Daoist Talismans are mainly composed of Chinese characters while others consist of astrological diagrams or objects for casting spells, and some of them even have divine images on them. But the majority of them are made up of characters and transformed characters. Because of this, talismans should have been understandable. Famous Taoist Priest Lu Xiujing once pointed out that in all the writings of the talisman there were Chinese characters, but they were not easily understood. If one was able to understand them, one could register and invoke thousands of souls and control hundreds of spirits.
The special characters for making talismans are called Talismanic Characters. Talismanic Characters have their own pronunciations, which are called Talismanic Sounds. Talismans are constituted of the Talismanic Characters and other elements, including the diagrams of the stars, divine images, and objects for casting spells. Knowing the implications of these elements can help you to know the structure of the talisman.
With the introduction above, we can see that talismans consist of Talismanic Characters made according to certain principles, together with some other elements. Simple talismans are made up of one or several simple Talismanic Characters, but complicated ones are composed of many mixed parts.
Therefore they are hard for us to read. Not only do the elements of talismans differ from sect to sect, but also the ways of making and reading them are passed down secretly from master to disciple within the sects. Laymen seldom have had a chance to see them. Moreover, the collocation, the order, and the positions of the various parts of the talismans are not easy for laymen to know.
As far as the images of the talismans are concerned, there are some other talismans with shades of layers of different colors. Sometimes they look like a large dripping-wet ink ball, and sometimes they seem to look like an outline of the spirits. They seem to be too mysterious to be understood because of their obscure structure. As a matter of fact, they can be understood and analyzed. Of course, you have to track down the process of its making, instead of racking your brains in front of the finished product.
The talismans, matched with the objects for casting spells, the diagrams of the stars, and the divine images, are composed of Chinese characters or Daoist coinage (Talismanic Characters) by imitating the six philological ways of constructing Chinese characters(Liu Shu) according to certain religious ways of thinking. The simple talismans are made up of one or several elements mentioned above, and the symbolic meaning is relatively uncomplicated. But the complicated ones consist of many of the elements with quite a few procedures for making them and rich symbolic meanings.
In fact, they are similar to the official call to arms or notices with long writs. It is very natural that the elements of the talismans and the corresponding ideas are accepted among the makers and successors of the talismans. Consequently, laymen are unable to know the secret and understand the talismans.
Talismans are widely applied in the various stages of Daoist skills, fasts and offerings, and rituals. They are used when setting up altars, invoking the generals, offering petitions, casting spells, destroying Darkness, refining and saving by water and fire. At the same time, Daoists often use Talismanic Water to cure diseases, control the spirits, and dispel ghosts for the people. So talismans are popular among the folks, and part of the custom of the common people. For instance, the customs of putting up the Celestial Master Talisman on Dragon Boat Day, and wearing protective talisman bags, are quite prevalent all over many areas.
it is also common, to see Taoist devotees carrying talismans in their wallets or hang around their neck, sometimes wrapped up in red packet or red cloth.
These are common talisman for general purposes such as protection and for blessings and luck.
They can be 'invited' in most Taoist temples and these talisman are mainly easy to read and understand then those of higher level used in rituals and casting spells. These general talisman for protection are mainly the names of the divines(according to diff temple's deities) and a sacred Seal on them to make they effective.
PS: the term 'spell' here, refer to diff kind of taoist arts the taoist perform and not refering to any kind of black magic. These arts can be praying for rain, praying for protection, praying for longevity, exorcism etc..