conditions. For example, adding white jade powder to lacquer creates a water that forms a fluorescent substance, which can glow at night. When placed in water, it remains unaffected and produces night light. This was generally used in ancient times for writing jade talisman tablets, so they would glow at night, appearing extremely mystical. The legendary night-glowing cups mentioned in ancient legends, said to be made from the essence of white jade, are actually this substance.

Generally, the spiritual talismans that are processed are lower-grade spiritual talismans, so the processing does not need to be too complex. Generally used heavenly and earthly yin-yang water and Duanwu (Dragon Boat Festival) water are sufficient. Because lower-grade spiritual talismans are mostly related to worldly affairs, such as driving away evil, treating illnesses, attracting benefactors, seeking wealth, harmonizing marriage, promoting romantic relationships, career prosperity, and academic progress, almost any general magical water is sufficient.

Currently, I have seen many practitioners of the magical arts who, disregarding timing and solar terms, when about to draw a talisman, simply take a cup to collect boiling water, mix it with some cold water, and use it as yin-yang water. Even worse, some do not even consecrate the water, directly taking their brush, mixing it with cinnabar, and dipping it to draw without reciting spells to blend the ink. They then complain that the cinnabar does not dissolve in water. Even worse, some actually use red ink as a substitute for proper magical water to mix with cinnabar. Such methods of producing and drawing talismans are utterly astonishing.

Setting aside whether using red ink causes the talisman's efficacy to diminish and the likelihood of failure to increase greatly, just the fact that red ink is a chemical product, if the talisman is one meant to be ingested, would it not harm people's health?