My experience creating a Fu Talisman from The Tao of Craft by Benebell Wen.
I first found out about Benebell by her book Holistic Tarot Published in 2015. It was sitting there on amazon and at that time had 111 reviews, I felt it was meant to be and a sign from the angels to buy this book. It seemed like this is what I was looking for to deepen my tarot practice. I highly recommend, no, implore you to check this work out if you are a tarot practitioner as the the Tarot Brick as its lovingly called has all you need to know about Tarot. But this post is not about tarot. It’s about talismans.
From Holistic Tarot I found her second book the Tao of Craft, Fu Talismans and Casting sigils in the Eastern Esoteric Tradition. I had always had a deep interest in magic and felt a call to witchcraft especially eastern metaphysics. I’d watch American Horror Story Coven once a year, I’m actually due for a re-watch right now. I’d looked into Wicca but something about it didn’t sit well with me as I was more into Buddhism at the time. So when I found a book that used magical practices based in both Buddhist and Taoist mysticism I was like TAKE MY MONEY.
What is a Fu Talisman?
A Fu Talisman is a magical tool and form of spell work originating within Chinese esoteric Taoism which then bled out into Chinese Folk Religion, Buddhism, Confucianism and Shintoism. You may have seen a long piece of paper with Chinese characters on it in a Chinese restaurant or around Chinese new year, these are Fu Talismans thought to bring in good luck and blessings or ward off danger, negative spirits and misfortune. They are sigils empowered with Qi energy channelled by the practitioner to manifest their will into the physical world. I’d seen them in anime but never really knew what they where.
I was fascinated with it, reading about ancient wizarding wars between different lineages of Taoist practitioners to the authors thoughts on cultural appropriation and how quantum mechanics may one day prove the existence of Qi energy.
The book runs you through the basic philosophy, history and creation of a Fu Talisman with step by step instructions of Benebells personal practice. So here I was, the most magical grimoire I’d ever held in my hands that explained in detail how to correctly cast a Fu Sigil.
Key of Solomon? We don’t know her.
The Spell
About 6 months beforehand my best friend who we’ll call T was made redundant. She’d tried her best to get a job, filled in endless applications, did several interviews and got nothing back. Lucky she was protected by income insurance but the months kept rolling past and time was ticking, I felt bad that I couldn’t do anything to help her out, there must be a way I thought… I know! I could cast a spell.
I picked up the the Tao of Craft and begin researching how I could craft a talisman that would get T a job. I took about 2 months to actually cast the spell because I kept missing the perfect moon phase, oops. But the intention was clear in my mind that she had to get a job, one that would bring wealth and abundance. I needed some supplies to be able to craft the sigil though. I had some ritual tools from my previous dabbling in Wicca but the book recommended getting a Chinese seal and also having a statute or representation of the divinity that was needed to be invoked and for me that was Lakshmi.
One day I just felt like going to the local charity shops around my village for something to do, i was looking at the books which I always do and was browsing the knick-knacks when I seen green box looking right back at me, It was open and within in it was a little pottery dish with some red paste in it and a small stone block with a Chinese Tiangou (Mythological Heavenly Dog) at the top, It was a seal. Just what I needed for the spell. I bought it and thought it was so strange that in the middle of a predominantly white village in the North West of England that the Chinese Seal Kit I needed for my working was just sitting there in a charity shop on the day I decided to have a browse.
I also needed a statue of the goddess Lakshmi, I was actually going to just print a picture of her off or draw one. At my Aunts graduation from her University course we went out for a meal to Lark Lane in Liverpool, over the road from the restaurant sits a quirky little shop which I’ve always loved that sells the most random but cute stuff called Number 13 (also I just realised the significance of 13. The famous witches number!) we went in and they sold crystals, bracelets, neon lights, candles all the crap that I love. And in a box on the floor was a pile of blackened metal statues that looked like a Hindu god, when I took a closer look they were Lakshmi good luck statues, exactly what I needed, another tool was just staring back at me. It seems that the things you need for a spell will manifest for you along the way.
The day came, I traced out my Chinese characters on the paper in pencil and consecrated the paper and tools, lit the joss sticks, 5 to be exact I nearly gassed myself out and began the working. I called to the Great White Tiger, Azure Dragon, Black turtle and Red phoenix to guard my circle, I chanted the mantras to invoke Lakshmi and Amitabha Buddha, I paced the Lo Shu Square and sat down, I envisioned the energy coming into me building up and when I couldn’t build it up any more I blew it all out on to the talisman, left some rice at the altar and put everything away. Done and dusted.
The day after I headed to T’s house and we had a little chat and got down to activating the spell. I prepared a little prayer and brought a candle for her to light when she said it. After that we sat in her kitchen having a bit of gossip when we heard a loud thud come from upstairs. She had housemates at time so we thought nothing of it, I went home and got a text a few hours later from her saying the bang came from a quote she had on the wall in her bedroom that fell off. The picture said “Do what makes you happy” and our intention was to find a new job that would bring wealth and abundance so I said it was a good omen and not to worry!
The next day in my house I was sitting in my living room talking to my aunt, I heard the same thud come from my bedroom. We looked at each other funny and I went upstairs to figure out what it was, when I got into my room my book of shadows had come out of my bookshelf and was standing up on the floor, it was impossible as I looked at it that morning and it was in the book shelf, at the back in between books and it was smaller than the other books so how could it of come out. At that point I thought “OH SHIT, I’ve summoned a demon’.
A few days later T sent me this voice note. (Warning: contains swearing)
She sent me a picture of her talisman. I’d advised her to place it on a specific corner in her home which corresponds with career according to Feng Shui. But not on a mirror! The only way I could explain it was that the energy could be bouncing off the mirror causing a kind of chaotic bouncing effect which disrupted the home and other reflective surfaces.
I said to burn the sigil and ask Archangel Michael to cleanse the house. She burnt it on the field by her home and thought everyone must of thought she was a gypsy witch. She already has the Irish accent.
A day later she started getting calls for jobs and interviews which she thought was strange as she hadn’t heard anything for months. Then after a few weeks she got a call from her friend saying she has a job for her, a good salary, in the right field and she got it. After a year of unemployment.
It worked.
What I think happened is though we activated the sigil, we didn’t set it free so to speak so the magic and the intention was bound to the talisman and couldn’t go out and fulfil its purpose, so it was trying to let us know in the only way it could by smashing things and breaking stuff. Once burnt it was free to go off and manifest our desire. I felt that my book of shadows flying out of its shelf was telling me I’d missed a step and I was right.
The moral of the story is magic is real, spells do work and remember to read all of the instructions!
We now have a running joke were we just message each other “Mirrors” or when she says she wants something I always say ” I could cast a spell for you.” to which I get a polite “Fuck off.”.
I highly recommend the Tao of Craft by Benebell Wen as I recommend all of Benebell’s work. I don’t think there is anyone as thorough or generous as her in the occult or spiritual spaces. She is probably one of the people most influential on my practice of ritual and tarot, and I keep up to date with all her stuff, whether its blog posts, YouTube videos, books or courses Benebell always pours her heart and soul into her work. Be sure to head over to www.benebellwen.com to check her out.
To make to potent and powerful Fu Talismans purchase The Tao of Craft on amazon today.
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Tarot By Sean 