Daoist Talismans are mainly composed of Chinese characters while
others consist of astrological diagrams or objects for casting
spells, and some of them even have divine images on them. But the
majority of them are made up of characters and transformed
characters. Because of this, talismans should have been
understandable. Famous Taoist Priest Lu Xiujing once pointed out
that in all the writings of the talisman there were Chinese
characters, but they were not easily understood. If one was able to
understand them, one could register and invoke thousands of souls
and control hundreds of spirits.
The special characters for making talismans are called Talismanic
Characters. Talismanic Characters have their own pronunciations,
which are called Talismanic Sounds. Talismans are constituted of
the Talismanic Characters and other elements, including the
diagrams of the stars, divine images, and objects for casting
spells. Knowing the implications of these elements can help you to
know the structure of the talisman.
With the introduction above, we can see that talismans consist of
Talismanic Characters made according to certain principles,
together with some other elements. Simple talismans are made up of
one or several simple Talismanic Characters, but complicated ones
are composed of many mixed parts.
Therefore they are hard for us to read. Not only do the elements of
talismans differ from sect to sect, but also the ways of making and
reading them are passed down secretly from master to disciple
within the sects. Laymen seldom have had a chance to see them.
Moreover, the collocation, the order, and the positions of the
various parts of the talismans are not easy for laymen to
know.
As far as the images of the talismans are concerned, there are some
other talismans with shades of layers of different colors.
Sometimes they look like a large dripping-wet ink ball, and
sometimes they seem to look like an outline of the spirits. They
seem to be too mysterious to be understood because of their obscure
structure. As a matter of fact, they can be understood and
analyzed. Of course, you have to track down the process of its
making, instead of racking your brains in front of the finished
product.
The talismans, matched with the objects for casting spells, the
diagrams of the stars, and the divine images, are composed of
Chinese characters or Daoist coinage (Talismanic Characters) by
imitating the six philological ways of constructing Chinese
characters(Liu Shu) according to certain religious ways of
thinking. The simple talismans are made up of one or several
elements mentioned above, and the symbolic meaning is relatively
uncomplicated. But the complicated ones consist of many of the
elements with quite a few procedures for making them and rich
symbolic meanings.
In fact, they are similar to the official call to arms or notices
with long writs. It is very natural that the elements of the
talismans and the corresponding ideas are accepted among the makers
and successors of the talismans. Consequently, laymen are unable to
know the secret and understand the talismans.
Talismans are widely applied in the various stages of Daoist
skills, fasts and offerings, and rituals. They are used when
setting up altars, invoking the generals, offering petitions,
casting spells, destroying Darkness, refining and saving by water
and fire. At the same time, Daoists often use Talismanic Water to
cure diseases, control the spirits, and dispel ghosts for the
people. So talismans are popular among the folks, and part of the
custom of the common people. For instance, the customs of putting
up the Celestial Master Talisman on Dragon Boat Day, and wearing
protective talisman bags, are quite prevalent all over many
areas.
it is also common, to see Taoist devotees carrying talismans in
their wallets or hang around their neck, sometimes wrapped up in
red packet or red cloth.
These are common talisman for general purposes such as protection
and for blessings and luck.
They can be 'invited' in most Taoist temples and these talisman are
mainly easy to read and understand then those of higher level used
in rituals and casting spells. These general talisman for
protection are mainly the names of the divines(according to diff
temple's deities) and a sacred Seal on them to make they
effective.
PS: the term 'spell' here, refer to diff kind of taoist arts the
taoist perform and not refering to any kind of black magic. These
arts can be praying for rain, praying for protection, praying for
longevity, exorcism etc..