Do Taoist priests really know magic?

It depends on what school it is and the degree of Taoist practice. In a word, not every Taoist has spells, or in today's society, there are very few Taoist who can spell, just like the number of pandas.

At present, Taoism is mainly Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism, and the righteousness and practice methods of these two Taoism are different. The main differences are as follows:

(1) Quanzhendao: Creation time: Jin Mo; The main classics are: Tao Te Ching, Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra and Filial Piety Sutra (advocating the trinity of Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism); The main features are: emphasizing inner alchemy, not magic, not yellow and white (the art of refining gold and silver), and taking the cultivation of truth as the right path; Discipline: Taoist priests must become monks and live in the palace, and must not adopt wives, and formulate strict rules and regulations; Dissemination area: Most Taoist temples in China and Taoism in northern areas belong to Quanzhen school.

(2) Justice Road: Formation time: Yuan Dynasty; Main classics: Zheng Jingyi; Main features: the main feature is the walking spell (painting spells and chanting, exorcising demons, praying for disaster relief); Discipline: Taoist priests can have families, but they don't become monks or live in temples. The discipline is not as strict as Quanzhen. Distribution: Mainly popular in Jiangnan and Taiwan Province Province.