The book you now hold in your hands is a training book for a real Taoist School somewhat unknown in the West and misunderstood in Asia.In the West, academics tend to focus on either philosophical Taoism or its manifestation in a distant historical past. In actuality Taoism has moved with the times and has a new vocabulary of which the academic scholar has no inkling. Yet, all Taoism is rooted in over 5000 years of history. One may read an academic text on Tang Dynasty rituals and terminology and think that is how modern Taoists work, which mostly, just isn't the case. Taoism in Asia has developed and evolved.
This is particularly true in folk Taoism which is as far removed from Taoist orthodoxy as much as say Gnosticism is from the Catholic Church.
After my studies with teachers in China and Malaysia. and having returned to the United Kingdom, I looked for books on the subject in English., I found not many at all. Academic works were highly impractical and focused on the past or the Daoist Canon. Most other works were the usual texts on Qigong, alchemy and very westernised approaches to Taoism. There was very little actual material on real Taoist magic, and those that were published were either mostly guesswork or so unwieldy as to be impractical. In other words there was a deficit of actual workable material for those who want a way in. Thus the idea of this series of books was born.
The main focus of this volume is to introduce the reader to the real training methods, theory and spells used by the Chinese schools of magic. It is not an academic study nor a piece of missionary work from some Buddhistic-Taoist mix, such as Quanzhen or other orthodox Taoist 'churches'.
Here you will meet the methods of the Chinese schools of magic, their Gods, their methods and their way of working. If you are wondering why there is no bibliography, that's because the sources are an oral tradition and currently not in print.
I hope it opens the door for you and takes you beyond what you imagined Taoism to be.