Saw the following phenomenon while on my nocturnal walk Monday night:
Confirmed with Google's Sky Map app on my phone:
So yes, that's the moon, very out of focus, and Jupiter beneath it, shining brightly. Jupiter is called Mok-seong in Korean, the Tree Star or the Wood Star. I haven't checked an etymological dictionary to find out why. It probably has to do with the five elements found in pre-Taoist Chinese cosmology, which also mark the days of the week in Korea and Japan (but, strangely, not in China, where the terms and concepts come from): fire (hwa/火/화, Tuesday), water (su/水/수, Wednesday), wood (mok/木/목, Thursday), metal (geum/金/금, Friday), and earth (to/土/토, Saturday). Rounding out the week: Sunday is il/日/일, i.e., the sun (or "day"); Monday is weol/月/월, i.e., the moon. The Korean calendar week begins on Monday, as in most Western European countries.
So what does it mean when Monday sits above Thursday? Is Luna straddling Thor? Am I mixing my mythologies too much? I should lay off the shrooms.
Yes, you must lay off the shrooms. Very illegal in Korea. I'm glad you didn't photograph Uranus...
ReplyDeleteI trust you'll lead me on the path to True Detox.
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