Last night, as I had a chuckle over the līlā of Nīlalōhitaramaṇī, I opened a package that I had received a few days ago. For a minute, I was dumbfounded as a plastic coconut popped out of the package. Apparently, it was tāmbūla offered by a certain group in Hyderabad who was to perform varuṇa Japa and yāga for bringing rain to someplace in Andhra-dēśa. While I completely respect and adore the gesture, it was funny! Anyway, the topic on my mind today is Weather Magic. In my own homeland India, we have various versions of weather magic. Parjanya Japa, hōma, and other such rituals are quite popular with the smārtas. Some yogins have demonstrated their siddhi by bringing rain, Rambhau Swamiji being one such example that I have personally witnessed. Some others claim to bring rain through their mastery of rāgas such as Megh Malhār or Amr̥itavarṣiṇī. Balamurali Krishna and Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan have both done such experiments, but I have heard different versions of their success (or lack of it).
Weather magic is popular in various other cultures too. Peruvian Shamanism is one such school I have studied to an extent. One of my teachers, among the few living exponents of the ancient Quechua religion of the indigenous tribes of Peru, is a master teacher for the ritual of the Thunder God, and his female consort, the Goddess of Lightning. The very first time he did an initiation ceremony, he did an elaborate ritual and the sign of completion was the appearance of lightning, thrice in a row, followed by Thunder. The night was clear, as clear as it can get in California. On another occasion, when we were traveling in New York City together, there was the prediction of heavy rain. That day, I was to address a group in a park and my friend/teacher said, “I can hold the rain for about two hours”. And he did just that when he disappeared into a room and stayed there for a period of two hours. Exactly after about 125 minutes, there was rain as soon as he emerged out of the room.
Bonpo and Mongolian Shamanism are other cultures where weather magic is extensively documented and used. The famous story of the 3rd Dalai Lama conjuring lightning to convert several Mongolian Shamans to the Gelupga sect is widely documented. Similarly, the tale of the 5th Dalai Lama going mad after lightning struck his camp repeatedly when conjured by the Red sect is also recounted. The current Dalai Lama recounted to me one such incident that he personally witnessed in 1968, during his last visit to San Francisco.
However, Taoism seems to have the most well-documented and repeatable rituals for Weather Magic. Our primary Taoist teacher, though belonging to the Mao Shan sect, has Thunder Magic or Leifa as one of his chief interests. The chief deities invoked in this sect are Leigong (Thunder God) and his consort, the Great Mother Leimu. They are aided by the generals Tainyou yuanshuai and Tainpeng yuanshuai and the four together control Thunder and Lightning. The primary text that systematizes Thunder Magic (drawing from tantric and shamanistic perspectives) is the closely guarded Daofa Huiyuan. The chief purpose of Thunder Magic is to seek intervention when the weather is detrimental to human survival. Other purposes include protection, exorcism of evil spirits, healing, revenge, etc. Thunder Magic is also closely connected to Martial arts, especially the internal ones and Neigong.
Once the practitioner has generated a sufficient amount of energy, shouyin (mudrās) and leifa (amulets) are used to channel the energy to control the weather. In the case of the Mao Shan sect, one uses Thunder Magic in a slightly different way. The Taoist priest faces the Thunderstorm, holds specific mudrās, and recites the Great Prayer of the Thunder Lord to channel the energy of the Thunderstorm into himself through the agency of energized breath. The energy, stored in the three dantiens is projected out as required to patients to cure them of various diseases. The same energy can be used to divert storms if the Taoist adept has sufficient capability. A more malevolent application of the same technique involves generating a storm. This is not different from the standard Daoist practice of absorbing chi from natural bodies such as stars, Sun, trees, rivers, etc. However, the energy one specifically absorbs from Thunderstorm and Lightening are of a very different nature and one should be rather cautious before attempting to do so. The very first time I attempted something on those lines, I was struck so bad that it took about a year to completely heal. Several schools of Chikung advise not practicing their forms in the event of a thunderstorm or lightning.
Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson, undoubtedly one of the greatest Taoist visionaries in the current day, demonstrated to a bunch of us, not only his encyclopedic knowledge of Daoist weather magic but also his mastery of it. As a bunch of us sat wide-eyed in his home, he generated a mini storm that went whirling past us. If some of you have seen the movie X-men: First Class, you will get exactly what I am saying. An acquaintance recounted a similar demonstration by the legendary Wang Liping during a class, but I myself witnessed no such demonstration from the great Master during the few sessions I have had with him.