JULY, 3rd:
文曲武曲節
Civil Song & Martial Song Festival
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The first day of the sixth lunar month, which is the New Moon, is celebrated as Daoist festival in veneration of two stars, Civil Song [文曲] and Martial Song [武曲] of the Big Dipper [bei dou北斗] . They represent the patron stars for scholars and warriors. This year it falls on July 3rd in the Gregorian calendar.
The Big Dipper takes an extremely important place in Daoism. Li Shifu abbot from Five Immortals Temple explicates that the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper transmit power and bequeath cultural knowledge. The connection between humans and the Seven or Nine Stars of the Big Dipper is employed and harnessed in Daoist ceremonies, such as the method of Stepping on the Great Dipper &Treading on the Northern Star [ta gang bu dou踏罡步斗], which is more commonly known as the Steps of Yu [yu bu禹步] or the Steps of the Shaman [wu bu巫步]. Yu, the Great was a legendary ruler in ancient Chinese history, who tamed the floods and, thus, saved countless people. More information of the details of the Steps of Yu can be found in《The Master of Embracing Simplicity》by Ge Hong [葛洪].
In Western astronomy the Civil Song and the Martial Song correspond to Megrez and Mizar respectively. While the Civil Song is still part of the bowl of the dipper, the Martial Song is part of the handle [See picture].
Both stars also appear in Feng Shui [风水] and divination or fortune-telling methods, such as the Purple Tenuity Dipper Numbers [zi wei dou shu 紫微斗数]. In Feng Shui it is said that according to the Twenty-Four Mountain Directions [er shi si shan xiang二十四山向] of burying one’s parents [Yin abode] or selecting one’s residence [Yang abode], the direction of the Civil Song would yield a literate person, an educated person or scholar, while the Martial Song’s direction would lead to the children becoming martial officers, army officers or army generals. Professions in the domain of the law and martial arts teachers are also encompassed in this category.
In the《Seven Tablets in a Cloudy Satchel》[yun ji qi qian 云芨七籖] it is recorded:
禄存、文曲，护臣生魂。廉贞,武曲，卫臣生门.
The Prosperous Life [Star] and the Civil Song [Star] protect the ministers and give birth to Ethereal Souls. The Pure Loyalty [Star] and the Martial Song [Star] safeguard ministers and give birth to Gates.
Post-Sriptum:
According to astro-physicists, the Big Dipper, also called Big Bear in some cultures, will cease its existence in its current appearance in 50 000 years, but be re-shape into a new Dipper facing the opposite way.
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