The Religious Court has a structure which we call the 三宮六殿; it translates to the Three Palaces and Six Halls. The word 宮 means palace, a home for the god to stay. Within the three palaces are two halls 殿, like the meeting place for specific work. By knowing the gods that reside in the three palaces, you can also understand the two halls’ property easily because of the gods that lead the hall.
You can go into the palaces to worship or talk to the gods; they are also the living area for the deceased disciples. The halls are for the gods to work and send their powers out to us. You can see the different purposes of palaces and halls now.
The two halls are usually one for the civil side of work and one for the military side of work, like the pen vs sword.
Tin Yat Palace is the home of Bagwa Jo Si, Gum Lung Sin Si and Jee Lung Sin Si. When the faithful disciples (Tin Yat Stage) passed away, this is where they would live too! If we are doing a funeral for someone who is not a disciple, maybe a relative or a friend of a disciple, then these “ghosts” would also be taken care of in this palace as their homeland.
Linked to this palace, there are two halls.
金龍殿 Golden Dragon Hall – We go into this hall to do worshiping ceremonies on special occasions, such as celebrating the anniversaries of the gods. We also submit our letters (Biu Munn表文) to express ourselves to the gods to show gratitude in this Hall. The hall also allows the gods to manage the magical power and blessings given to the disciples based on their faith and contributions.
紫龍殿 Purple Dragon Hall -We go into this hall to request help from the court and submit our letters of request (Soh Munn 疏文) for the case. The gods who work in this hall manage when to give out protection to the disciples for emergencies. It’s like the emergency rescue team.
Saam Law Palace is the home of Daai Law Jo Si, Tin Law Jo Si and Dei Law Jo Si. This is the home for all the faithful ordained Saam Law Taoists who passed away. It’s the main hometown of every Taoist! If the people in Tin Yat Palace decided to be ordained, they could move up here for a better environment and higher living standards.
Linked to this palace, there are two halls.
天羅殿 Tin Law Hall is the treasure storage and library, which stores everything in the lineage system. We go into this hall to get our magical tools sanctified most of the time. The gods in this hall also help us store the “data” in the lineage system, such as new magic, symbols, spells, or whatever elements we have created for the system; they are kept and managed in this hall. The people living in this area will also go to this hall for education.
地羅殿 Dei Law Hall is the law enforcement in the court, which keeps the world safe by putting the bad ones into prison and giving them the punishments they deserve. Being a civilian living in this world doesn’t mean you can be a troublemaker. If a Taoist breaks the law and causes harm to others, this is where they will end up being. We can also go into this hall in a ceremony to capture bad spirits into the prison or transfer the impacts we don’t want into this system.
Sun Lung Palace is the home of Sun Lung Jo Si, Baak Hork Sin Si and Ng Lui Sin Si. This is where the faithful Sun Lung Stage Taoist Priests and Priestesses will live when they die. It has a higher living standard and ensures a job in the court which could end up working in any of the halls or even TYHQ.
Inside this palace, there are two halls.
白鶴殿 White Crane Hall is responsible for communication, deliveries and the information center, like our internet system. We can go into this hall to send magic to other places or sends important reports and things up to the Celestial Court above. People living in the court would use this place for their communication systems, like our phones, internet, and postal service. It’s very important for the civilians there too!
五雷殿 Five Thunder Hall is the military base with all the soldiers and weapons. We can go into this hall to work with the armies and deploy them on tougher cases such as exorcism and magic battles. In this world, this department holds the highest martial power for defending and protecting the whole system. The Dei Law Hall is like the police that deals with civilians, while this one deals with external threats. No need to fear evil gods kidnapping you away after you are dead because this hall will ensure that won’t be able to happen!
Saam Law Jo Si runs the TYHQ at the very top, which is the big boss of the court. Anything approved by the halls below must have his approval to be finalized and executed. In a company, the financial department approves the money to be spent, and the big boss must review a final check to approve it, or else the money cannot be used. The same theory goes for the Religious Court system!
As you can see, the three palaces and six halls are important elements you need to understand because of the magic work you will be doing and because it is where you will be living after you pass away. Disciples below the Tin Ting Stage would live in this world until they have earned their ticket to ascend to the Celestial Court (Tin Ting). Then after that would be the final destination, Sun Ting, the ultimate destination. However, being a poor Tin Ting stage disciple doesn’t allow them to enter the Celestial Court. When you die, you would be judged by the TYHQ (Saam Law Jo Si in charge) to determine what you truly qualify to be according to your faith and how much you have met the requirement of your stage. If you are in the Sun Lung Stage but don’t even do anything, you would be put into Saam Law Stage instead. God will judge and decide your destination. If you are a Tin Yat Stage disciple without faith, you could not even make it into Tin Yat Palace.
Learn your commandments, rules, and virtues, and be a good disciple with strong faith. What you have committed and your output is never a waste because your journey as a Taoist is logged in the record in TYHQ. True justice will be there for you because the gods will not miss details. If you have output more than what you got in the human world, you will be awarded in this place to have a better life. If you were ordained and had been doing badly, you could be put to the Dei Law Hall to be judged again and sentenced for punishment. Unless you were expelled, otherwise, the court will always take you in and decide what to do with you since you are still officially in the system. Tin Yat Stage disciples who are doing poorly might be just rejected from entering the system since they have not been ordained; it is not the court’s obligation to take them in unless their faith is still there.
Cherish your life and the opportunity that you were given in the lineage. The court will be your home later, so you better love it more now and build your credit!!!
