In the novel the Daoist priest invokes the power of the Dipper's handle stars.
Tips
history
罡 is not used in everyday Chinese. It is a Daoist and astrological term for the handle stars at the tail of the Big Dipper, surviving in 天罡 ('the Dipper handle') and the martial-arts step 罡步. The net-top 罒 sits above 正, which supplies the sound.
culture
The 36 天罡 star-spirits of the 水浒传 are the heroes' celestial identities, a famous use of this character.
罒 is the top form of 网 (a net). Here it sits above as a graphic top, evoking the spread net of stars in 罡; the celestial sense comes from the whole graph.
