Tàishàng qīxīng shénzhòu jīng 太上七星神咒經
Scripture of the Divine Incantation of the Seven Stars, of the Most High
About the work
A two-folio Daoist stellar-apotropaic scripture on the Paces of Yǔ (Yǔbù 禹步) and the shénzhòu 神咒 of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper. Transmitted in the Dàozàng in a composite juàn with DZ 381, DZ 382, and DZ 384.
Prefaces
No prefaces in the source. The text opens directly with the dialogue between HuángLǎo yuándì 黃老元帝 and Tiānlǎo 天老 and carries no author preface or transmission colophon.
Abstract
Lagerwey (Schipper & Verellen, Taoist Canon 3: 956, DZ 383): HuángLǎo yuándì asks Tiānlǎo in the Shàngqīng Wángdòng Zǐchén Jīnquè tái 上清王洞紫宸金闕臺: what is the origin of human misfortune? It comes from the stars, Tiānlǎo replies. But a Daoist knows how to expel baleful qì and prolong his years. The best way to do this is to perform the Paces of Yǔ (Yǔbù 禹步) while pronouncing the “divine formula of the Seven Stars” of the Northern Dipper. The formula itself is given at the end of the text — but, curiously, does not mention the stars of the Dipper by name, a mild incongruity that Lagerwey flags without resolving.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004, 3:956 (DZ 383).