Invoking Queen Mother of the West

Ten point four Invoking Queen Mother of the West

王 母 娘 娘 From Lift, Classic of Mountains and Seas

In this practicum you will be calling out to Xi Wang Mu, the Queen Mother of the West. If you haven't already, start by reading the section "Xī Wang Mu, Goddess of the Wu" in the text, pages eight hundred four to eight hundred seventeen. Also read the Chapter Ten end notes one hundred four to one hundred nineteen, which can be found on pages nine hundred seven to nine hundred ten.

The Oracle will be the medium through which the goddess delivers her message to you. An optimal time for this will be between a waning crescent moon and the dark moon, just before the new moon. The darkness is symbolic of the numinous void Wuji that she came from and her role as Wujimu, divine mother of the numinous void.

Work by candlelight. Select an evening hour after sunset. I would recommend as close to your bedtime as possible, as you will be continuing the divinatory process into your dream state.

Switch off the electricity in the room and illuminate with candles. Candle color is not significant. Go with what you have on hand. Light incense. Sit in stillness for a moment to ground and center yourself. Take deep, slow breaths. Wait until you are fully relaxed, feeling empowered, and psychically receptive.

We'll be using the second line from hexagram thirty-five, Jin, as the invocation prayer. Note that we're omitting the two-word divinatory statement. That leaves us with the following recitation:

There is progress and there is sorrow. jìn rú chóu rú 晉 如 愁 如

May I now receive Her blessings. shòu zī jiè fú 受 兹 介 福

All Hail the Queen Mother. yú qí Wáng MẼ 于 其 王 母

The beauty of reciting it in Mandarin is the rhythm and the perfect tercet of the poetic verse. The poetic form adds power to the recitation. However, reciting in English will work just fine. Likewise, you can translate the lines and recite in your native tongue.

Essentially, the meaning of your recitation is first an acknowledgement that you've had your ups and you've had your downs, followed by your petition to the goddess. You are calling out to the Queen Mother and asking that she hear your call.

This practicum will guide you through a short form of the traditional yarrow stalk method we learned back in Chapter Seven. Like the long form, begin with a bundle of fifty stalks.

Set down one vertical stalk Divide the bundle in two. and as you do so, recite the One goes atop, one goes below.

From below, pick up one stalk and place it between your ring and pinky finger.

Invocation Prayer:

There is progress and there is sorrow. JÌN RÚ CHÓU RÚ

May I now receive Her blessings. SHÒU ZĨ JIÈ FÚ All Hail the Queen Mother. YÚ QÍ WÁNG MŨ

The visual of the stalk formation resembles the frame of the word for shaman, AL. The two figures of A dancing around the frame represents the dance of the shaman, and here, the shaman occupying two minds-your own and the mind of a god.

Pick up the bottom bundle and proceed to group the Pick up the top bundle and stalks into groups of four. Once you have a remainder again group into fours until you have a remainder of four or less.

of four or fewer, set this remainder bundle aside.

The sum of the remainder from the bottom bundle plus the remainder from the top bundle will be either five stalks left or nine stalks left. If you don't get exactly five or exactly nine, then there was a miscalculation, and you'll need to review your count. Below, check the table cell corresponding with your First Count results.

If the total stalks for the First Count was five, then draw a yin line for Line one of your hexagram. If the total stalks was nine, then draw a yang line.

Set aside the five or nine stalks from that remainder pile. They will not be counted in the next operation.

With what's left, either forty-five or forty-one stalks, repeat the process once again to yield the Second Count.

Set down one vertical stalk Divide the bundle in two. and as you do so, repeat One goes atop, one goes below. the invocation prayer.

From below, pick up one stalk and place it between your ring and pinky finger.