What are the folk fortune-telling ceremonies?

Witchcraft is an important part of China's traditional culture, which has had a far-reaching impact on China's ancient social life. To understand China's politics, economy, science and culture, we must understand the ancient magic of China.

In ancient China, alchemy was a very broad definition, including spells, witch doctors, immortals, astrology, divination, six benevolence, Daoism, fortune telling, word-breaking, starting classes, dreaming, practicing, external alchemy, internal alchemy, health preservation, diet, divination, miscellaneous arts and so on.

Magic originated from witchcraft in primitive society. Due to the low productivity and limited scientific knowledge in ancient society, people thought that heaven dominated everything and the rulers of the world were subject to the fate of heaven. The essence of alchemy is a belief activity dominated by destiny and theism. In the minds of the ancients and some modern people, people's wealth and poverty, good fortune and bad fortune, birth and death, poverty and gains and losses, and even fertility are all controlled by supernatural forces. Therefore, we hope to spy on secrets, predict fate and please ghosts and gods through various methods, so as to pray and avoid evil.

Before the Han Dynasty, various alchemies prevailed, and a large number of alchemists emerged in the coastal areas of Yanqi. They claimed that there are three "holy mountains" in the Bohai Sea-Penglai, Abbot and Yingzhou. The palaces on the mountain are all made of gold and silver, where immortal immortals live and immortal medicines are hidden. Qi Weiwang, Qi Xuanwang and Yan Zhaowang listened to these stories and sent people to the Bohai Sea to look for them many times, but the people who came back always said that the Three Gods Mountain looked like a cloud in the distance, and the ship sank to the bottom of the sea as soon as it approached; As soon as we approached the mountain, the wind blew the boat away.

Qin Shihuang traveled to the sea and believed the story of the alchemist. He sent Han Zhong and others to look for the elixir of life, but no one brought it back. Later, Xu Fu was sent to build a bigger boat and led 500 boys and girls to find it. And no one came back.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was more superstitious about the art of immortals and longed for the Yellow Emperor to become immortal and ascend to heaven. After pacifying Fujian and Vietnam, Zhu Yue Temple was built in the palace to ask wuyue to pray for his longevity, but it didn't work. After Korea proclaimed himself emperor, he was invited by him to avoid sacrifice. Later, due to frequent diseases of Emperor Ai of Han Dynasty, in order to seek happiness, the number of sacrifices reached 37,000 times in one year!

In modern times, with the development of natural science, the superstitious activities of witchcraft began to decrease. Especially after the founding of New China, with the widespread popularization of culture and education, people's ideological understanding has gradually improved. Especially young people, generally accept the theory of materialism, but most of them don't believe in magic. But magic still has a certain market in the elderly and rural areas with relatively backward cultural knowledge.

Predict eight characters

According to the date of birth and the fleeting time, the eight characters can be used to calculate the good and bad luck of each stage of life. Fortune-telling began in the Han Dynasty, developed by Li in the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, and basically formed a system, which has been passed down to this day.

Fortune-tellers carry packages on their shoulders, shuttle through the streets and lanes, and travel to and from the countryside to solicit business. The questioner must first quote the date of birth, then the fortune teller mumbles, pinches the joints of the index finger and middle finger with his thumb, and calculates according to the Five Elements Palace in heavenly stems and earthly branches. Then I told the fortune teller about the good and bad luck in my life and the ways to avoid disaster.

When a child is born, it is usually necessary to ask a fortune teller to predict his life's fate. If the five elements of a child's fate are missing, they should be added when naming the child, such as missing "earth", adding "earth" to the name, adding "gold" to the name and so on.

When engaged, the dates of birth of both men and women are usually given to fortune tellers for calculation. Believe that fate can be combined, and don't get married if they contradict each other. In cities, there are various forms of fortune telling. Now someone has entered the birthday into the computer. Through this, as long as people input their birthdays in the computer, the computer can output their personality, hobbies, friends, occupation, marriage and so on.

Some people call it "modern fortune telling" and "computer fortune telling". As a pseudoscience, fortune telling is quite deceptive.

Weigh life

Calling one's life, also known as fortune telling, is very popular among the people. This method is to find out the weight of a person's bone scale by comparing the year, month, day and time when he was born in the lunar calendar, and then summarize it, so that we can find the judgment about his life's ups and downs in the bone scale. For example, the weight of a bone born in Jiazi year is _ 220 yuan, the first month is six yuan, the first day is five yuan, and the child is 1220 yuan. The above four components add up, and the weight of your own destiny is 329 yuan. According to the provisions of the Song of Bones, the conclusion of the 329 money clause is that "this life is doomed to life and everything is empty." I worked hard to get married, and then I dreamed. Because this kind of fortune-telling is simple and easy, there are sayings of "self-learning without a teacher" and "fortune-telling Dont Ask For Help", so it is widely circulated among the people.

Practice physiognomy

Physiognomy is based on observing a person's face, facial features, bones, palm prints, complexion and posture. To calculate his fortune, wealth, dignity and longevity. , hence the name.

Folk popular physiognomy. Face-to-face readers mostly set up stalls in places where people come and go, or go in and out of the country to attract customers. Stallers often put some portraits of heads in front of the stalls, indicating the good and bad luck symbolized by each part. Some people come to bad jobs for free interviews, and those who are lucky enough to come for interviews have to charge twice as much money to attract business. Some physiognomists also have potions to remove vicious moles. There is also a kind of blind people touching human skulls, commonly known as "touching bones", which is similar to the principle of physiognomy.

tell sb's fortune

It is a fortune-telling method to infer the good or bad of life through divination. Most of the operators are people with vision, and often set up stalls in streets, fairs and temple fairs, flaunting themselves as "Wang Wenban". They are good at observing faces and colors. No matter what they ask, they can see some clues from your manners, and then render them with hexagrams. There are several things that are convincing; The rest is ambiguous and imagined.

In recent years, divination has increased. Some young people also learn divination and talk about Zhouyi divination. However, out of novelty, divination is regarded as a recreational game. There is also a folk call "bird divination", commonly known as "bird life". The soothsayer keeps a yellowbird. He can peck the soothsayer's sign according to the instructions of people, so the soothsayer can use it to save a life.

draw lots

The stick is a long strip made of bamboo with numbers on it. It consists of dozens of bamboo sticks and is placed in the stick tube. After kowtowing to God, the sign taker kneels down and holds the sign tube, and shakes it vigorously to make one of them pop up, which is regarded as drawing out the sign, and then checks the corresponding sign spectrum according to the numbers on the sign branches (this spectrum mostly appears in the form of poems, and each sign has four sentences, so it is called "signing poems"). Sign language is generally divided into five levels: up, up, middle, down and down, and there are also nine levels: up, up, down, up, down, down, down, up, down and down. Registration is good, but registration is not good. The winning proportion is much higher than the winning proportion, generally accounting for more than 80%. Because the interpretation of signature poems is generally ambiguous and can be interpreted in many ways, most applicants can return home satisfied.

Because the lottery ceremony is relatively simple, many people have come to the temple to draw lots for divination since ancient times. There is a special person in the temple to cancel the signing, and lottery winners usually have to pay some incense money.

To predict/divine by interpreting dreams.

Taking dreams is also called dream interpretation, dream interpretation, etc. Because the ancients didn't understand why they dreamed, they were mysterious and afraid of many scenes in their dreams (such as talking to the dead, chasing and fighting animals, pushing people out of the water, etc.). ), I feel that the image or experience in my dream indicates some kind of good or bad luck, so I ask a wizard or dreamer to divine the good or bad luck and its hidden content in my dream, and dream-dreaming was born.

Planck script

Fufu is also called Fuluan, divination and so on. There are two common training forms: one is a herringbone shelf made of mahogany or bamboo, and a pen or a wooden stick is tied to the lower end of the shelf. Each of them grabbed one end of the shelf with one hand and wrote on a flat surface sprinkled with sand or incense ashes. The other is to turn the bamboo woven cloth such as dustpan, rice dustpan and rice screen upside down, cover the clothes, tie a stick or pen below, and two people write on the sand table opposite the dustpan, so it is also called supporting dustpan.

In the folk, crouching is regarded as an important way of communication between man and god, so the altar is often held on the new moon night. Before the training, the wizard bathed and changed clothes, burned incense and sacrificed, and muttered something to himself; At the same time, people who help women should be neat and pious. Because of special training or mysterious religious atmosphere, the Fufu people are highly focused, their arms subconsciously vibrate, and the wooden shelf moves on the sand table, drawing various traces. The wizard claimed that these seemingly unwritten marks are symbols of the gods and will be reinterpreted after identification. After the founding of New China, the people's government mobilized the masses to get rid of feudal superstitions and achieved remarkable results. The activities of supporting women almost disappeared.

Listen to divination and incense.

Listening to hexagrams refers to listening to the first words or sounds of pedestrians behind the temple, as the voice of the gods' guidance or suggestion, trying to understand and judge the good or bad luck in a year, so listening to hexagrams is mostly in the first half of the first month. Fuzhou has the practice of "listening to songs", which is similar to this.

Listening to incense is similar to listening to hexagrams. After a good man and a faithful woman went to the temple to pray for God, they determined where to listen to incense through a cup, then took out a lighted incense from the incense burner and quietly went to a house where the gods gave directions. They took the first sentence of a family member as the voice of good or ill luck and asked the gods to give directions, try to understand and speculate on good or ill luck.

Immortality is the art of crossing the valley.

Bigu, also known as "Quegu", "Broken Valley", "Juegu", "No Grain" and "Juegu", is a Taoist practice, that is, not eating grain, including whole grains, meat, eggs and vegetables. The theory of this practice is that although daily food can maintain life, it will leave toxic residues in the human body, which will cause people to get angry, bring diseases and shorten their life. In order to maintain life, Taoism mainly takes some medicine or something called "qi" when it comes to Tanzi Valley. Begging for grain originated in the pre-Qin period, and it was about the same time as qi-moving.

It is also an ancient health preserving method of China people. There is also a scientific basis, because eating too much food will greatly enhance the load of digestion, transformation and other functions, so that the stomach, heart, lungs, liver and gallbladder can not get a good rest, affecting health and life expectancy. In addition, there are a lot of residues and germs in the stomach. If these things are not removed, people will easily get sick.

Take food

Also known as taking the bait, it means taking medicine and is also a way of practicing. Taoism believes that as long as you eat it, you can live forever, and the medicine you eat is the medicine for living forever. These drugs are actually a mixture of some minerals, including cinnabar, gold, silver, jade and so on. Sometimes they are refined into pills, while others become liquids.

guide

Also known as guidance, it is a fitness method, which was popular as early as the 5th century BC to the 3rd century BC. It is actually a kind of exercise similar to gymnastics and qigong, and it is a way used by Taoism to pursue immortality. Taoism believes that guidance can not only dispel diseases and strengthen the body, but also eliminate fatigue. More importantly, it can get rid of evil spirits in the body and preserve healthy qi. In the actual practice process, there are also special pictures to guide.

Promote and normalize the flow of qi.

In fact, it is a breathing method, sometimes called taking, eating, swallowing, exercising and so on. Taoism attaches great importance to the so-called qi, which is not only reflected in its religious theory, but also in daily practice. There are various methods and factions to promote Qi. The key is to breathe evenly, slowly and slender, inhale more and exhale less. Sometimes it is also called breathing, that is, exhaling dirty air and inhaling fresh air.

Intrauterine operation

The art of sexual intercourse appeared very early, but it was not until the Southern and Northern Dynasties that it basically formed a system, which is a knowledge about sexual life. One of the Taoist means of pursuing longevity is very important. The so-called art of sex is the art of sex; It is the general name of Taoism for sexual hygiene, sexual psychology and sexual skills. In ancient China, it was regarded as a means of longevity by Taoism, and its content was particularly rich. For thousands of years, China has been dominated by Confucianism, so sexual intercourse has always been regarded as a kind of lewd and obscene pornography. Actually, the mainstream of sexual intercourse is very healthy. Of course, you can't really become immortal or live forever in this way. However, Taoist sexual intercourse contains many contents in line with modern medicine, which is beneficial to people's health and marital happiness, and can be said to be a healthy sex science. It emphasizes harmonious sex life and sexual health, and also discusses contraception and pregnancy in detail, as well as the methods of treating sexually transmitted diseases. It is said that there are many dross, such as "paying more and discharging less can prolong life" and so on.

Keep thinking

Also known as meditation, it means that when practicing, you close your eyes and meditate on a specific object until you can see it without your eyes. Taoism believes that thinking can make people predict good and bad luck and live forever. I even think that if you practice well, people can see their internal organs clearly.

Make an elixir of life

Alchemy is the secret recipe of refining elixir, which originated in Qin and Han Dynasties and belongs to Taoism. Its content is very complicated, which can be roughly divided into inner Dan and outer Dan. Neidan studied the vitality of human body, and later evolved into internal strength, and some evolved into qigong now. This has proved to be an effective way to keep healthy. Watch out for Vidan. Waidan is actually a pill refined from some minerals, mostly including cinnabar, mercury, lead, gold and silver. Taoist alchemy is generally carried out by a few people in very secret places. This method was very popular in China in the 4th-9th century, forming a social atmosphere. However, in fact, as a chemical substance, Waidan is quite toxic, and many people have died because of it. External alchemy is not only the pioneer of modern chemistry, but also made outstanding contributions to the later invention of medicine and gunpowder. Because the harm of external alchemy was gradually recognized by people, later Taoism mainly focused on internal alchemy, that is, thinking of one's body as an alchemist's cauldron and practicing one's essence as medicine. This method is similar to modern qigong, but not the same.

Taoist spells

Spells are the general name of character seals and spells. "Fu" refers to a picture drawn on paper with a brush or ink pen, which is called Fu Zhuan, Dan Shu, Mo Ru, Yun Ru and Fu Zi in Taoist books. "Curse" is a solvable or unsolvable sentence recited in the mouth. The magician claimed that spells could exorcise evil spirits and cure diseases.

There are many kinds of seal scripts, among which there are five symbols (used to drive away evil spirits, plagues, thieves, wounded people, etc. ), five ghost symbols (people who draw the images of five ghosts on paper and burn them on birthdays or other festivals), town house symbols (posted above Liang Dong or the gate), protective amulets (posted on the door wall), town monster symbols, town nightmare symbols, and miscarriage protection. These five symbols are unrecognizable, so they are called "ghost symbols". Recognizable public symbols often have the tone of edict, such as "too old gentleman is like law" and "urgent as law". Public signs can be pasted, hung, carried or brought with ashes. Ash-melting water clothes are mostly used for treating diseases and relieving convulsions, while others are mostly used for exorcising evil spirits. Most of the symbols are made by wizards. When you need these symbols, you must burn incense in the temple and ask for them. You have to pay some incense money.

Also related to spells are curses and vows. Curse is to make the enemy restless, sick or even dead by chanting spells. Objectively speaking, the curse is harmless, but many people believe it. Swearing is one of the ways to swear. When disputes occur among the people and it is difficult to distinguish right from wrong, they are often solved by swearing. Usually just verbally swear to heaven, commonly known as "swear to heaven." If the incident is a little serious, oral oath alone can't meet the requirements, you must swear before Lord Huang Cheng or other gods who are considered to be the most effective. More strictly speaking, you must kill the chicken in front of the idol and swear. Burn incense and bow down when swearing, indicating that if what you say is false, you are willing to be severely punished by the gods (such as being struck by lightning, the whole family dying, childlessness, etc.). ).

In the old days, people feared the gods and were afraid of being punished by them, so they didn't dare to swear easily, and most of them didn't dare to deceive them when swearing. When the government can't judge the answer, it also uses swearing to solve it, so it is inevitable to misjudge and unjust imprisonment.

(of a wizard) dancing in trance.

It is a superstitious activity to claim that you are possessed by a god and make all kinds of strange behaviors different from ordinary people to fool people. There are men and women who jump, and men are commonly known as "jumpers" and "gods"; Women, commonly known as "fairy" and "goddess", originated from witches. Jumping was very popular in ancient times. Except for individual teacher-student relationships, most people who have a deep understanding of witchcraft will suddenly claim that they are possessed by gods, claiming that they can pray for people to avoid disasters, just like being possessed. God's prayers are usually offered in the homes of the jumpers. God-seekers enter the room, while those who jump into the room burn incense, close their eyes, yawn, stretch, sneeze and shed tears. Confused, he suddenly jumped up, shook his head, or danced, announcing that "so-and-so God is coming" or "so-and-so nun is coming", with a strange voice.

In ancient times, the number of "fairy goddesses" greatly exceeded that of "tiaoer". They claim to pray for people to avoid disasters and often beg for death. "Ask the dead", that is, the witch talks to the living as a dead person. Different places have different names, such as "mentioning the dead" in eastern Fujian, "asking the gods" or "asking the immortals" in northwestern Fujian, "hooking the dead" or "asking for the dead" in Fuzhou, "asking for the dead" in Puxian area and "asking for the dead" in southern Fujian. People believe that people can live in the underworld after death. If the living want to know the living conditions of their dead relatives in the underworld, they can ask about their death at the "immortal". Say the name, address, date of birth and date of death of the deceased first, and then say "nun 1"

Burning incense and praying, mumbling on the table, or knocking on the table with chopsticks, the rhythm changes from slow to fast, and enters a hypnotic state. Later, when she woke up, her eyes were sleepy, claiming that she had found the dead relatives of the questioner in the underworld, and her soul was attached to the "fairy" to talk to the questioner; You can also pretend to be the voice of the dead and tell your life in the underworld; Will also make predictions or suggestions for the living; Relatives will also be asked to burn paper money for sacrifices. Asking the dead is often believed and deceived. After the founding of New China, the activity of jumping off the gods disappeared for a time. After the 1980s, it revived, and many people were deceived.

People often "cut themselves off". "Ask the dead", that is, the witch talks to the living as a dead person. Different places have different names, such as "mentioning the dead" in eastern Fujian, "asking the gods" or "asking the immortals" in northwestern Fujian, "hooking the dead" or "asking for the dead" in Fuzhou, "asking for the dead" in Puxian area and "asking for the dead" in southern Fujian. People believe that people can live in the underworld after death. If the living want to know the living conditions of their dead relatives in the underworld, they can ask about their death at the "immortal". Say the name, address, date of birth and date of death of the deceased first, and then say "nun 1"

Burning incense and praying, mumbling on the table, or knocking on the table with chopsticks, the rhythm changes from slow to fast, and enters a hypnotic state. Later, when she woke up, her eyes were sleepy, claiming that she had found the dead relatives of the questioner in the underworld, and her soul was attached to the "fairy" to talk to the questioner; You can also pretend to be the voice of the dead and tell your life in the underworld; Will also make predictions or suggestions for the living; Relatives will also be asked to burn paper money for sacrifices. Asking the dead is often believed and deceived. After the founding of New China, the activity of jumping off the gods disappeared for a time. After the 1980s, it revived, and many people were deceived.