Taoist+Alchemy

//This is part of the Hangover city, Liverpool, uk setting//

The full section on Taoist alchemy common in China Town contains a lot of tables and diagrams, which dont copy well to the Wiki. To save me time and heart ache the PDF of that section can be download here...

The following is a very brief summary of a summary, But it at least gives a flavour.

=Taoist Magic=

Tao produces them Virtue raises them Things shape them Forces perfect them Chapter 51 of the Tao Te Ching

Whilst the western alchemists searched for the elixir to turn lead into gold and become rich and famous, the eastern alchemists were looking to the secret to eternal life. Some of them, known as The Eight immortals, met with some success if this and have moved off this world. They now hang out in part of the Never Never that is as close as taoists get to a heaven. They may be petitioned for aid by their followers in much the same way the desperate may turn to the Faerie Queens, though they are just as likely to tell them to sod off and work it out for themselves as they are to help. Ultimately Taoist magic comes down to controlling the flow of Chi. Chi is life-process or flow of energy that sustains ‘living’ things. Living is a very open term here, Mountains and rivers also have a Chi about them. In Taoist practice you encourage the flow of chi to take the direction you want and create the effect you are after. Which makes it only a different 'flavour' from standard magic. However in Taoism they way you effect this flow can take a vast variety of different forms; Physical body movements as demonstrated in Tai Chi, or altering the environment as carried out in Feng Shui. The best effects are done by little constant actions which accumulate to make great changes. Or as it is put in the Tao Te Ching 64. A dam greater than a river can overflow starts with a clod of earth; A journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet. Therefore deal with things before they happen; Create order before there is confusion. As a result Thaumatergy is preferred over Evocation, as it allows for the thoughtful collection of power and its redirection. That is not to say that Taoist Magicians don’t throw around Chi balls when the need arrises. Just that when they do it is probably a sign that they have messed up. The way of effecting Chi is based around five interacting elements. The energy can be drained from one element to feed another, or destroy a different element to empower itself. Wood feeds Fire; which creates Earth (ash); which bears Metal; which melts to flow like Water; which nourishes Wood. Wood draws strength from Earth (as it grows) which pollutes Water which quenches Fire; which melts Metal; which ( as an axe) chops the Wood.
 * The generative cycle is**
 * The restraining or destructive cycle is**

So when a Taoist wishes to create an effect around fire, for example throwing a fire ball, they would need to draw power from wood, or at a pinch metal. Some one trying to counter the effect could invoking water to directly destroy the energy, or less effectively earth to draw the energy off into a more controlled form. It is worth noting that these elements should not be seen as too literal. Wood for example represents any growing plant matter. Additionally Metal has long been associated with Coinage and business, thus standing in a bank would be considered a metal environment (and possibly explain why all the pot plants are actually plastic in your local bank).

So you want to be a Taoist Alchemist
As a Taoist magician there are a number of conditions that influence you:

**The influence of who you are: Astrology**
Most people are familiar with the 12 earthly stems of Chinese astrology- those are the animals. But these are joined by 10 heavenly stems to give a 60 year cycle. This is even easier to determine, simply take the number at the end of your birth and cross reference with the chart below to determines your element. (Or, more likely, decide what you'd like your character to be good at and back calculate when they were born)
 * Year ends with || 0/1 || 2/3 || 4/ 5 || 6/ 7 || 8/ 9 ||
 * Heavenly Stem || Geng /Xin || Ren /Gui || Jia /Yi || Bing /Ding || Wu /Ji ||
 * Element || Metal || Water || Wood || Fire || Earth ||

Even years are Yang years, odd are Yin years Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity and nighttime. Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime.

Thus a person born in 1978 would be celestial stem Wu - a yang earth person, and thus find it relatively easy to draw power from fire and water, but would find wood environments draining and never seems to be able to keep money in the bank. They are probably also a bit of a determined hot head and 'alpha male' even if they are biologically a woman. Incidentally they are also an earth branch horse, which will also throw its own flavour into the resulting personality. Your Horoscope is very influential when you are a Taoist.


 * The influence of where you are: Feng shui**

The principle of Feng Shui is that environment you are in influences the flow of the Chi and pools elemental energy which can be either beneficial or detrimental depending on the type of person you are; or the type of magic you are trying to create. The following is a chart showing the qualities that could effect the environment; all might be a suitable quality for aspects in scenes during play.


 * || Wood || Fire || Earth || Metal || Water ||
 * Colour || Green || Red || Yellow || white || Blue ||
 * Shape || Rectangular || Triangles e.g. spires || Square || Round, e.g. domes || Curve or irregular* ||
 * Material || Plants etc || Fire, Light || Clay, Stone || Any metal but Gold is preferred || Water also Mirrors ||
 * Direction || east || south || centre || west || North ||

* Sidney opera house is a great water location! I bet there pot plants are like triffids. **The disease you are trying to cure or the effect you are trying to create**
Taoists priest are often called upon to use their magical skills to help their community. Tasks like drawing up horoscopes for the newly born; fending of supernatural dangers and curing diseases. In Taoist medicine the regenerative and restraining cycle are still used but the terms are slightly different in that they talk about elements that will ; promotion, inhibition, Cheng (bullying), Wu (insult) they symptoms. A taoist consultation usually starts with a long chat in the patients own home or work place. This allows the alchemist to determine the elements around their client that may be effecting. The consultation will cover things like when they were born (The astrology), where they live and spend their time (the Feng shui) and additional influences like the job they do (e.g. Handling money which would be a high metal environment) and the people around them. To a Taoist, lifestyle embalances are more likely to be the cause of the symptoms then any disease that may be recognised by western culture. Indeed to the taoist even the symptoms themselves are just an indication of the imbalance the patient is suffering from. Once the problem has been identified the priest will prescribe a cure. Whilst this could be some kind of powder or tincture, it may also involves a list of instructions of Tai Chi manoeuvres the patient should carry out at a particular time of day (periods of the day are also covered by the elements), or a change to their decor, such as moving their bed or repainting a wall. So a Taoist alchemist who is asked by a patient to help cure her stomach problems and mouth ulcers might find her 'cure' involves replacing a pot plant in her cubical at work with the office water cooler. Which seems nonsensical to a western eye which would have expected anti-acids and a change of tooth paste, but is actually carried out to remove 'wood' influence in the environment and in introduce 'water', because that is what is needed to offset the horribly red (Fire) dividers the company insists on in the call centre and which have been promoting the (earth related) stomach problems and mouth ulcers the patient came to have cured. (Sorry the chart on this one is huge - I suggest down loading the PDF)

Death comes under water... That's the key. Earth pollutes water. Magic that builds earth element drains water. To a lesser extent the effect can also be achieved by wood as it draws power away from the ‘Water’ based Undead. Which is why we put dead bodies in wooden coffins and bury them in earth. Spells used to defeat the undead dead are typically written on squares of yellow rice paper and attached to the body of the creature in the priests own spit.
 * Defeating the Unquiet dead when you are a Taoist.**

No really. Go watch "Mr Vampire."