Based on Taoist belief, the time you were born can be calculated and then processed to extrapolate out a future scenario. Of course, this is similar to western horoscopes.
Since Jo's brother in law is a fortune teller (that is his profession), it was a natural course of events to ordain Sage's "Ba Zi" or 'Eight Numbers' and then do a future reading to see what is fate could be ('could' is used strongly since professional fortune tellers rarely use the term 'would' denoting eventuality).
Anyway, when he did the reading, he explained to Jo a few things based on Sage's birthdate and time and other situations (including the parent's info). The main thing that intruiged us was the fact that Sage is very "Wu" or "Martial."
In Chinese thought, many things are separated into 2 realms: masculine/feminine, yin/yang, east/west, likes mountains/likes oceans, etc...which simplifies matters too much (I feel), but is a common thing. In this situation, someone is either "Wen" (similar to Learned or Bookish), or "Wu" (similar to martial - as in Martial Arts).He explained to us that Sage could be very proficient with arms or his body, using weapons and tools with ease. Therefore, he reminded us carefully to educate him well, for if he does stray from the 'good' path, he could become very proficient with his body or arms in destructive ways. Now Jo and I will hopefully do our best to teach him to be kind, respectful and considerate, as well as truthful, honest and intelligent, so we shall see what happens.
He did mention that if Sage is brought up well, he could use his talents for many good things, like being a policeman, soldier, surgeon, or anyone that uses potentially harmful tools for the good of mankind. He did mention that since I am quite "Wen" it should balance out things well enough so that Sage's talents could be dual in nature (I can not be very Wu, even if I tried....).
That said, he also noted that there were 4 'arrows' in Sage's 'Ba Zi' that needed to be taken care of, since each arrow represents 2 negative things (or sharp harmful points in his life) that might or could happen in his life. I do not know how he determined this, but like most things, I just go along and nod my head (this is kind of the same thing I nod my head to when fundamentalist Christians start going off on Heaven and such, but that is another post).
Anyway, Jo, Sage and I made a date to go down to see Jo's sister and family last weekend with the main intention of taking care of Sage's 4 arrows. Of course there is a ceremony for these things and Jo's brother in law did his thing and talked Jo through what she had to do (my job was to take care of Sage and stay cool through this 90 min ordeal).
Here, they are getting ready to start the (informal) ceremony. He has the 4 strips of paper, each to combat one of each of the 4 arrows, which he has written specialized Taoist incantations, has some incense sticks (which he will use later), has some stylized paper money in which to burn later, and a tray of rice, which is unique for the divination properties that will also happen later.
Jo and I are listening to him explain what he will be doing and then....
...he starts his incantations and writes on the 4 pieces of paper. Since this is now in Taiwanese, I am totally lost, but since I am just along for the ride, am enjoying it.
Now, Jo has to pray in front of our offerings (which he had already prepared before we got there).
Included is now the 4 'arrows' that represent Sage's arrows made by the brother in law with those pieces of paper as the heads and the incense sticks as the body. They will be burnt momentarily, along with....
...a heck of a lot of ritual money (that whole bag). This is one of those things that I cringe at, since it is not helping the environment at all, but it is just one of those things that you can not argue with tradition. Anyway, the ritual money is supposed to appease the gods who are supposed to help Sage in this case (even in the afterlife, money helps quiet squeaky wheels...)
Here is a quick vid of part of the ceremony I took while holding Sage (he was curious too).
Finally, the ceremony was complete and Jo was asked to come back into the office to check to see if things went as planned. There, he asked her to put one of Sage's clothes, along with 2 new sheets of styized paper (used as talismans) on the rice tray. The rice tray is interesting since it is used as a medium for communicating to the gods.
Basically, after the ceremony, now Jo was asked to lift up the shirt and look at the rice below and - now, I did not see this and am taking her word for it - she said she saw what looked like 4 clear arrows that were broken in half. Basically, she saw 4 indentations in the rice that looked like broken arrows, indicating that the ceremony was a success.
I don't think too much about this nor what is going on, but I know Jo to be logical and sensible and even she said that there was no 'trick' involved and since she did not know what she was doing, it would be quite a coincedence to 'mistakenly' imprint 4 lines that looked like arrows into the rice.
But that is the lure of superstition and religion, I suppose and I am not one to argue with the peace of mind of the other relatives (Jo and I really don't care) now that this ceremony is complete. The main point, in my eyes, is that we had a chance to go down to show Sage to other relatives and say hi.
Getting his 4 arrows taken care of is just a bonus!
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