(no subject)
A few days ago I dreamt about Lavondyss, a strangely muted dream, much like my impression of the book. A number of us were gathered in the front hall of a mansion, a warm summer evening, but the mood turned dreary as a group of horsemen rode toward us. They're here to catch the five elements, someone said. And we all watched with a detached sense of horror as one of the horseman throw out a long hook and captured one of the ladies next to us, who simply turned and floated away with the horseman as if in a trance.
I think the elements appeared in the dream because I have been reading about 河图 and 洛书， two of the most ancient and mysterious patterns in Chinese history. In mythology 河图 appeared on the back of a dragon-horse, and represents the creation of the elements and the movement of the 28 heavenly bodies. The four heavenly beasts, 朱雀，玄武，青龙，白虎, also derive from this pattern, as do the five elements. In combination with 洛书 they form the predecessor of the famous Taoist pattern of bagua
There was disagreement about its age and origin, but now archeological evidence dates 河图 back at least 6500 years, well back in the dawn of the Chinese civilization. For some reason these patterns give me the fantods. I suppose one of the disadvantage of having a long and continuous civilization is that it's almost impossible to be able to tease out the ancient beliefs -- they are always disguised and distorted through the ages. But with these two pattern one is suddenly face to face with these beliefs, without the distortion of the intervening centuries, and one finds that they are both sophisticate and alien, and almost completely incomprehensible.
A more detailed explanation of the patterns can be found on here
I think the elements appeared in the dream because I have been reading about 河图 and 洛书， two of the most ancient and mysterious patterns in Chinese history. In mythology 河图 appeared on the back of a dragon-horse, and represents the creation of the elements and the movement of the 28 heavenly bodies. The four heavenly beasts, 朱雀，玄武，青龙，白虎, also derive from this pattern, as do the five elements. In combination with 洛书 they form the predecessor of the famous Taoist pattern of bagua
There was disagreement about its age and origin, but now archeological evidence dates 河图 back at least 6500 years, well back in the dawn of the Chinese civilization. For some reason these patterns give me the fantods. I suppose one of the disadvantage of having a long and continuous civilization is that it's almost impossible to be able to tease out the ancient beliefs -- they are always disguised and distorted through the ages. But with these two pattern one is suddenly face to face with these beliefs, without the distortion of the intervening centuries, and one finds that they are both sophisticate and alien, and almost completely incomprehensible.
A more detailed explanation of the patterns can be found on here