Most people thought that when a person dies, his one soul or spirit rises up from his/her body and immediately becomes a ghost. Actually, base on Taoism, You have 3 HUN(s)(三魂) and 7 PO(s)(七魄) in You.
The understanding of 魂(Huns) and 魄(Pos) is a traditional Taoist and Chinese cultural model to diagnose spiritual and medical conditions.
A Taoist Master / Sorcerer can rescue a hexed victim by summoning his /her 魂(Hun) and 魄(Po) back to his / her body, or harming a person by plucking one 魂(Hun) and one 魄(Po) from the intended victim and attached them to a
Taoist Hexing Doll.
Part of Classical diagnosis by a TCM Doctor involves finding which of the 七魄 (7 POs) are affected in the patient. 七魄 (7 POs) are affected by human's emotions.
What is 魂(Hun) and 魄(Po)?
魂(Hun) - spiritual, ethereal soul , yang energy - also known as "Cloud Soul". Responsible for all formless consciousness, including the three treasures: 精(Jing)， 气(Qi)， 神(Shen).
魄(Po) - substantive,corporeal soul, yin energy - also known as " White Soul". Responsible for all tangible consciousness,including the seven apertures: two eyes, two ears, two nose holes, mouth.
WHAT Are The 3 Hun(s) and 7 Pos(s) (三魂七魄) ?
Recorded In Ancient Taoist Text- <云笈七签> (Yun Ji Qi Qian) , 3 Hun(s) (三魂) were originally known as:
胎光 (Tai Guang) - The Light Of Foetus
胎光 (Tai Guang) dominates life. If it resides in human body for a very long time, the person can feel refreshing, and it prolongs life.
(胎光 - 太清阳和之气，属于天（天魂）；胎光主生命，久居人身则可使人神清气爽，益寿延年)
胎光 (Tai Guang) is the most important main soul / entity in a person. When 胎光 (Tai Guang) is lost, a person can still absorb food and water but it is considered already dead, a walking dead.
爽靈 (Shuang Ling) - The Bright Spirit
爽靈 (Shuang Ling) come from Yin energy, belonging to the five elements (life soul):dominate wealth, can restrict excess Yang energy, let people have a sharp mind, finely manage everything.
(爽灵 - 阴气之变，属于五行亦名（命魂）；爽灵主财禄，能使明气制阳，使人机谋万物，劳役百神，生祸若害)
爽靈 (Shuang Ling) determines the human intelligence, wisdom, and the reactive mind. Children who are mentally handicapped or autistic are due to the lost of 爽靈 (Shuang Ling).
幽精 (You Jing) - The Quiet Spirit
幽精 (You Jing) - The Quiet Spirit turbidity energy of Yin Energy, belonging to earth(earth soul): dominate human fate, make people fall in lust addictions, being addicted to dirty chaos of thinking, depletion essence, lack of divine energy, deficiency in kidney Qi, cause blockages in stomach and spleen five meridians, let people live as walking corpse. Therefore, the cultivation key of matain good health is to control and conquer You Jin, keep Yang energy in a good harmony.
Before going to sleep at night, knocking the teeth and call three souls, repeat three times, if do daily can enhance divinity energy, essence surrounding body, disease does not invade the body, ghosts afraid of to come close.
(幽精 - 阴气之杂，属于地（地魂）。幽精主灾衰，使人好色嗜欲，溺于秽乱之思，耗损精华，神气缺少，肾气不足，脾胃五脉不通，旦夕形若尸卧。因此，养生修道务在制御幽精，保养阳和之气。如在黎明时分或夜间入睡前，叩齿并呼三魂，反复三次，即可神气常坚，精华不散，疾病不侵，鬼神畏惧。)
幽精 (You Jing) determines the person's sexual orientation and sexuality, decide what type of people a person will love.
3 Hun(s) (三魂) in Chinese Folk Beliefs are known as:
生魂 (Sheng Hun)
The purpose of 生魂 (Sheng Hun): Muliply Life, Grow, Able to react to the environment.
When 生魂 (Sheng Hun) is defective (or captured by a Sorcerer): A healthy person suddenly always get sick.
覺魂 (Jue Hun)
The purpose of 覺魂 (Jue Hun): Mood, Emotions, Sensation.
When 覺魂 (Jue Hun) is defective (or captured by a Sorcerer): The person goes crazy, nervous and scattered, no sense of shame, likely to have rows of incest.
靈魂 (Ling Hun)
The purpose of 靈魂 (Ling Hun): Human consciousness, understand good and evil, love, self-improvement
When the 靈魂 (Ling Hun) is defective (Or captured by a Sorcerer): A normal person suddenly becomes dumb.
Plants only have 生魂 (Sheng Hun)
Animals only have 生魂 (Sheng Hun) and 覺魂 (Jue Hun)
Humans have 3 Hun - 生魂 (Sheng Hun) , 覺魂 (Jue Hun), 靈魂 (Ling Hun)
What happen to the 魂(Hun) when a peron dies?
生魂 (Sheng Hun) will be eliminated.
靈魂 (Ling Hun) will go through rebirth. Those that accumulate good karma will be reborn to either heaven or on the human world.
Those souls that go to heaven, 靈魂 (Ling Hun) will be united with their 覺魂 (Jue Hun).
Those souls reborn back to human world, the old 覺魂 (Jue Hun) will be eliminated and new 生魂(Sheng Hun) and new 覺魂 (Jue Hun) with the original 靈魂 (Ling Hun) will be merged and reborn again.
覺魂(Jue Hun) often wanders around in the cemetery. 覺魂 (Jue Hun) that are lingering on Earth can be worshiped on their ancestral tablets with incense and food offerings.
Those souls that have bad karma more than their good karma will go straight to Hell to be punished. Only during 15th of Chinese 7th Lunar Month ( Chinese Ghosts Festival), the 覺魂 (Jue Hun) of these ghosts from hell can come to Human World for a stroll. After their punishment and suffering have been completed will they be reborn on Human World again (Either as Human or Beast etc), in which their 覺魂 (Jue Hun) will be eliminated.
The 7 Po(s)(七魄):
吞贼 (Tun Zei) - Seizing Thief:
Purpose: Eliminate harmful substances at night while You sleep. 吞贼 (Tun Zei) in modern term is known as Immune function.
尸狗 (Shi Gou) - Corpse Of Dog:
Purpose: Remain Alert when Sleeping
Deal with Body consciousness - Tactile
除秽 (Chu Hui) - Remove Filth
Purpose: Clear body metabolites
Deal with Understanding consciousness - Awareness
臭肺 (Chou Fei) - Smelly Lung
Purpose: Respiratory regulation
Deal with Nose consciousness - Smell
雀阴 (Qiao Yin) - Yin Of Sparrow
Purpose: Regulating reproductive function
Deal with Tongue consciousness - Taste
非毒 (Fei Du) - Not-Toxic
Purpose: Scatter evil deposition, such as tumors, etc.
Deal with Eye consciousness - Visual
伏矢 (Fu Shi) - Concealed Arrow
Purpose: Dispersion of Toxins in Body
Deal with Manas Consciousness (Seventh of the eight consciousnesses in Buddhism) - Ideology
The 7 Po(s)(七魄) correspond to seven emotions: happy, anger, sad, joy, love, hate, fear. Also correspond to seven sounds: shout, laugh, hoot, moan, sing, cry, whistling, which correspond to human organs.
What happen to the 魄(Po) when a peron dies?
At death, 魄(Po) will descend into the earth with flesh and bones, and eventually dissolved.
3 Hun and 7 Po (三魂七魄) in Taoist Sorcery
When a Taoist Sorcerer wants to control a person like a puppet or to torture him/her from a distance, he will use the victim's Real Name, Date Of Birth and Photo and then go through a ritual to capture one of his HUN(s)(魂) and one of his PO(s)(魄) and attached them to a
Straw / Paper Effigy (Hexing Doll). Hair, nails or any belongings of the victim are sometimes also attached to the Hexing Doll if they are available.
Taoist Hexing Doll is usually either created from a piece of paper cut into shape of human figure, or made up of straws tied into a human figure.
The ritual usually takes 49 days to fully attached the person's one HUN(魂) and one PO(魄) to the Hexing Doll. By controlling the HUN(魂) and PO(魄) of a person, the Taoist Sorcerer can now disturb/ play his / her victim with different effects from a far distance.
Likewise, Taoist Master or Taoist Sorcerer also cast spells and perform rituals to summon the stolen HUN (魂) and PO (魄) and return them back to the victim.
