Ever thinking of hiring a spiritual bodyguard?
Protectors are in most traditions of religions. Some are called Guardian Angels, some are call Protectors 护法神, Dharma Protectors 金刚护法. In Taoism they are the Heaven and Earth Marshalls 天地兵将。
Dharma Protectors function is to guard the practitioners in their cultivation path from distractions, obstacles and possible sway from their cultivation.
Whereas if you are a Taoist Cultivator, specific Deities will be assigned as your Protectors. They will be guarding the cultivators on all life threatening situations and also warn you when you sway off the path in using Tao Fa beyond its means and moral ethical lines.
Then what are Spiritual Bodyguards? It is more specific made to guard a person from calamity, spirit attack, spirit harm, accidents and also others chipping into your personal body energy (aura) through gossip and bad mouthing you at your back. There are others that are made with 'extra' functions.
It seems like there are different versions of the almost the same reference across cultures. In European witch craft it is called Poppet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppet .
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| Poppet usually stiched up by person and add strands of hair and other material. |
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| These are made by me personally. The materials needed are more difficult to acquire. |
In Tibetan culture also there are practice in which use dough and butter to create an effigy of human form and use the dough and butter to roll on your skin, this is to appease the spirits and demons whom are after you or have caused difficulty in your life.
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| Image from ravencypresswood.com (These are called Lu) |
In Thai/Khmer@Cambodia wicha (magic/witchcraft) it is called Hoon Pa Yon. For Thai Hoon Pa Yon, it is also use for a variety of purposes, from using as body double to prevent harm to the owner to using it as a relationship enhancement for 2 person. It is also sometime use for wealth fetching and a absolute spiritual double of the owner.
Types of Hoon Pa Yon
For Wicha mainly it is divided into 2 types. Either spirit infuse or total non spirit. If it is spirit infuse, then the maker would seek permission from a spirit to include its 魄 Po which does not have consciousness into the Hoon Pa Yon. Then the maker would chant and imbued it with magic until it has the 32 Aspects of a Living Human, it will then take on the spiritual form of its owner.
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| Hoon Pa Yon made with straws and strings using the traditional method. |
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| Spirit infuse Hoon Pa Yon using a very traditional method. |
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| Non Spirit Base Hoon Pa Yon. |
While non spirit Hoon Pa Yon are similiar to elementals. The maker would use wicha to chant until it is has the 32 aspects of human quality. There is no spirit inside the effigy.
Rare Item
As in all things in the material world, as it get more and more commercialize, then it is harder and harder to find magical items that really does its function according to traditional legendary stories that have been going around. Hoon Pa Yon in the Thai tradition is not in the exception.
Good and capable masters that can make good Hoon Pa Yon are rarer than finding dry straws on a monsoon season. Either by reputation of the maker or through spiritual sense can a person really know the Hoon Pa Yon is the real thing. It is not making cookie or tying up straws to resemble effigy, real wicha/magic needs to make it work in order for it to be effective.
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| Hoon Pa Yon that can be use to enhance relationship (Soul Lock) |
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| One of my own spirit base bodyguard. |
Most of the pictures shown above are my own collection, some of it have already been sold to friends that need it. An extra body double is always welcome in world of back stabbing, finger pointings, petty people and not forgetting curse and black magics .