Maiden
What you need to sow
Begin something in solitude, without an audience or a partner.
Chinese
Chang'e
Lady of the Moon
China, attested from the Warring States period; living festival tradition
✦
Her story
Historical context
goddess · China, attested from the Warring States period; living festival tradition
Chang'e drank the elixir of immortality meant for her husband, the archer Hou Yi — in some tellings to keep it from a thief, in others out of desire — and floated up to the moon, where she has lived since with only a rabbit pounding herbs for company.
Mythology & traditions
Every Mid-Autumn Festival, families eat mooncakes and look up at her, and Hou Yi is said to have set out her favourite fruits in the yard. It is the tenderest exile in mythology: she is not punished, exactly, and she is not coming back. Distance and love are held in the same image.
Domains
- The moon
- Solitude
- Longing
- Beauty
- Consequences of choice
Symbols
- Full moon
- Jade rabbit
- Osmanthus tree
- Elixir bottle
- Mooncake
In the oracle
Her guidance
Mother
What you need to grow
Nurture the long-distance loves. Set the fruit out even if no one comes.
Crone
What you need to know
The choice you made cannot be reversed, and it did not make you unloved.