A local shrine by the name, Lian Sheng Tua has been exist for a decade and operates in a typical public housing unit aka HDB flat. The main deity of the shrine is The Goddess of Guanyin. Not long ago, they were celebrating the Manifestation Day of The Goddess of Guanyin at the Tampines New Town, an eastern part of Singapore. Our daoist group was invited to conduct a taoist ritual of thanksgiving during the celebration.
One of the rituals is crossing the seven-star bridge. Normally, the seven-star bridge is made of wooden or steel with walkway that has a total of seven steps. On the bridge, you could see five different colour talismans or flags, each of which is positioned at five different corners of the bridge. At the front entrance or walk up of the bridge, which is called the gate of dragon, a fire urn is usually placed on the floor. The devotees will need to cross over the fire urn before going up the bridge. At the rear exit or walk down of the bridge, which is called the gate of tiger, all devotees will be considered "safe" from any negative attacks after passing that gate. Under the bridge, there is an oil lamp placed on top of a wash basin which is filled with water to bless the devotees while crossing the bridge. After the devotee has crossed the bridge, the taoist priest will use a spiritual stamp to mark on the devotee's neck or shirt. The participants are not limited to children, adults and even the elderly are joining in the queue for a common purpose, ie, pursue for good blessings.
Taoism has traditional religious subjects and instruments. One of the basic tenets of taoist ritual is instrument and scripture which will be used in accordance with the relevant requirements of the ceremony. For example, to seek for a relief of danger or disaster, to pray for mercy, to pray for repentance, to pray for fate mending and etc.
A local shrine by the name, Lian Sheng Tua has been exist for a decade and operates in a typical public housing unit aka HDB flat. The main deity of the shrine is The Goddess of Guanyin. Not long ago, they were celebrating the Manifestation Day of The Goddess of Guanyin at the Tampines New Town, an eastern part of Singapore. Our daoist group was invited to conduct a taoist ritual of thanksgiving during the celebration. 
One of the rituals is crossing the seven-star bridge. Normally, the seven-star bridge is made of wooden or steel with walkway that has a total of seven steps. On the bridge, you could see five different colour talismans or flags, each of which is positioned at five different corners of the bridge. At the front entrance or walk up of the bridge, which is called the gate of dragon, a fire urn is usually placed on the floor. The devotees will need to cross over the fire urn before going up the bridge. At the rear exit or walk down of the bridge, which is called the gate of tiger, all devotees will be considered "safe" from any negative attacks after passing that gate. Under the bridge, there is an oil lamp placed on top of a wash basin which is filled with water to bless the devotees while crossing the bridge. After the devotee has crossed the bridge, the taoist priest will use a spiritual stamp to mark on the devotee's neck or shirt. The participants are not limited to children, adults and even the elderly are joining in the queue for a common purpose, ie, pursue for good blessings.
Taoism has traditional religious subjects and instruments. One of the basic tenets of taoist ritual is instrument and scripture which will be used in accordance with the relevant requirements of the ceremony. For example, to seek for a relief of danger or disaster, to pray for mercy, to pray for repentance, to pray for fate mending and etc.
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