Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson and Taoist Magic.

[Adam West]

Hi all,

 

I just came across this fellow - he might be a viable alternative source to an authentic living Taoist linage - several if his biography is to be believed. Any one heard of him before and know anything about him and the quality of what he teaches? His site seems interesting, yet a little too commercial for me.

 

http://www.daoistmagic.com/info.php?i=2128

 

I'm not interested in Taoist ritual practices, but I would take a closer look at his books on Taoist internal alchemy.

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[Oolong Rabbit]

I've been on his site a few times and was debating picking up some of his books. The ritual books actually look pretty interestingly to me, though not sure I would ever follow through with any of it. Speaking of which, I actually just downloaded a pdf book the other day called Chinese Taoist Sorcery by Min Tzu. It's contains some information which I would call "black" magic, but does contain a wealth of info about Taoist folk beliefs and religion. PM me if you are interested.

 

In regards to internal alchemy have you ever checked out Taoist Yoga by Charles Luk? It's explains things pretty straight forward and is written in the style of a master explaining conecpts to his disciples. I am only about 1/3 of the way through it. But it's filled with gems.

 

Brgds

[Adam West]

Hey Oolong,

 

Thanks for the reply! Yep, I've Luk's book, its great, one of the best out there. Yet, I think it is only one piece in the puzzle of authentic alchemal teachings. It is clear to me, we can completely bypass conscious, volitional energetic work and instead work directly with awareness. Yet, it may be useful to compliment the two. However, it is probably just the western compulsion to make simple things complex!

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[jaloo]

I've been looking at his taoist magic books also. I have his 2 vol. Internal Martial arts books and the first vol. of Chinese Medical Qigong all of which are excellent.

 

I'm planning on picking up Daoist Magical Incantations, Hand Seals, and Star Stepping and seeing if it is as good as his previous work.

[Adam West]

Very cool! Thanks for the feedback. I've sent him an email with regard to his alchemy book which is not yet available, to find out when it will be and ask him some other general questions. I hope he replies. Definitely give us a review of his other books when you get them.

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[Buddy]

Magic? LOL!

[Wun Yuen Gong]

Oolong,

 

I have the Taoist Sorcery book PDF for long time what do u think of it?

 

Ive aslo been looking into the daoist magic of dr alan a while back but cost the same price for postage to send to Oz.

 

regards

WYG

[bindo]

Has anyone read, "Taoist Master Chuang", by Michael Saso?

 

I found it quite boring, but if you're into Taoist sorcery and magic, and religious Taoism, this might be a good read. It got great reviews at amazon. He talks about Maoshan magic and thunder magic and gives incantations, among other things.

[Adam West]

Has anyone read, "Taoist Master Chuang", by Michael Saso?

 

I found it quite boring, but if you're into Taoist sorcery and magic, and religious Taoism, this might be a good read. It got great reviews at amazon. He talks about Maoshan magic and thunder magic and gives incantations, among other things.

 

No I haven't read it, but have heard of it. Sounds interesting, however, I'm not into magic or rituals either. But documented personal experience with authentic adepts is always interesting to me!

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[sean]

I've been waiting for this one to come out. I think I even wrote him about when it will be published but never heard back:

 

 

The following new book contains the Different Schools of Training Daoist Alchemy, the Three Cultivation Methods, Five Postnatal Energetic Transformations, Principles of Daoist Dao Yin Training, Yin and Yang Dao Yin Transformational Methods, Understanding Dao Yin Harmony, Energetic and Spiritual Manifestations, Shengong Cultivation Methods, Nourishing and Strengthening the Shen, Housing the Shen, Combining the Shen with the Respiration, Combining the Shen with the Qi, Three Training Levels of Ancient Daoist Mysticism: The Level of Man (Rooting Qi into the Lower Dantian, Circulating Qi through the Seas of Yang and Yin, Macrocosmic Orbit, Regulating the Qi of the Wu Xing, Fusion of the Eight Trigrams, Activating the Belt Vessel, Fusing and Energizing the Taiji Pole, Creating & Controlling the Immortal Fetus), The Level of Earth (description and examples) and The Level of Heaven (description and examples), Introduction to External and Internal Cultivation, External Cultivation Methods, Internal Cultivation Methods, Daoist Five Yang and Yin Organ Exercises, the Daoist Turtle Breathing Technique used for Gathering Qi, Five Yin Organ Energetic Manifestations, and the Old Man and the Tide Pool exercise.

 

Sean

[Adam West]

yeah, it seems like it will be really interesting. Hopefully it comes out soon and contains some in depth teachings. If so, it will need to be a large book, as it covers a lot of material. Hopefully, he goes on to elaborate in specialist follow up books dealing with individual traditions and practices covered in this one concerning alchemy.

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[三江源]

.

Edited March 17, 2015 by 三江源

[rain]

ok..so here we go again with the usual irrational response so typical for me..

 

 

his image instantly provoces my throat. i cough. (probably instant healing).

 

 

 

oops..he's a supermagician...

Edited January 6, 2008 by rain

[Wun Yuen Gong]

I have the Taoist Master Chuang book for a few years now and was actually reading it again at work how ironic!

 

Anyhow its very interesting and you can see why its very deep in religous Taoism his Thunder Magic is!!!

[Buddy]

So what is this alleged Taoist magic and what can it supposedly do?

[三江源]

.

Edited March 17, 2015 by 三江源

[Taomeow]

Oh Buddy, go on with you, you are such a charmer to be sure. We'll be falling over ourselves to explain it all to you, in no time. Such fun it will be.

ROFL!

[Buddy]

Pardon my skepticism "cat". You won't because this magic stuff all nonsense.

[Wun Yuen Gong]

Buy the book, it has talismans, chants, mudras, bagua battlefield arrangements etc.

 

I only buy the books as a collection i dont try any of the information but i do like to read up on this stuff.

[Adam West]

Hi guys,

 

I just got a response from Dr Johnson, in which he states his alchemy book will not be available until the end of 2009.

 

In kind regards,

 

Adam.

[Franklin]

Interesting thread... I ordered some books from Dr. Johnson a while ago.. (some of the Taoist Magic Titles)

They were interesting but the shopping experience sort of rubbed me the wrong way-

what happened is I live in the US Virgin Islands and ended up having to pay international shipping even after I explained that we are part of the US postal system(zip codes, post office, same rate as the rest of the states)

 

I ended up getting a couple of the titles and they were interesting...

i also liked his internal kung fu 2 volume set- many things were similar to what i learned from my teachers...

 

I also liked the book- "Taoist Master Chuang"- i thought that this book gave a little better idea about taoist magic- because it included both information about the rituals and also some kind of personal stories about the people that are transmitting and performing this knowledge... although the ritual in this book is very complex and probably should just be read for informational purposes (it is about summoning the 6 Chia spirits -Mao Shan ritual and needs special implements like a sword that has been forged and given power to command the spirits etc.. and supposed to be fairly dangerous)- just checked the price online- wow that is high...

 

of course all of these cover ritual (magic)

 

as to what is taoist magic- what are the stations of the cross and mass...

(just to give some background to what i mean- a friend of mine learned zahori arts which is a sort of western master builders tradition which entails both analyzing and designing physical spaces (in the old days churches) so that they could actually change stuff in the body- sort of just sitting in a church that has been activated can be like a meditation without doing any of the work..... so i am guessing that in the older days even western ritual might have served a higher purpose... just a thought...)

my friends site-(he explains it better anyways-) www.zahoriart.com

 

as for internal alchemy

i like

Taoist Yoga by Charles Luk

Tao of meditation by Tsung Hwa Jou

Tao & Longevity: Mind-Body Transformation by Nan Huai-Chin

and also

Taoist Meditation by Isabelle Robinet- gives a good overview of the meditation practicies coming from the Mao Shan tradition...

 

Oolong- i would be interested to know where to get a copy of the PDF-maybe by pm if more appropriate...

 

 

 

franklin

[三江源]

 

so i am guessing that in the older days even western ritual might have served a higher purpose... just a thought...)

 

 

franklin

 

I remember being in a western church and seeing the vicar do blessings in which his hand moved to the four directions, and I felt it was a calling in of the spirits of the four directions in a way, and that the cross is actually a reminder of that essential shape.

 

thanks for your response to the thread Franklin, that was interesting.

[Taomeow]

I remember being in a western church and seeing the vicar do blessings in which his hand moved to the four directions, and I felt it was a calling in of the spirits of the four directions in a way, and that the cross is actually a reminder of that essential shape.

 

thanks for your response to the thread Franklin, that was interesting.

I've read a book by an expert on entheogens who asserts that the wafer and wine they offer at a Catholic service as the body of Christ used to be (before the church hijacked and disemboweled the ritual and removed its true essence that was there in all prior history of humanity everywhere) the real thing -- concoctions of entheogenic plants! Talk about beliefs... You take a cracker and are asked to believe you're taking something sacred. Now if you get ayahuaska (e.g.) instead, from a shaman who's into magic head to toe and doesn't have to ask anyone to "believe" in it, you're dropped to the bottom of its reality like a stone regardless of what you believe or don't believe.

 

Ted Kaptchuk in "The Healing Arts" spells out the "ingredients" of a classic magical ritual and finds every single one of them in the actions of, e.g., modern surgeons. The prerequisites for a bona fide magical intervention are, with little variation in the space and time of human history, the following:

 

the performer of such ritual must be a "professional" belonging to a group that excludes all "non-professionals" from practicing what he practices;

he uses special language incomprehensible to the non-initiated;

he sacrifices parts of live flesh, blood, etc. (think lab work) to an oracle, spirit, or deity that will announce its instructions once the sacrifice has been performed; again, its pronouncements are not supposed to be understood by the uninitiated;

he uses symbolic images of the person under ritual (think MRI or CAT scans) and interprets them the way only he is supposed to know;

he uses animal sacrifice to facilitate his work (think animal studies);

he uses animal helpers, both spirit helpers and actual manipulations of animal substances (think Premarin -- 'pregnant mare urine' -- or the pregnancy tests utilizing a rabbit's urine -- or all of microbiology);

he wears special attire for the ritual that marks him as a member of a special select group, a costume lay people are not supposed to wear; it is supposed to signify his 'purity' (think sterility);

he often uses a mask and hides his face while performing the ritual;

he uses poisons, mind-altering, unconsciousness-inducing, numbing, or paralyzing substances on the person under spell;

he uses the services of apprentices and helpers for the less significant parts of the ritual;

he claims to hold the keys to the secrets of life and death; his actions are supposed to decide between them and command them;

he won't perform his services for free;

he will destroy anyone who tries to do what he's doing without having been initiated;

and so on, the list can go on and on... and no surgeon will ever perform his work without the full benefit of the full magical ritual. Because, among other things, without the whole magical ritual he is helpless, he can't do it any other way!

Edited January 9, 2008 by Taomeow

[Mal]

[Oolong Rabbit]

I've read a book by an expert on entheogens who asserts that the wafer and wine they offer at a Catholic service as the body of Christ used to be (before the church hijacked and disemboweled the ritual and removed its true essence that was there in all prior history of humanity everywhere) the real thing -- concoctions of entheogenic plants! Talk about beliefs... You take a cracker and are asked to believe you're taking something sacred. Now if you get ayahuaska (e.g.) instead, from a shaman who's into magic head to toe and doesn't have to ask anyone to "believe" in it, you're dropped to the bottom of its reality like a stone regardless of what you believe or don't believe.

 

I just finished reading Franklin's post and was about to respond in kind. The Gnostics believed that man could experience God directly. Many assert that it was through entheogens like the fly agaric mushroom *. In fact John Allegro (highly respected scholar who helped translate the dead sea scrolls) wrote a book called "The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross". In this book he asserts that "Jesus Christ" is just an allegorical code for the the fly agaric mushroom. Obviously direct mystical experience of the divine was not a popular idea for those who would use organized religion to control the masses. The gnostic "heresy" was stamped out and the true meaning of the divine host was lost.

 

By far one of the best books I have read on the subject was Clark Heinrich's "Strange Fruit: Alchemy and Religion the Hidden Truth" (since renamed to Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy) . He makes a very strong case that the fly agaric mushroom is the universal key which is veiled by many religions: The red and white powders of the philosopher's stone, the vedic soma, the Holy Grail (he has interesting pictures where the caps bend upwards and look very much like the grail). He also cites a very long history of "crucified" gods and notes that the fly agaric grows (is crucified to) at the root of trees. Truly a fascinating study and I highly recommend it.

 

*In my opinion the modern "gnostics" take the sexual imagery a little too literally. The "phallic" symbollism is the mushroom stem, and the "vaginal" is the cap. When the mushrooms are extremely ripe, the stem penetrates the cap often symbolised as sexual union by the old alchemists.