The Harry Potter books and movies remind us of witchcraft and wizardry with their images of riding through the air on a broomstick and other occult themes. In reality, there exists a group of extensively trained and experienced witches in the physical world. These spiritual healers provide alternative treatments using a combination of fortune-telling, crystal balls, witchcraft, and natural remedies for smoothing out an individual's difficulties and empowering his or her spiritual well-being.
Upon entering Ching Hsuan's (青璇) magic workshop, I could immediately smell the scents of the fragrant and therapeutic essential oils, which created the perfect atmosphere for counseling. Meanwhile, Ching held a pack of Angel Oracle Cards, each one featuring a different angel and a word of advice, said to offer messages from the angels to guide and support a heartbroken young lady.
After taking readings from the angelic realm, Ching said that "there is a sign of a deteriorating love relationship." The young lady responded with disappointment. "He has decided to break up with me but I feel its a pity to give up. Would there be any chance for us?"
Ching replied to the young lady, with steady eyes. "It's over! Don't waste too much time on him. The angels told me that you have no future together."
The next client, Carol, was a teacher. She asked about both her career and lovelife. Her guiding spirit communicated with Carol via Ching and told her that her upcoming failure in a doctoral program examination was simply a process paving the road for future success. The spirit went further, saying that given her past efforts she will have the opportunity to publish books, which impressed Carol. After her session, Carol told me that she once thought of publishing a book, just as the guiding spirit had said.
To another client, a man in his late 20s, Ching said his deteriorating health was the result of his stressful life and heavy workload, causing him to feel fatigue and get angry easily. What was
interesting was that the fortune-telling showed pictures of many coins and a staff of office -- a reflection of the status and wealth that the client had achieved. Ching told him to eat red meat in moderation and helped him adjust his energy field and stabilize his moods by using Aura-Soma therapy. After a few days of treatment -- along with practising some mood-changing techniques taught by Ching -- the client said that he felt much better and more relaxed.
Ching studied mysticism in New Zealand and Australia from a young age and she is one of only a few Taiwanese people to undergo training in witchcraft abroad. She has even obtained a license for the practice of mysticism. Based on her unique talents, interests, and professional knowledge, she has become many people's alternative source of spiritual healing.
Ching said that although many people envy her, there are usually more obstacles and challenges for people like her, who have special abilities. And, it is because of these special people's sufferings that they can therefore have a better grasp of the meaning of life.
Once witchcraft was mentioned, Ching
pointed out that in the West, mysticism and naturopathy can be categorized as professional fields of study. In Taiwan, these "disciplines" get lumped together under the heading of superstition, she said.
She added that when she was a teenager, she undertook aromatherapy training in Taiwan, and experienced the magic of alternative therapies. During her period of study abroad she first attended the Australian College of Natural Medicine (ACNM) in Melbourne, Australia, to study witchcraft and naturopathy, and then went to a mysticism school in New Zealand where she received her licenses in parapsychology and mysticism. In the meantime, she was trained as an intern in naturopathy at a local health clinic in New Zealand.
Once people begin to learn spiritual healing, it is natural for them to become awed by nature, Ching said, emphasizing that witchcraft is different from common magic, and it can be broken down into white and black magic. The principle of so-called "white magic" involves the use of natural powers, including making use of magnetic fields, the four elements of the earth, floral remedies, seashells, and other things to help people in their spiritual restructuring and healing.
As for "black magic" -- which is viewed negatively -- it has to do with invading other people's space and influencing others' minds. Although most decent witches and wizards have the ability to practice black magic, they are unwilling to use it on others.
Ching said that the doctrine of modern witches emphasizes that "as long as nothing harmful is done to people, you can do whatever you want." The concept of the "three-fold rebound" serves as a warning to witches and wizards that no matter whether using witchcraft with good or bad intentions, the witchcraft itself will come back with a power that is three times greater than that which was originally used.
Modern witchcraft shows its appreciation of nature and its belief in the transmigration of souls. Therefore, we can equate modern witchcraft to white magic. As for black magic, it is very seldom used.
Ching has created her own method of dance therapy and she is also a salsa instructor. She believes that what really makes her happy is the use of her own energy to help clients out of their darkness (suffering of the mind, body and spirit) and into the light.
She also hopes that with the help of guiding spirits, she can help her clients to understand their own unique spirit and talents.
-- Translated by Lin Ya-ti
In the next few months tough decisions will need to be made by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and their pan-blue allies in the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). It will reveal just how real their alliance is with actual power at stake. Party founder Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) faced these tough questions, which we explored in part one of this series, “Ko Wen-je, the KMT’s prickly ally,” (Aug. 16, page 12). Ko was open to cooperation, but on his terms. He openly fretted about being “swallowed up” by the KMT, and was keenly aware of the experience of the People’s First Party
Aug. 25 to Aug. 31 Although Mr. Lin (林) had been married to his Japanese wife for a decade, their union was never legally recognized — and even their daughter was officially deemed illegitimate. During the first half of Japanese rule in Taiwan, only marriages between Japanese men and Taiwanese women were valid, unless the Taiwanese husband formally joined a Japanese household. In 1920, Lin took his frustrations directly to the Ministry of Home Affairs: “Since Japan took possession of Taiwan, we have obeyed the government’s directives and committed ourselves to breaking old Qing-era customs. Yet ... our marriages remain unrecognized,
Not long into Mistress Dispeller, a quietly jaw-dropping new documentary from director Elizabeth Lo, the film’s eponymous character lays out her thesis for ridding marriages of troublesome extra lovers. “When someone becomes a mistress,” she says, “it’s because they feel they don’t deserve complete love. She’s the one who needs our help the most.” Wang Zhenxi, a mistress dispeller based in north-central China’s Henan province, is one of a growing number of self-styled professionals who earn a living by intervening in people’s marriages — to “dispel” them of intruders. “I was looking for a love story set in China,” says Lo,
During the Metal Ages, prior to the arrival of the Dutch and Chinese, a great shift took place in indigenous material culture. Glass and agate beads, introduced after 400BC, completely replaced Taiwanese nephrite (jade) as the ornamental materials of choice, anthropologist Liu Jiun-Yu (劉俊昱) of the University of Washington wrote in a 2023 article. He added of the island’s modern indigenous peoples: “They are the descendants of prehistoric Formosans but have no nephrite-using cultures.” Moderns squint at that dynamic era of trade and cultural change through the mutually supporting lenses of later settler-colonialism and imperial power, which treated the indigenous as
RSS