On Soul-Hanging Arts
The Dao has no inherent good or evil; it depends on how people use it.
Recently, someone asked about the art of soul-hanging. Rumors in the folk world are chaotic and inconsistent. Fortunately, I had some prior knowledge of this topic, so I will explain it in detail here.
Whether in the East or West, the art of soul-hanging involves using straw figures or other humanoid objects to perform curses. However, most of these methods are ineffective. The main reason for their ineffectiveness is the omission of the "soul-hanging" step. Here, we primarily introduce the positive applications of soul-hanging arts, rather than methods for harming others.
Soul-hanging, also known as soul-adjusting, strictly tracing its origins, first arose from Shamanic traditions. Its method involves confining the soul into a humanoid object and then performing various operations on that soul. These operations can be benign or malignant. Benign operations are mostly used for treating illnesses and dispelling evil influences, while malignant ones are mostly used to inflict harm and curses.
In Daoist circles, there are also specialized studies of soul-hanging arts. According to records in the Yin Fu Sect's archives, soul-hanging is divided into two major systems, which are completely different. Some people today confuse these two systems, which is actually a forced interpretation. The Shamanic concept of the Three Souls and the Daoist system of Three Souls and Seven Pores are not the same; their perspectives differ significantly. The Shamanic Three Souls refer merely to three independent souls, whereas the Daoist system is more refined, with twenty-one combinations of the Three Souls and Seven Pores, corresponding to the phrase "All come together in three sevens, subduing all demons in the world." This involves too many internal secrets to discuss here, so we will only detail the first system below.
According to the common theory of the Three Souls originating from Shamanism, the Three Souls are divided into three systems: Yuan Soul (Original Soul), Ming Soul (Life/Fate Soul), and Sheng Soul (Living Soul). In this system, there is no distinction between Soul and Pore; it is a unique perspective. Whenever a living person or a living object possesses vitality, the Sheng Soul exists.
Usually, if someone does not return home, one can adopt the method of adjusting the Sheng Soul, which involves drawing part of that living person's Sheng Soul into the home. Since souls have a natural tendency to seek wholeness, they will spontaneously and forcibly pull the person back home. This is a typical example of a benign usage. However, malicious uses can be quite sinister, such as directing the Sheng Soul to a specific location. Thus, the law has no inherent good or evil; it depends entirely on the practitioner.
The Sheng Soul is the easiest type of soul to detach. The Sheng Soul of a child is the most unstable and prone to "falling" (detaching) due to fright. Usually, for mild cases, one can call the Sheng Soul back home by calling the child's name (preferably by a close relative, ideally a direct blood relative). The common method is to knock on the door at the entrance of the house, letting the child hear the knocking sound, which creates a spiritual sensation. This causes the scattered Sheng Soul to resonate spontaneously. Then, by calling the soul, it can be retrieved. However, if the Sheng Soul has scattered too far and the "falling" phenomenon has occurred, it becomes more troublesome. It is generally best to invite a master to call upon a specific deity responsible for summoning souls to handle it.
In folklore, there is another method called "receiving shock" (Shou Jing). Often, when a person's illness cannot be cured in the hospital, they seek out certain individuals who roll an egg over the living person's body. If, upon opening the egg, it turns black, it means the Yin energy has been absorbed into the egg, and the person will recover. This is because the structure of an egg is very similar to the structure of the Three Souls, primarily targeting the treatment of the soul and possessing the efficacy of making the soul return to wholeness spontaneously, thus producing this effect.
So, what is the structure of the Three Souls? The Yuan Soul is the core, the Ming Soul wraps around the Yuan Soul, and the Sheng Soul is the outermost layer.
If the Sheng Soul is unstable, like a broken eggshell, and the living person encounters evil spirits, this may lead to problems with the Ming Soul. Once the Ming Soul is compromised, the person will exhibit symptoms of lethargy and unconsciousness. Severe illness and critical condition are also characteristics of Ming Soul issues. In such cases, the Ming Soul must be repaired immediately. When encountering such symptoms, one should first calm the soul and use the Soul-Calming Mantra to treat it before proceeding with other actions. It is like treating a wound: while treatment is important, stopping the bleeding is more critical. Only when the soul is stabilized can further processing be possible; otherwise, it is very difficult to handle.
Additionally, it should be noted that in many movies, when a patient collapses, relatives shout desperately by their ear, and the person wakes up. The probability of this succeeding in reality is extremely low. Because when calling the soul in this manner, the soul is already extremely unstable, and the soul of a comatose person is mostly damaged. Being able to call them back this way is like asking a severely injured, bleeding person to crawl back. Therefore, do not believe such plotlines; in reality, shouting too much will cause death faster.
The Yuan Soul is a rather interesting entity. Its mystery is relative to the general public's lack of understanding. If you are familiar with ancient stories, you should know about "ghost fire" (will-o'-the-wisp). Of course, the Yuan Soul is not ghost fire, but like ghost fire, when a person passes away, the Yuan Soul manifests, appearing as such a presence. The concept of the Yuan Soul is crucial for communicating between Yin and Yang and for cultivation. Discussing this in detail would be complex, so we will save it for another time.
For masters, the methods of implementing soul-hanging usually fall into two categories: active soul-hanging and command-based soul-hanging.
Active soul-hanging generally has a low success rate because it depends on the master's cultivation. The method involves the master using a certain ritual and relying on their own ability to communicate between Yin and Yang to attract and capture the soul.
Command-based soul-calling, on the other hand, has more methods, such as using the Maoshan Patriarch's Soul-Hanging Token, issuing the Five Ghosts Soul-Hanging Command, or issuing the Mother of Lishan's Soul-Hanging Command, etc. Most involve requesting Yang deities or Yin spirits to drag the target's soul over. Furthermore, the requirements for soul-hanging vary by system. Some require the living person's clothing, some require shoes, some require hair and fingernails, and some only require the Eight Characters (birth data) and address. These requirements are mainly established to prevent some people from acting recklessly.
Soul-hanging itself is neither good nor bad, but one must also be cautious. If one encounters a malicious master, after detaching the person's soul, they might deliberately erase some of the person's auspicious stars in their destiny, bringing bad luck to the target. Or, more severely, they might forcibly seal the detached soul. Over time, the living person may experience mental lethargy and lack of concentration, often making crossing the street dangerous. Even more sinister masters might seal the soul in places with heavy evil energy, causing severe harm to the living person's destiny. These are all things to watch out for.
In general, allowing a master to perform soul-hanging is like putting oneself on a doctor's operating table. If the doctor has medical ethics, there is no problem. If they lack medical ethics, the consequences are unpredictable.
The above types of soul-hanging methods are mostly classified as Yin Arts in the magical system, meaning they mostly involve dealing with the Three Souls of the living or with Yin spirits in the Yin realm. Generally, these arts should not be used too frequently because most living masters are Yang beings. Prolonged use inevitably leads to the accumulation of Yin energy, which is harmful to the body over time.
Besides Yin Art soul-hanging, there are Yang Art methods. Yang Arts mostly involve command-based soul-hanging. When issuing commands, the master usually requests the living person to provide a commission and a petition to be submitted together, asking for the deity's approval before performing the operation. If the effect of the soul-hanging is negative, the deity will clearly indicate that it should not be done. This is usually indicated by the incense burner rejecting the offering or the divination failing. Compared to Yin Arts, this is safer and has more restrictions on scope, ensuring the safety of both the master and the living person.
However, orthodox Daoist methods rarely involve this path of soul-hanging. Because Daoist methods mostly involve requesting deities to handle affairs, with deities arranging and executing various actions uniformly. If one needs to accomplish something, they ask for the deity's protection. Only in cases like delivering departed souls do they use soul-summoning banners to guide souls on their journey. This is another large system, so we will stop here.