Earth

Skulk, Leash, or Earth – Day 920

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Love this little one – Photo: L. Weikel

Skulk, Leash, or Earth

I feel like the title of this post would make a great title of a book. Skulk, leash, or earth. It’s difficult to conjure any kind of visual representation of what this possibly could mean. At least, it is for me.

At best, I could imagine – perhaps – Spartacus needing to be placed on a leash if I caught him skulking around somewhere on the earth. You know – skulking where he shouldn’t be skulking. If you ask me, skulking always engenders suspicion, so a leash could definitely be warranted.

At worst, I feel like these three words have absolutely no cohesion to them at all. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were haphazardly harvested by opening three disparate books at random and plucking the first word that jumped off the page.

Yes, actually, that feels like the most likely scenario of how skulk, leash, and earth came to be hanging out together.

I look at these three words and think, “Nope. I’ve got nothing.”

And Yet…

All three have a common denominator, a shared connection that links them all together. What is that connection? FOX. And no, not the television network, either. Each of those words is how one might refer to a group of foxes.

Then as I was sitting here contemplating what I was going to write tonight, a fox yipped a loud, sharp howl just outside our front door. One single yip – so who knows whether there’s a skulk out there. But it did remind me of the tab I’ve had open in my browser for days. The tab with the link to the Wikipedia entry that references these three words.

I’ve wanted to write for weeks about the leash of foxes that live across the road from us. Now is my opportunity. If only they stayed as cute and fuzzy as this little one.

As I wrap up tonight’s post, I have to share a rabbit hole I unexpectedly fell into as I attempted to close with one last reference to an earth of foxes. A light bulb went off somewhere in the recesses of my brain and I wondered if there could possibly be any connection between a group of foxes being called an earth and Eartha Kitt’s name, given that a baby fox is often called a kit. Was there some sly, foxy connection here?

Hahahaha – just as I wrote that, another fox has started yipping.

Close up – Photo: L. Weikel

The Eartha Connection

No, there’s no actual connection between Eartha Kitt and foxes – other than perhaps her foxy demeanor. BUT – interestingly enough, just in doing a quick search, I discovered that her daughter, Kitt, just published a memoir, Eartha and Kitt: A Daughter’s Love Story in Black and White* that was released this month.

I love the genre of memoir. And considering the state of racial awareness (or collective realization of the lack thereof) in our country at the moment, I have to wonder if my musings were breadcrumbs leading me to discover this book for a reason.

It was certainly a circuitous route. Then again, why did I leave that tab open all this time, with the vague intention of writing this post?

*affiliate link

(T-191)

Year of the Boar – Day Eighty Four

Posted on by Lisa Weikel Leave a comment
Photo: livescience.com

Year of the Boar

Happy New Year! Happy Year of the Boar (Year of the Pig)! Technically, we’re not moving from the Year of the Dog until tomorrow (Monday, February 4th, 2019), but since most of you don’t read my posts until the morning after I publish them, I’m just paving the way for you to hit this new year running and give you the chance to celebrate all day.

Of course, I’m speaking of the Chinese New Year. And since the Chinese calendar is based on lunar cycles, the new year begins tomorrow at 4:04 p.m. EST, the time of the new moon.

You might wonder why I’m so excited to wish you these porcine-centered felicitations. A big reason might be that I am a Boar, having been born between February 8, 1959 and January 27, 1960.

And to make this year’s Year of the Pig even more ‘special’ for me (and those born in that same time span I just mentioned), since the Chinese Lunar Calendar is based on the number 60, this year signifies a full turning of the astrological cycle since we were born. This will be a year of completion or ‘coming full circle’ for those of us born between the dates listed above.

Twelve Signs of the Chinese Zodiac

Just as you’re aware of the twelve signs that comprise our western zodiac, which begins with Aries and ends with Pisces, there are twelve signs in the Chinese Zodiac as well. The western zodiac signs change every 30 days or so, though, giving us twelve signs within each calendar year.

The Chinese system assigns a single symbol to an entire year, with the Year of the Rat, for instance, being considered the ‘first’ sign of the zodiac, and the Boar the last. However, each ‘year’ begins and ends on a different date according to the moon’s cycle in January/February of each year. Specifically, each new year in the Chinese system begins at the occurrence of the first new moon following the first full moon in a calendar year.

The signs, with the year in which each ‘mainly’ appears, are as follows:

Rat                  1924    1936    1948    1960    1972    1984    1996    2008    2020

Ox                   1925    1937    1949    1961    1973    1985    1997    2009    2021

Tiger                1926    1938    1950    1962    1974    1986    1998    2010    2022

Rabbit             1927    1939    1951    1963    1975    1987    1999    2011    2023

Drago             1928    1940    1952    1964    1976    1988    2000    2012    2023

Snake             1929    1941    1953    1965    1977    1989    2001    2013    2024

Horse              1930    1942    1954    1966    1978    1990    2002    2014    2025

Sheep             1931    1943    1955    1967    1979    1991    2003    2015    2026

Monkey           1932    1944    1956    1968    1980    1992    2004    2016    2027

Rooster           1933    1945    1957    1969    1981    1993    2005    2017    2028

Dog                 1934    1946    1958    1970    1982    1995    2007    2018    2029

Boar                1935    1947    1959    1971    1983    1996    2008    2019    2030

Obviously, if your birthdate falls toward the end of January or through about mid-February, you’ll need to check the specific dates for when each cycle began and ended in the year you were born. (I’m sure you can google it; but I’d be happy to post the specific dates for anyone who requests.)

The Five Variations of Each Symbol

Every twelve years, the cycle repeats. It’s important to remember, though, that the larger cycle recognized in this system is the 60 year cycle.

Thus, each symbol is repeated five times within those sixty years. And each of those five variations on the theme corresponds to an element:  Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Every 12 years, then, a different variation of the particular sign occurs, with the cycle repeating itself for the first time after 60 years have elapsed.

It’s quite intriguing to read about the variations in characteristics of the different signs as they are manifested every twelve years. You can just imagine the differences between, say, a Fire Rooster, a Metal Rooster, and a Water Rooster. (I use that as an illustration because I happen to have lived with these ‘variations’ for much of my life: specifically, my husband and two of my three sons.) (Which is also why I decorated our downstairs bathroom in fall colors, filled it with many roosters, and dubbed it our ‘cock room.’)

And with that image fixed firmly in your minds (a ‘cock room’ – you just know that’ll stick with you!), I am going to complete this post. I’ll write a bit more about the Year of the Boar tomorrow, and describe a bit more of the elemental attributes distinguishing the variations that occur every twelve years.

The point of all of this is that there are so very many ways we humans have developed, across cultures and across time, to help ourselves understand and make sense of who we are and what we’re here to experience. There are maps for us all over the place. We just need to look around and find the ones that work uniquely for us – and then dive into a deeper understanding of their keys.

Happy New Year!

(T-1027)

Photo by L. Weikel