A Taoist ritual master solemnly performs a purification ritual in the Bao’an temple in Taipei on behalf of people who are unwell and the friends and family, who have come to the temple in place of the person with ailments. He hosts the rite known as “offering and resolution” several times a day for small groups of mostly ordinary, middle-aged participants in a room at the back of the temple.
The ceremony only lasts about 20 minutes and involves various presentations and traditions. It begins with the lighting of incense to open the way into the spirit world and each devotee paying their respect to the image of the deity by bowing and laying out crackers, noodles, and dried longans, together with an article of clothing worn by the sufferer, if he or she has not appeared in person, on a square red plastic tray in front of the altar.
After the offerings are complete, the ritual master then chants scriptures addressed to the gods and throws two divination blocks on the floor many times, noting each time how the pair falls. He relies on the assistance of a female attendant stationed at his side to retrieve the blocks and give instructions to the worshippers.
In the next part of the service, the medium steps outside of the room and over to a table, where paper effigies representing the afflicted person together with their astrological birth data and a few sticks of incense have been laid out with sacrificial offerings of a square of dried tofu, a slice of raw pork, and an egg. He continues to utter transformative incantations while ringing a bell in his right hand together with a chime in his left hand, which he passes over the replicas so as to dispel evil influences and effect a cure.
In the final phase of the ritual, the participants collect their trays, one by one, and retreat to an adjacent room to pack their belongings. Before leaving, they crack and peel the hard shell of the dried longans and place the pulpy fruit inside in a small paper bag to savor at a later time. The process expresses symbolically the idea of eliminating hardship and the hope that life will be blessed with sweetness.