Aang's Blessing Coins
I'm at page 82 of "Troubled Waters" by Sharon Shinn and am completely in love with the blessing coins.
[Bex]: ... I think the blessings thing is going to make me roll in its awesomeness.
[Bex]: There are blessings associated with each of the five elements, plus a handful of extraordinary blessings. They seem to be individual? And physical symbols of them are kept. The heroine has hers as silver charms. Her father had his as decorative wall-art.
[Bex]: I do not know how one acquires them. I must read more.
[Pux]: oooooooh
[Bex]: One does not have any say in one's own random blessings, and so far they seem to come in threes.
[Bex]: ... Interesting
[Bex]: One goes out and finds strangers to beg random blessings for one's child.
[Pux]: huh.
[Bex]: The first two people her father asked for blessings had coins with symbols on them. But apparently the traditional way is for you and the stranger to go to the temple, pay the tithe to enter, meditate or not to achieve balance, then go to the big barrel of blessing coins and have the stranger pull one out.
[Pux]: *nods*
[Bex]: And the stranger draws a blessing for themself, and you draw a blessing for you.
[Bex]: .... *ROLLS IN THE AWESOME*
[Pux]: *grin*
[Bex]: "that was the point of random blessings: you were not supposed to show caution or discrimination about the people you approached. You were supposed to rely on the people who'd been sent to you by the unchoreographed currents of the universe. You were supposed to understand that wisdom could be imparted by anyone, no matter how unexpected, that everyone had a gift to bestow."
---
"What is the boy's name?" Monk Gyatso asked as he ran his hands through the coins in the blessings barrel.
A shadow of hair covered the new father's scalp, and the circles under his eyes were like dark bruises. Both his wives had gone into labor the same night, but the elder had born a boy who did not live more than three hours. The other boy was now five hours old, though, and the father had hurried to collect the random blessings.
"Aang," he said, a breeze rippling the edge of his cloak with each breath.
"An auspicious name," Gyatso grinned and pulled a coin out. "And an auspicious blessing - hope."
The father smiled wanly, then turned to look at the assembled monks and novices. Drawing random blessings for children was always a wonderful event, and many hoped to be chosen. A good life, the first Air Avatar had said, could not be complete without once granting a blessing to the newly born.
"Come here, boy," the father said, gesturing at one of the novices just on the cusp of his first mastery test.
The boy broke out into a huge grin and darted forward, airbending pushing him faster than any other human could move. Gyatso smiled benevolently as the boy plunged his hand into the barrel and drew out a coin without hesitation. He glanced at it, then flipped it towards the father. "Change!"
The father caught it and rubbed it against the one Gyatso himself had drawn. "He'll be an interesting boy, then."
"Most boys are," Gyatso replied. He scanned the crowd, wondering who the father would pick next. There were many monks of good-standing, though it looked like most of the other elders had left it for the younger folk. There were even a handful of Fire Nation soldiers, escorting Firelord Sozin's ambassador and gifts.
The new father pointed at one of the soldiers, elicting a soft sound of surprise from everyone. But many of the monks also nodded in approval - who could give a more random blessing for a just-born airbender than someone as unexpected as a Fire Nation soldier?
The chosen soldier stepped forward and offered a bow to the new father, then plunged his arm into the blessing barrel to his elbow. He pulled out a coin, and Gyatso had only a flash to see the soldier still wore his gauntlets before the man's face fell.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly and handed the new father a coin so old and worn the symbol was illegible. A ghost coin, portending a future so dire it could not be predicted or a personality so debased it could not be described.
The father's storm-grey eyes narrowed just slightly, but he took the ghost coin. "A future that cannot be predicted is not always a bad thing. We'll see where my Aang goes with this."
-End-
[Bex]: ... I think the blessings thing is going to make me roll in its awesomeness.
[Bex]: There are blessings associated with each of the five elements, plus a handful of extraordinary blessings. They seem to be individual? And physical symbols of them are kept. The heroine has hers as silver charms. Her father had his as decorative wall-art.
[Bex]: I do not know how one acquires them. I must read more.
[Pux]: oooooooh
[Bex]: One does not have any say in one's own random blessings, and so far they seem to come in threes.
[Bex]: ... Interesting
[Bex]: One goes out and finds strangers to beg random blessings for one's child.
[Pux]: huh.
[Bex]: The first two people her father asked for blessings had coins with symbols on them. But apparently the traditional way is for you and the stranger to go to the temple, pay the tithe to enter, meditate or not to achieve balance, then go to the big barrel of blessing coins and have the stranger pull one out.
[Pux]: *nods*
[Bex]: And the stranger draws a blessing for themself, and you draw a blessing for you.
[Bex]: .... *ROLLS IN THE AWESOME*
[Pux]: *grin*
[Bex]: "that was the point of random blessings: you were not supposed to show caution or discrimination about the people you approached. You were supposed to rely on the people who'd been sent to you by the unchoreographed currents of the universe. You were supposed to understand that wisdom could be imparted by anyone, no matter how unexpected, that everyone had a gift to bestow."
---
"What is the boy's name?" Monk Gyatso asked as he ran his hands through the coins in the blessings barrel.
A shadow of hair covered the new father's scalp, and the circles under his eyes were like dark bruises. Both his wives had gone into labor the same night, but the elder had born a boy who did not live more than three hours. The other boy was now five hours old, though, and the father had hurried to collect the random blessings.
"Aang," he said, a breeze rippling the edge of his cloak with each breath.
"An auspicious name," Gyatso grinned and pulled a coin out. "And an auspicious blessing - hope."
The father smiled wanly, then turned to look at the assembled monks and novices. Drawing random blessings for children was always a wonderful event, and many hoped to be chosen. A good life, the first Air Avatar had said, could not be complete without once granting a blessing to the newly born.
"Come here, boy," the father said, gesturing at one of the novices just on the cusp of his first mastery test.
The boy broke out into a huge grin and darted forward, airbending pushing him faster than any other human could move. Gyatso smiled benevolently as the boy plunged his hand into the barrel and drew out a coin without hesitation. He glanced at it, then flipped it towards the father. "Change!"
The father caught it and rubbed it against the one Gyatso himself had drawn. "He'll be an interesting boy, then."
"Most boys are," Gyatso replied. He scanned the crowd, wondering who the father would pick next. There were many monks of good-standing, though it looked like most of the other elders had left it for the younger folk. There were even a handful of Fire Nation soldiers, escorting Firelord Sozin's ambassador and gifts.
The new father pointed at one of the soldiers, elicting a soft sound of surprise from everyone. But many of the monks also nodded in approval - who could give a more random blessing for a just-born airbender than someone as unexpected as a Fire Nation soldier?
The chosen soldier stepped forward and offered a bow to the new father, then plunged his arm into the blessing barrel to his elbow. He pulled out a coin, and Gyatso had only a flash to see the soldier still wore his gauntlets before the man's face fell.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly and handed the new father a coin so old and worn the symbol was illegible. A ghost coin, portending a future so dire it could not be predicted or a personality so debased it could not be described.
The father's storm-grey eyes narrowed just slightly, but he took the ghost coin. "A future that cannot be predicted is not always a bad thing. We'll see where my Aang goes with this."
-End-