Hello all. I’m sure many of you are collectors and makers of talismanic charms and Occult tools. Every tradition and culture has a wide assortment of various sacred items that are used in rituals and magical workings. It is a universally recognized aspect of practical mysticism. A frequent question that comes up often with sorcerors is “can we measure the power of a tool?” which leads to another question “what is the most effective and powerful tool?” It is possible through first-hand experience to quantify and calculate the qi of a ceremonial instrument. I’ll be using my feather fan as an example. It is known as a “Kongming Fan” named after the legendary Shu-Han strategist and genius of The Three Kingdoms Era, Zhuge Liang. Kongming is always depicted dressed in a Taoist robe carrying a fan made of crane or goose feathers. In the historical novel Romance of The Three Kingdoms, the fan never leaves his hand, it is said that he would gaze deeply into the feathers as if examining an intricate design on its surface.
Kongming would carry it with him on every military expedition, using it as a directional tool to signal and command his forces by performing different gestures, to attack, defend, advance, retreat, etc. He used the fan to direct military movements against Sima Yi of Wei on the banks of the Wei River near Chang’an. In the book “Tales From The Peking Opera” the legend goes that one day, one of his young attendants secretly looked at the fan, probably whilst Kongming was sleeping. This attendant wanted to know the mysteries that it concealed. He took a good look and he couldn’t see anything other than an arrangement of feathers. When Kongming looked at the fan, he could see the universe, he could see infinite possibility, boundless potential, and abounding inspiration. The fan lit a fire in the already vivid imagination of Kongming, there was something about it that only he could see and nobody else could. What was it?
I’m aware that this is speculation as nobody will ever truly know, people have many theories and ideas. I’m going to avoid speculating so let me tell you what I see with my fan and share my experiences. I’ve come to the realization, this is the most powerful talisman. All information shared here comes from years of invocations with Kongming, not from books or living people. In order for a fan to qualify as a “Kongming Fan” it must be of five different colours consisting of black, brown, grey, white, silver or a combination of those shades. It must always have a Bagua centrepiece with The Eight Trigrams arranged in a Pre-Heaven sequence, NOT the King-Wen sequence. With the father above (Yang) and the mother below (Yin) this is solar and lunar qi contained within the fan. The outer side of the fan is Yang whilst the inner is Yin. The Yang side always faces outward never inward, not because it may cause harm to the bearer but because it could harm the fans delicate inner Yin side which is never exposed.
Using the fan incorrectly would damage what is known as “The Fans Organ” the feather on the Yin side is the beating “Heart” of the fan, it represents a vital organ where essential qi flows. The Heart must never receive direct strikes from Sha Qi as it could weaken the fan over time. The most important thing to remember is this: The fan is alive, it is a living, breathing entity that has the same life force as a person. Referring to it as a “talisman” is misleading, I only do this so people can understand it and relate to it. A Kongming Fan is not a ritual tool or an object, it is an expression of life. The exposed stalks on the bottom of the fan are known as “Blood vessels” qi and nutrients constantly flow through these stalks where it may exit via the top or at the bottom through the handle. If qi exits at the top this is known as Yang qi, this energy can be used to heal someone on a psychic level or attack them if needed. If the qi exists at the bottom of the handle, it is Yin, this qi may travel into the body of the bearer, into his or her hand and it will nourish their organs (inner alchemy) A combination of both is needed for proper balance.
The forked design is an important aspect, the two-pronged feathers are a representation of a concept. Two choices. The magician always has two choices, to fight or flee, to agree or disagree, to help or harm others, to tell the truth, or lie etc. This design also has another use, when pointed towards the sky, the two prongs will draw qi from the environment that you are in, the right prong is creative, the left is destructive, qi will enter via the prongs and travel through the blood vessels until it reaches to the Bagua. The Pre Heaven trigrams will then covert this qi and make it safe for absorption into the bloodstream of the magician. It’s like coffee being put through a filter, it’s cleansing. Anything that lives can and does die, so the fan is not immortal. Magicians will usually know if the fan is sick because it stops filtering harmful qi, this means the one who is carrying it will start feeling ill as well. The round shape of this circular centrepiece represents Heaven and the round inner circle represents the astral, where all ideas, thoughts, imaginary concepts exist before they are brought to material creation.
There is a proper way of how to hold the fan but I’m going to stop there as I plan on making a very long video on this subject, I haven’t covered everything in this post but I will get to it at a later date. To conclude I will strongly recommend that you look into using a Kongming Fan. They are like universal magical remotes that can be used in any type of ritual. They can summon storms, hypnotize people, induce hallucinations, plant false memories and thoughts, heal the sick, exorcise negative entities. So far I have not discovered any limitations. It truly is the most powerful “talisman”
