Party on the moon


Moon rising: A Day After Supermoon.
Moon rising
The Chinese legend that accompanies the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is on Thursday, goes something like this: There is a woman and her rabbit on the moon, who floated up there because she drank the elixir of immortality that was meant for her husband because he saved the earth from ruin by shooting down nine of the ten suns.

Right.

According to Italo Calvino's The Distance of the Moon (performed here by a very capable Liev Schreiber, give it a listen), Mrs. Vhd Vhd also lives on the moon, after being marooned there in the process of gathering moon-milk, which is made up of "vegetal juices, tadpoles, bitumen, lentils, honey, starch crystals, sturgeon eggs, molds, pollens, gelatinous matter, worms, resins, pepper, mineral salts, combustion residue."  The moon had begun to float away farther and farther from the earth and she couldn't leap against the moon's gravity and back to the earth's gravity in time.

But wait, there's more.

According to Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the Ark, which holds the key to ending the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, crash lands onto the moon.

I'm starting to think there's some huge moon party that I don't know about, what with the rabbits, men and women, alien spacecraft.  So although that's not what the Mid-Autumn Festival is all about, you can bet your butt that tomorrow evening, I'll be partying it up with the family as if I were living on the moon.  Oh yeah, and eating mooncake.

Comments

  1. Don't forget the moon cheese! :)
    I always liked the part about it being a white rabbit who was such a loyal friend to the beautiful moon maiden.
    I hope you and the family have a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PS - I know you know this, but there is no dark side of the moon. There's only a side too good to show it's face to Earth!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. How have I gone my entire life without celebrating mid-autumn festival? Sharing dinner with those I love, with the full moon as a backdrop, eating mooncakes . . . sigh.

    Now, if I can just figure out how to get said mooncakes. I think making them may be beyond my feeble capabilities. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. My husband's Chinese, but I never even bothered to ask what the Moon Festival is all about....I can't even....
    But yay to moon cakes:D

    ReplyDelete
  5. omg that transfers bit had me cracking up! totally reminded me of childhood! have a great celebration with family! in korea we eat something called songpyeon (among other things!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hope mooncake doesn't have all those ingredients you listed, because you lost me at "bitumen" haha. I don't know how I haven't heard of this celebration before! xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've heard about this moon story with
    this lady and the rabbit :P Happy
    Mid-Autumn festival! Xx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gosh, I wish I was stranded on the moon after the week I've had. It's a beautiful story though, and I agree - lets go party with some rabbits.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'll join you. The moon is made of cheese :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. lol, that's a brilliant idea. I think I have to host my own moon party :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. lol, that's a brilliant idea. I think I have to host my own moon party :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Haha that would be amazing. Moon party~

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a gorgeous picture! And the moon. I have a kind of obsession with the moon that is accidental. I mean, I am a Cancer which is ruled by the moon, my first name is Maria Diana - Maria is defined as depressions on the moon and Diana is defined as the Goddess of the Moon. I guess I should be glad I'm not a werewolf either, yea? Lol! Hehe.

    ps. I'd love to go to a moon party and eat moon cake!

    ReplyDelete
  14. i haven't heard of this before. i wish i had though, i love the moon and i'd happily celebrate it. i can always feel the affects of a full moon though. not in a werewolf way, i just always feel really heavy and achy. i believe it's a woman in the moon. i can see her face :) xo

    ReplyDelete
  15. I hope you had a great time on Thursday! What do mooncakes taste like?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Reads