Lì Xì Cats Every year, right around this time, I buy red lì xì money envelopes that have the corresponding animal to the year I'm in and give them out to all the little kids I know. Before you think that is extremely wasteful, I will hasten to assure you that the envelopes only contain a few... Continue Reading →
I have a very ancient multi-millennial ancestral grandpa. His name is Khương Thạch Niên (姜石年). Most folks know him as the farmer god. Yes. THAT farmer god known as Thần Nông (aka Shennong), the same one who gave us tea (among other things). Now, I don't like people who falsely claim famous relatives just to... Continue Reading →
(Continued from Hexagram 18 - Poisonous Dark Sorcery) Cổ Trùng In the ancient world, the word Cổ Trùng include poisonous toads, frogs, snakes, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, as well as various other types of animals we would not normally consider poisonous. This also includes certain types of ticks and butterflies, and even bacteria and viruses. Please... Continue Reading →
Hexagram 18 is a bit of a doozie. On the one hand, it has to do with creepy crawly critters, and on the other hand, it has to do with mountains and wind. Neither of these seem to go well together, but bear up with me for a bit. Since these are very disparate ideas,... Continue Reading →
(Continued from The Original Asian Zodiac 5: The Twelve Earth Branches) Ten Heavenly Stems I have to state for the record that this subject is an exhausting subject to dig into. I kept running into a few issues, and although they are not huge issues, they exhaust me. Firstly, all the words are not modern. ... Continue Reading →
The Twelve Earthly branches 2020 is the year of the Metal Rat on top of the earthen wall. Sounds quite amazing doesn't it? That's the power of the Can Chi working together to give you the whole picture. Out of everything that has to do with the Asian Calendar, the twelve Earthly Branches take the... Continue Reading →
(Continued from Lên Đồng 2: Mounting the Medium) Folk beliefs are all the rage nowadays. Everybody wants to go tribal. It is the hottest new trend. The Japanese have their Shinto. The Chinese have their Zhōngguó mínjiān xìnyǎng. And us Việts, we have our Đạo Mẫu. I am not surprised that this is so. Remember,... Continue Reading →
Suprahuman intelligence has from the beginning made use of three mediums of expression---men, animals, and plants, in each of which life pulsates in a different rhythm. Chance came to be utilized as a fourth medium; the very absence of an immediate meaning in chance permitted a deeper meaning to come to expression in it. The... Continue Reading →
Yet another sojourn through space and time, into the vast distant reaches of the I Ching's various interpretations and compilations. I finally got a chance to crack open the two-volume Chu-Dịch written by Phan Bội Châu, which means The I Ching, during the era of the Chu Dynasty (周朝) Chou Ch'ao. The two short words that... Continue Reading →
Sometimes, it's not easy being a Tao Babe. In fact, more often than not, it feels as if I am basically alone in a sea of humanity, all moving in one direction, all looking at one shining object in the distance. There I am, standing still and breaking the flow of the movement, feeling singular,... Continue Reading →
Taobabe 