#ocean folklore

LANG ZHAN 《水文的讀法》 (Shuǐ Wén de Dú Fǎ)

THE TIDE WITCH'S MANUAL OF WAVE SCRIPT DIVINATION

Powdered cuttlebone, gathered at low tide, sun-dried for three days, ground with cinnabar and one drop of the practitioner's blood. The shark's gift by proxy. See folio 24.

I have tried the exercise of the stone and the tide pool for three turnings of the moon. I am not certain the ripples change. I am certain that I am changing. ZJC.

Prologue: The Sea’s First Lesson

The sea does not keep its silence out of malice. It speaks endlessly—in a language older than any human word, written in a cursive of salt, foam and light. This language, Lang Zhan, is not a code to be cracked but a literacy to be earned. The waves are the Mother’s breath; to read them is to feel her pulse.

This manual is for those who are called to that literacy. It is not a museum piece, but a living transmission, adapted from the fragmentary texts of the Chao Wu Lu, the lore of the Fujianese Tide Witches and the cosmology of the Salt-Water Yi. It begins with the first and most profound step: go to the sea. Stand barefoot where the water meets the land. Tell her your name. She has been waiting to hear it.

The art of Lang Zhan does not offer the comfort of fixed meanings. It offers a relationship with a vast, intelligent and utterly indifferent presence that reflects your own soul back to you with terrifying clarity. The future is the least interesting thing about the sea. The depths are what matter.

THE SCHOLAR'S HEART MANDATE: A PROLOGUE ON TIDAL LITERACY

From the Preface to the Lost Fuzhou Wave-Reader's Manual (c. 1788), a text known only from a single water-damaged copy in the Macau Maritime Archive, comes this admonition for the novice:

"The landsman looks at the sea and sees a flat, gray emptiness, a waste of water. The sailor looks and sees a road, marked with the signs of wind and current. The Tide Witch looks and sees a library. To learn Lang Zhan is to learn that the sea is not a thing that can be read, but a being that is reading you as you read it. It is a conversation between two depths. Do not begin by asking questions. Begin by standing on the shore at dawn, barefoot, for one hundred days. Let the sea grow accustomed to your presence. Let her learn the taste of your shadow. After one hundred days, if the shorebirds no longer startle at your approach and if the waves seem to reach a little higher toward your feet, then you may ask your first question. Not before. The sea is a sovereign, not a servant. She will not be interrogated by a stranger."

This manual is a compendium of the grammar that conversation has revealed, passed down through the hands of, “the August Weavers of Tides and Tempests, a Tong of female ritualists,” and whispered in the margins of the Chao Wu Lu. It is a record of a literacy earned through salt and patience.

When I was a child visiting little tiny New England towns was different than it is today. These days when I walk down a carefully curated Main Street in some wind swept, coastal town you can barely smell the salt in the air anymore and every shop you step into is pristine air-conditioned and smells like a department store used to, all faint traces of new plastic and underlying pungent scent of whatever it is they paint large shipments of clothes with to keep them during shipping. Most of them are still set up to look old, in fact many of them are in old buildings, but the weight of all those years isn't really allowed to show through. It's all ocean cottage core now, neat and white painted and artistic sea glass and sandpipers in simplified wooden statues, wire legs frozen instead of blurring with motion. Don't get me wrong. I love ocean cottagecore. I would decorate my whole house in it if I had the money. And the little shops, pristine and pretty, absolutely have a sweet appeal to them, not willing to give up their personality for the sterilization of 'Big City' box stores. I do miss however, what tourist shops in those same little towns used to be. Less plastic magnets for the refrigerator shaped like whales and sweatshirts of labrador retrievers declaring them a specific colored Dog and more -

half forgotten not-quite-antique shop, hidden down some narrow salt smelling alley where the stones that make up the road are uneven and there's a dusty smell to the cracks of the wood floors that never goes away. As a child going to a 'tourist shop' in one of these towns was like walking into a magic shop, a true magic shop, with books of breathtakingly beautiful paper dolls as detailed as any old fairy book illustration, imitation scrimshawed whale teeth, old time candy, books about lady pirates and clever glass marbles full of painted fish. The things those old shops offered felt local, magical, impossible to find in any other town in the entire world. Childhood colors everything more vivid than it probably was but I still think of longing and a child's minor spending money in a world of treasures when I remember those shops.

In one of those shops, as a child, I saw my first glass fishing float.

At the time it was being sold as a Portuguese fishing ball, a better buoyant for nets and lines than cork or wood. I remember, distinctly, the surprising weight of it when I picked it up. I was used to glass being fragile, light, airy. The fishing ball was none of those. It had a weight to it and a solid feel to it that said it was fit to ride the choppy waters of the icy Atlantic and do its duty, tide in and tide out. Storms weren't going to break and drown this glass. It would ride the waves forever and when it finally broke free of its net, it would find the shore, in itself or in pieces as polished sea glass. These balls were sturdy and I fell in love with them. The first time I could finally afford one was a triumph and the rare times I managed to find them in shops, as the years and the advance of more proper 'souvenirs' advances, I snatched them up even if it meant my spending money for the rest of the trip would be lean. Finally, eventually, the balls disappeared from the last shop and I thought my meager hoard was all I'd ever see of them again, an old relic that was already being phased out before I'd even discovered them as a child.

Imagine my surprise when, years and years later, a friend, helping me fix my bathroom from some water damage, saw one of them where I had it hanging in the window and seemed surprised to recognize it. He called it a 'witch ball'. I corrected him but he was adamant. And so, thanks to the internet, I rediscovered my glass fishing floats - with a new name and a new story to go with it.

Witch balls are hollow glass balls. They can range in size, I've seen some as small as rounded shot glasses and the older ones seem to be about as large as my fishing balls, which is about the size of a cantaloupe. Like fishing balls, they're not made for perfection, in fact, the bubbles and imperfections in the glass blowing process are considered part of their selling points. They tend to range in colors, with modern day witch balls being an absolute riot of colors or a beautiful gradual shift from one color to the next. They've been around for quite a long time as well. There are accounts of witch balls hanging in English houses, especially sea-faring ones, as far back as the 17th and 18th century, though they were often known as 'watch balls' back then and not quite as riotously colorful as modern ones, tending to be more often made of green or blue glass. Sometimes they would have salt or herbs put in them before they were sealed but the main thing witch balls needed were stands. In fact, something I just learned, the way to tell a kugel (friendship) ball and a witch ball apart is to look for the glass strands inside the ball. Witch balls need those strands to be effect. Witch balls are, after all, created to be traps.

The idea was that you hung your ball inside your house, often in an eastern window but sometimes from the rafters or set on top of a stand. Than, when evil things tried to enter the house in the night, they would be distracted and then captivated by the way the light of the moon played against the glass of the ball. Sometimes, the evil had to touch the glass, sometimes being ensnared simply happened automatically once their gaze was fixed on it. Either way, the evil would find itself pulled into the glass, trapped in the maze of the strands inside and unable to escape. There it would remain either until the morning sunrise burned it away or until the glass ball was broken, freeing it to continue its harm. Not all witch balls worked that way. In some cases, the glass was made to be more reflective with the idea that evil things, as we've already read, didn't have reflections and couldn't bear the reminder or that the glass would turn aside the evil gaze and reflect it back on its creator.

There is some speculation that glass Christmas ornaments may be tied into something similar as well, although, humans also simply like hanging sparking objects up for no reason but 'pretty' as well.

Bottle Trees serve the same general purpose and can still be found in parts of the Southern US, a tradition brought over from the Congo during slavery times. The belief is that blue bottles hung on tree branches will entrance and capture evil spirits inside their depths and hold them there where they can't cause any harm until the morning sun burns them away with its rising.

As a last note, I should point out that calling my collection 'fishing balls' wasn't necessarily wrong. While some of my later purchases did have strands in them, my early ones from childhood didn't. Apparently there's a very invested set of people who collect Japanese fishing floats on the West Coast of the US and Canada as well.

Fancy yourself an adventure? A swashbuckling escape from terra firma into a world of monsters, pirates, and unsolved mysteries of the uncharted deep? Perhaps it’s time to dip your toes into the ocean of nautical fantasy novels, a genre that unites the thrill of the high seas with the enchantment of the fantastical. Whether it’s a towering ship cresting a colossal wave or a haunted seafarer…

THE TIDE WITCH'S LUNAR-SOLAR TIDAL CALENDAR

ZJC (2026)

A Reconstruction of the Ritual Year of the Tide Witch Tradition

Being a collation of the temporal instructions scattered throughout the Chao Wu Lu, the Salt-Water Yi, the Daoist Ocean Tarot, and the Salt-Kin Codex, arranged according to the turning of the moon, the sun, and the breathing of the Dragon Kings.

FIRST PRINCIPLE: THE TIDE WITCH'S YEAR IS A SPIRAL, NOT A WHEEL

The land-dweller's year is a circle of fixed solar festivals. The Tide Witch's year is a spiral, governed by three interlocking rhythms:

The Lunar Cycle (the breathing of Mazu, the Silver Lady)

The Tidal Cycle (the breathing of the Dragon Kings)

The Solar Cycle (the great turnings of the Kraken at the solstices)

These three rhythms do not align neatly. That is the point. The Tide Witch does not expect the universe to be tidy. She learns to read the convergences and the dissonances. Some years, the dark moon falls on the winter solstice, and the Kraken's Turning is amplified. Some years, the full moon falls on the summer solstice, and the Krill-Swarm's Zenith is almost blinding. The calendar is not a schedule. It is a literacy.

THE EIGHT GREAT TIDES OF THE YEAR

These are the eight high holy days of the Tide Witch's year, drawn from the Salt-Water Yi and the Chao Wu Lu. They map loosely onto the eight solar festivals of the land-dweller's Wheel of the Year, but they are not derived from it. They arise from the sea's own logic.

1. THE KRAKEN'S TURNING (WINTER SOLSTICE)

Hexagram: 24, The Kraken's Turning (Return, the Turning Point)

When: The winter solstice. The shortest day. The deepest dark.

Cosmic Event: The Kraken Who Sleeps begins to stir. Her single great eye opens in the abyss. The tide of Yang, which has been scattered and exhausted, begins its long return.

Ritual Practice: This is a night of vigil. The Tide Witch does not sleep. She keeps a single candle burning through the longest night, meditating on the "first faint tremor" of returning light. The Weak Water Meditation is particularly potent at this time. At dawn, she goes to the sea and greets the first light with an offering of salt.

The Tone: Quiet, austere, hopeful. Not celebration. Watchfulness.

2. THE TIDE SURGE (IMBOLC / EARLY FEBRUARY)

Hexagram: 1, The Nine-Dragon Fleet (Unbound Initiating Force) and 3, The Pearl Diver's First Breath (Initial Difficulty)

When: The first turning of the tide after the Kraken's Turning. The sea begins to feel the pull of the returning light.

Cosmic Event: The Dragon King's breath stirs. The fleet of changes is assembling. New ventures are conceived in the deep.

Ritual Practice: This is the traditional time for the Rite of the First Tide—the self-dedication of a new Tide Witch. For established practitioners, it is a time for the Gourd Leap and for the Brine Barrel Meditation, surrendering to the chaotic, vulnerable beginnings of new projects. Talismans for the coming year are prepared.

The Tone: Tender, vulnerable, full of the anxiety and hope of new beginnings.

3. THE SPAWNING REEF (SPRING EQUINOX)

Hexagram: 45, The Spawning Reef (Gathering Together, Massing) and 11, The Dragon's Exhalation (Peace, Harmony)

When: The spring equinox. The third full moon after the Seahorse's Courtship.

Cosmic Event: The reef erupts in a synchronized act of collective creation. The Dragon King exhales and the sea rises to meet the sky. Yin and Yang are in perfect, fertile balance.

Ritual Practice: This is the great communal festival of the Tide Witch year. If the Tide Witch works alone, she performs a solitary version of the Shore-Fire Covenant, lighting a fire on the shore and acknowledging the fellowship of all Tide Witches across time. The First Tide Offering is performed. Full Moon Water is gathered for consecrations.

The Tone: Ecstatic, communal, generative. A celebration of creation and connection.

4. THE LANTERN-SHARK'S ECLIPSE (BELTANE / EARLY MAY)

Hexagram: 36, The Lantern-Shark's Eclipse (Darkening of the Light)

When: The first dark moon after the Spawning Reef. The light is growing in the outer world, but the inner world enters a period of necessary concealment.

Cosmic Event: The Lantern-Shark buries her radiant belly in the mud. The light that was celebrated at the equinox must now be protected from a hostile world.

Ritual Practice: This is a night of protective concealment. The Tide Witch reviews her talismans. She performs the Sailor's Shadow Ward to protect her spiritual body. She meditates on the Salt-Kin's Code for Enduring the Eclipse. This is the time to hide one's deepest creative truths from the predators that circle.

The Tone: Watchful, protective, scarred. A necessary dimming.

5. THE KRILL-SWARM'S ZENITH (SUMMER SOLSTICE)

Hexagram: 55, The Krill-Swarm's Zenith (Abundance, Fullness)

When: The summer solstice. The longest day. The peak of the sun's power.

Cosmic Event: The krill-swarm arrives in overwhelming, almost blinding abundance. The cup overflows. This is the most dangerous holy day, because it is the most seductive.

Ritual Practice: The Tide Witch goes to the sea at noon—an unusual time, because noon flattens the water and makes Lang Zhan difficult. She practices the active art of remaining centered in the midst of overwhelming abundance. She gathers Storm Water if there is a squall. She performs the Krill-Cloud's Blessing ritual, consciously sharing any abundance she has received. At dusk, she returns to the sea to give thanks and to soberly acknowledge that the zenith must pass.

The Tone: Brilliant, sober, disciplined. A feast that must be navigated with discernment.

6. THE GHOST TIDE BANQUET (LAMMAS / EARLY AUGUST)

Hexagram: 3, The Three of Tides (The Ghost Tide Banquet) and 63, The Harbor of the Full Tide (After Completion)

When: The first full moon of the harvest season. The liminal time when the boundary between the living and the drowned is thinnest.

Cosmic Event: The drowned rise not to drag but to dance. The Ghost Tide Banquet is held. The living and the dead feast together on the wet sand.

Ritual Practice: The Tide-Turning Feast is performed: three cups are poured—one for the living, one for the ancestors, one for the drowned who have no one to pour for them. The third cup is carried to the water's edge and emptied into the sea. The Conch of the Drowned Ancestors is sounded. This is the traditional time for the Ghost Tide Exorcism if a ghost tide has been diagnosed.

The Tone: Precious, precarious joy. Gratitude. Remembrance. The harvest is in, but the dead must be honored.

7. THE DRAGON KING'S ROAR (AUTUMN EQUINOX)

Hexagram: 51, The Dragon King's Roar (The Arousing, Shock) and 21, The Shark's Bite (Biting Through, Reform)

When: The autumn equinox. The balance of light and dark, but a balance that is about to tip into the dark half of the year.

Cosmic Event: A tremor shakes the seabed. The Dragon King rises and roars back, neutralizing the chaos with a perfectly calibrated response.

Ritual Practice: This is a day of centered, authoritative action. The Tide Witch reviews the year and asks: what has become stagnant? What needs to be bitten through? She performs the Shark's Bite ritual if a corruption must be severed. She meditates on her own inner Dragon King, asking: "What is the roar I must make before the dark season comes?"

The Tone: Powerful, clarifying, decisive. A declaration of order.

8. THE ANCESTORS' TIDE (SAMHAIN / EARLY NOVEMBER)

Hexagram: 59, The Ice-Floe's Dissolution (Dispersion) and 23, The Ghost-Crab's Shedding (Splitting Apart)

When: The dark of the moon nearest to the cross-quarter between equinox and solstice. The veil between worlds is at its thinnest.

Cosmic Event: The old forms dissolve. The ghost-crab sheds her shell. The ice-floe melts into the sea. The ancestors gather on the shore of Penglai.

Ritual Practice: The Turtle's Feast is performed, consciously feeding an ending to the cosmic turtle. The Shadow Anchor ritual is performed, weighing the past before the new voyage. The Conch of the Drowned Ancestors is sounded again. This is the night of the final reckoning, when the Tide Witch faces what she has done and what she has failed to do, and releases both to the deep.

The Tone: Somber, releasing, holy. Grief and gratitude mingled. The old self is shed. The new self is still soft, hiding in the crevice.

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THE MONTHLY TIDES

Within the great wheel of the year, the Tide Witch observes monthly practices tied to the lunar cycle. These are drawn from the Chao Wu Lu's instructions on the Gathering of Ocean Water and the Salt-Water Yi's hexagram cycles.

THE NEW MOON (SHUO YUE)

Water to Gather: New Moon Water, gathered at the lowest ebb, "where the darkness pools."

Hexagram Theme: Hexagram 2, The Mother-of-Pearl Matrix (Supreme Receptivity). A time for inward work, concealment, and preparation.

Rituals Best Performed: The Brine Barrel Meditation, the Black Tide Mirror, the Descent to the Salt-Kin (Dream Incubation), the Rite of the Salt-Kin Spirit.

Tone: Contractive, dark, quiet. The seed in the dark earth.

THE WAXING MOON

Water to Gather: Dawn Water, gathered at first light, when the sun touches the sea.

Hexagram Theme: Hexagram 35, The Anglerfish's Dawn (Progress). A time for building, for steady, faithful ascent.

Rituals Best Performed: The Kelp's Ascent meditation, the Five Winds Flute, the Consecration of Tools (preparation phase).

Tone: Growing, reaching, steady effort.

THE FULL MOON (WANG YUE)

Water to Gather: Full Moon Water, gathered at the highest tide, "when the moon stands directly overhead."

Hexagram Theme: Hexagram 11, The Dragon's Exhalation (Peace) and Hexagram 58, The Dolphin's Dance (Joy).

Rituals Best Performed: The Consecration of Tools (the Awakening), the Shore-Fire Covenant, the Rabbit's Mortar (dream-working), the Underwater Lamp, the Moon-Cutting Tide Talisman.

Tone: Expansive, luminous, celebratory. The full expression.

THE WANING MOON

Water to Gather: Depth Water, gathered from below the surface.

Hexagram Theme: Hexagram 41, The Limpet's Choice (Decrease) and Hexagram 23, The Ghost-Crab's Shedding (Splitting Apart).

Rituals Best Performed: The Limpet's Choice (conscious simplification), the Turtle's Feast (feeding an ending), the Unstitching of the Silent Mouths.

Tone: Releasing, shedding, simplifying. Letting the tide carry away what is no longer needed.

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THE DAILY OFFICE: A TIDE WITCH'S HOURS

The Chao Wu Lu and Salt-Water Yi suggest, but do not prescribe, a daily rhythm. Here is a reconstruction of a simple Daily Office drawn from the existing texts.

DAWN (THE WATCHTOWER'S GAZE)

Purpose: Observation and divination.

Practice: Go to the sea, or to a window facing east. Observe the waves for the space of one hundred breaths. Read the patterns through Lang Zhan. Record them in the Wave Journal. If landlocked, meditate on Hexagram 20, The Watchtower's Gaze.

Water: Gather Dawn Water if possible.

Hexagram: 20.

NOON (THE CRIMSON JUNK)

Purpose: Clarity and righteous action.

Practice: A brief moment of standing in full light. The Coin-Shot Sunrise ritual can be adapted for noon. Ask: "What is fully visible now that was hidden in the morning?"

Hexagram: 19, The Sun (from the Tarot) or 55, The Krill-Swarm's Zenith.

DUSK (THE TIDE-WALKER'S TREAD)

Purpose: Conduct and transition.

Practice: Go to the sea, or to a window facing west. Review the day. Where did you walk the sandbar with grace? Where did you slip? The Tide-Walker's Tread is the daily examination of conduct.

Hexagram: 10.

MIDNIGHT (THE ABYSSAL TRENCH)

Purpose: Descent and encounter with the deep.

Practice: If waking, this is the hour for the Black Tide Mirror, the Descent to the Salt-Kin, or the Weak Water Meditation. If sleeping, it is the hour of dream incubation.

Hexagram: 29.

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THE TIDE WITCH'S FEASTS AND FASTS

The tradition also includes feasts and fasts, drawn from the Chao Wu Lu and the Salt-Water Yi.

FEASTS:

The Dragon King's Feast (Hexagram 10 of Tides in the Tarot): Held at any time of great communal completion. A meal shared with the living and the dead.

The Ghost Tide Banquet (Third Full Moon after the Spawning Reef): The feast of the drowned.

The Four Lanterns Feast (Hexagram 4 of Lanterns in the Tarot): A feast of temporary sanctuary, held in a hidden cove or a quiet room, lit by four candles at the compass points.

FASTS:

The Limpet's Fast (Hexagram 41, The Limpet's Choice): A voluntary fast of simplification. For one turning of the moon, the Tide Witch eats simply, releases possessions, and speaks less, conserving her hold on the essential rock.

The Brine Fast (Hexagram 12, The Hanged Man in the Tarot): A fast before a major act of surrender or transformation. The body is made hollow, like the barrel.

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THE LITURGICAL COLORS

The Chao Wu Lu and Daoist Ocean Tarot associate specific colors with different tides and seasons. These could be worn or placed on altars.

WHITE: New Moon, The Mother-of-Pearl Matrix, the Ancestors' Tide. Receptivity, concealment, the abyssal plain.

RED: The Nine-Dragon Fleet, The Dragon King's Roar, the Blood-Breast Talisman. Power, initiation, righteous force.

BLACK: The Dark Moon, The Abyssal Trench, The Lantern-Shark's Eclipse. The deep, the hidden, the protective darkness.

GOLD: The Krill-Swarm's Zenith, The Dragon King's Procession, The Harbor of the Full Tide. Abundance, completion, the noon sun.

SILVER: The Full Moon, The Lantern-Moon's Approach, The Dolphin's Dance. Lunar light, joy, free-flowing communion.

GREEN: The Kelp's Ascent, The Sea-Turtle's Jaw, The Sargasso Gathering. Growth, nourishment, steady progress.

BLUE: The Ghost Tide, The Watchtower's Gaze, The Leviathan's Rest. Stillness, observation, the mountain of the seafloor.

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THE FEASTS OF THE SEA MATRIARCHS Within the great wheel of the Eight Tides, the Tide Witch honors the three primary Matriarchs of the Chao Wu Lu on their own sacred days. These are not separate from the calendar but woven into it, each Matriarch claiming a season that reflects her nature.

MAZU'S TIDE (THE FEAST OF THE SILVER LADY)

WHEN: The first full moon after the spring equinox (coinciding with or near the Spawning Reef). Traditional date: the twenty-eighth day of the ninth lunar month, but adapted for the Tide Witch's calendar.

MATRIARCH: Mazu, the Celestial Consort, the one who walked on the waves. The initiator.

COSMIC EVENT: This is the feast of the one who "married the tide." The sea is warming. The first safe voyages of the year are launched.

RITUAL PRACTICE:

The Moon-Cutting Tide Talisman is prepared and consecrated, to be kept for emergencies throughout the sailing season.

A single lantern is lit and set afloat on the water at dusk, the Underwater Lamp ritual.

The Tide Witch recites the story of Lin Mo's refusal of marriage and her walk into the sea.

Full Moon Water is gathered and consecrated.

THE TONE: Luminous, brave, initiatory. The patroness of all who set out.

COLOR: Red (Mazu's robe) and silver (the moon on the water).

CHEN JINGGU'S VIGIL (THE FEAST OF THE RAIN-BRINGER)

WHEN: The dark moon nearest the summer solstice (near the Krill-Swarm's Zenith). A time of paradox: the outer world is at peak abundance, but the inner world may be in drought.

MATRIARCH: Chen Jinggu, Lady Linshui, the Rain-Bringer Who Died Standing.

COSMIC EVENT: The feast of the one who danced until the sky bled. The sun is at its height, but the inner wells may have run dry.

RITUAL PRACTICE:

The Rain-Bringer's Invocation is performed, "when the sea has withdrawn as far as it will go, and the wet sand stretches like a wound."

If the Tide Witch is experiencing an inner drought, she ties the white ribbon around her left wrist and wears it for seven days.

The Blood-Breast Talisman is renewed or re-consecrated for the coming year.

A vigil is kept from midnight to dawn, standing or kneeling. The intention is not to ask for something, but to endure with the one who held the dead child in one arm and the sword in the other.

THE TONE: Somber, fierce, sacrificial. A night of holy standing.

COLOR: White (the ribbon) and the red-brown of dried blood.

XIWANGMU'S STILLNESS (THE FEAST OF THE QUEEN MOTHER)

WHEN: The winter solstice (coinciding with the Kraken's Turning). The longest night.

MATRIARCH: Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, she who waits at the center. The strategic model.

COSMIC EVENT: The feast of the one whose mountain is ringed by impassable water. The sun stands still. The Kraken stirs. All the world holds its breath.

RITUAL PRACTICE:

The Weak Water Meditation is performed in its most extended form: a vigil of stillness lasting from sunset to sunrise.

The Tide Witch does not speak from dusk until dawn. She becomes the shore.

A single candle burns, representing the immovable center.

At dawn, she breaks her silence with a single word: the name of something she is ready to release or become.

No offerings are made to Xiwangmu. She does not require them. The offering is the stillness itself.

THE TONE: Absolutely still. Immovable. The mountain against which everything breaks.

COLOR: Black (the void) and the pale gold of the winter dawn.

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THE SUIT CYCLES AND THE SEASONS

The four suits of the Daoist Ocean Tarot each govern a season, and their energies rise and fall across the liturgical year. The Tide Witch can attune her practice to the suit that is in ascendancy.

WINTER (THE SUIT OF TIDES · WATER · EMOTION)

GOVERNED BY: The Queen of Tides, the Silent Widow of the Whirlpool.

SEASON: From the Ancestors' Tide (early November) to the Tide Surge (early February).

THE WORK: Deep emotional cultivation. Grief-work. Ancestor-work. The inward tide.

HEXAGRAMS OF THE SEASON: 24 (The Kraken's Turning), 2 (The Mother-of-Pearl Matrix), 3 (The Pearl Diver's First Breath), 29 (The Abyssal Trench).

RITUALS BEST PERFORMED: The Rite of the Salt-Kin Spirit, the Black Tide Mirror, the Brine Barrel Meditation, the Shadow Anchor.

SPRING (THE SUIT OF LANTERNS · FIRE · AMBITION)

GOVERNED BY: The King of Lanterns, the Stormcaller Admiral.

SEASON: From the Tide Surge (early February) to the Spawning Reef (spring equinox) and beyond to the Lantern-Shark's Eclipse (early May).

THE WORK: Igniting new ventures. Stolen fire. Creative ambition. The rising flame.

HEXAGRAMS OF THE SEASON: 1 (The Nine-Dragon Fleet), 35 (The Anglerfish's Dawn), 13 (The Shore-Fire Covenant).

RITUALS BEST PERFORMED: The First Flame, the Four Tides Invocation, the Gourd Leap, the Shore-Fire Covenant.

SUMMER (THE SUIT OF ANCHORS · METAL · INTELLECT)

GOVERNED BY: The Queen of Anchors, the Weaver of Truth.

SEASON: From the Krill-Swarm's Zenith (summer solstice) through the Ghost Tide Banquet (early August).

THE WORK: Clarity. Discernment. The weight of truth. The anchor that holds.

HEXAGRAMS OF THE SEASON: 55 (The Krill-Swarm's Zenith), 20 (The Watchtower's Gaze), 21 (The Shark's Bite), 51 (The Dragon King's Roar).

RITUALS BEST PERFORMED: The Anchor's Verdict, the Coral Ledger, the Storm-Lantern Vigil.

AUTUMN (THE SUIT OF NETS · EARTH · RESOURCES)

GOVERNED BY: The Queen of Nets, the Pearl-Throned Widow.

SEASON: From the Dragon King's Roar (autumn equinox) through the Ancestors' Tide (early November).

THE WORK: Harvest. Release. The gathering of resources. The settling of accounts.

HEXAGRAMS OF THE SEASON: 41 (The Limpet's Choice), 23 (The Ghost-Crab's Shedding), 59 (The Ice-Floe's Dissolution), 63 (The Harbor of the Full Tide).

RITUALS BEST PERFORMED: The Limpet's Choice, the Turtle's Feast, the Map in a Bottle, the Final Anchor.

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A LITURGICAL TEXT: THE VIGIL OF THE KRAKEN'S TURNING

To show how the calendar lives as ritual, here is a full liturgical text for the most sacred night of the year: the winter solstice, when Xiwangmu's Stillness and the Kraken's Turning are observed together.

THE VIGIL OF THE KRAKEN'S TURNING

Being the Office for the Longest Night, Observed at the Winter Solstice, Sacred to Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West, and to the Kraken Who Sleeps

PREPARATIONS:

The Tide Witch prepares her space: a single room or a place on the shore. All lights are extinguished except one black candle, placed in the center of the space. A bowl of New Moon Water is set beside it. The witch wears black or undyed cloth. She has fasted since noon.

The vigil begins at sunset and ends at sunrise. The witch does not speak from the moment the sun disappears below the horizon until the moment it returns.

THE OPENING (SUNSET)

At the moment the last edge of the sun disappears, the Tide Witch lights the black candle. She stands before it and recites the words of Hexagram 24, The Kraken's Turning, as a whisper:

"On the shortest day, in the deepest chasm, the Kraken Who Sleeps begins to stir. For half the year, she has slumbered in the black, crushing cold, her heartbeat a single, slow thrum that the sonar of whales mistook for the grinding of the earth. Now, a tremor runs through her immense body. A single, great eye opens in the abyss. The turning has begun."

She falls silent. The vigil has begun.

THE FIRST WATCH (SUNSET TO MIDNIGHT): THE DESCENT

This watch is dedicated to Xiwangmu and the practice of the Weak Water Meditation.

The Tide Witch sits before the candle. She brings her attention to her Ocean of Qi. She breathes into the lower dantian.

She brings to mind a thing that disturbs her—a fear, an enemy, a circumstance. She pictures it as a wave. She does not push back. She does not flee. She is the shore. The wave arrives. It breaks. It recedes. She remains.

This is the work of the first watch: to still the inner sea. To become the mountain ringed by impassable water. To wait.

Every hour, on the hour, she may stand, recite a single verse from Hexagram 2, The Mother-of-Pearl Matrix, silently or in a whisper:

"Straight, square, vast. Without purpose, yet nothing is left undone."

She then sits. The work continues.

THE MIDNIGHT TURNING: THE EYE OPENS

At the exact midpoint of the night, the Tide Witch breaks her meditation and stands. She faces north, the direction of the Abyssal Plain. She speaks aloud for the first time since sunset, reciting the central teaching of Hexagram 24:

"The return is not a reward; it is a law. The only question is: will you feel the tremor and turn with it, or will you continue to face the cold, empty dark, unaware that the sun is already rising at your back?"

She falls silent again. The vigil continues, but the tone has shifted. The first half was descent. The second half is waiting for the dawn.

THE SECOND WATCH (MIDNIGHT TO DAWN): THE GATHERING

This watch is dedicated to the Kraken and the practice of the Leviathan's Rest.

The Tide Witch no longer meditates on a disturbance. She simply sits in stillness. She does not strive. She does not seek a vision. She rests, as the Leviathan rests on the seamount, her great eyes open, her gaze turned entirely inward.

If her mind wanders, she gently brings it back to the single word: return.

Every hour, on the hour, she may stand and recite a single verse from Hexagram 52, The Leviathan's Rest, silently or in a whisper:

"The mountain does not seek to command the world; it simply rests in its own unshakeable nature."

She then sits. The work continues.

THE CLOSING (DAWN)

At the moment the first edge of the sun appears above the horizon, the Tide Witch rises. She faces east. She extinguishes the black candle, not by blowing it out, but by pinching the wick. The smoke rises. She speaks the first words of the new year:

"The Kraken's eye is fully open. The tide of return is now a great, rushing, undeniable current. I sail with it."

🜄 THE EMPEROR – Card IV

TITLE: The Dragon Throne / 龍廷 (Lóng Tíng)

MYTHIC ARCHETYPE: The Pirate Dragon King

TAOIST PARALLEL: Ao Guang (敖廣), the East Sea Dragon King, merged with Zheng Zhilong (鄭芝龍)—the real-life Ming dynasty pirate admiral who commanded 3,000 junks.

PIRATE TWIST: He’s not just a mythical ruler—he’s the admiral of the ghost fleet, enforcing hǎi shén fǎ (海神法, "Sea God’s Law") from a throne of cannons and coral. His trident? A tide-cutting ji (戟) halberd that splits storms.

WHY THE EMPEROR? He doesn’t just control the sea—he is its justice. Cross him and your ship sinks paper-light (紙沉, zhǐ chén). Serve him, and he’ll guide you through fog-walled coves.

TAOIST PIRATE SYMBOLISM

KEYWORDS (Upright):

Lóngtíng lǜ (龍廷律, "Dragon Court Rules")—code of the sea.

"Tides obey the Bagua" (潮隨八卦, cháo suí bāguà)—order in chaos.

The admiral’s seal (海帥印, hǎi shuài yìn)—stamped on waves.

KEYWORDS (Reversed):

A broken tide-table (破潮曆, pò cháo lì)—navigation failed.

"Dragon’s yawn" (龍哈欠, lóng hāqiàn)—complacency before disaster.

The sea tribunal (海審, hǎi shěn) where traitors walk the plank.

INTERPRETATION: This card is law written in saltwater. The Dragon Throne rewards loyalty and sinks oath-breakers. His power isn’t tyranny—it’s the certainty of the tide.

RITUAL: THE ADMIRAL’S SEAL (海帥印, Hǎi Shuài Yìn)

(Inspired by Ming naval codes and Daoist tide-summoning rites)

PURPOSE: To claim authority or stabilize chaos.

MATERIALS:

A wooden plank (driftwood or bamboo).

Red ink (or bloodroot pigment).

A knife (to carve).

Nine copper coins (for the Nine Dragons).

Saltwater.

STEPS:

Carve the Bagua into the plank at dusk.

Dip coins in ink, press them onto the wood like a seal, chanting:

东龙审判，西龙称重， 南龙焚烧，北龙付出代价。 East Dragon judges, West Dragon weighs, South Dragon burns, North Dragon pays.

Bury the plank at a crossroads or fling it into the sea.

PARALLEL MYTHOLOGY TITLE: Poseidon, Sovereign of the Sea’s Dominion / Keeper of the Trident MYTHIC ARCHETYPE: Poseidon (Greek God of the Sea, Earthquakes, and Horses) REGION: Ancient Greece and the wider Hellenic world FORM: God of the sea, storms, horses, and earthquakes; wielder of the mighty trident TALE: Poseidon is a formidable god whose temper mirrors the ocean’s tempestuous moods. As one of the Olympian siblings, he claimed dominion over the seas and all its creatures, as well as horses and the tremors beneath the earth. His trident symbolizes both creative and destructive power, capable of calming waves or shattering lands. Though sometimes seen as capricious and volatile, Poseidon also represents steadfast authority and governance over nature’s primal forces. His role as the Emperor in our oceanic Tarot is to teach the balance of control and power—how to rule with strength tempered by wisdom, and how to command loyalty and respect through firm, just leadership. WHY THE EMPEROR? The Emperor stands for order, structure, protection, and leadership. Poseidon’s role as the sovereign sea god aligns perfectly, embodying authority grounded in the elemental power of water and earth. INTERPRETATION THROUGH POSEIDON: When Poseidon appears, he calls forth the leader within you—the one who must wield power responsibly among tumultuous currents. He demands respect for the rules that hold worlds together but warns against becoming a tyrant who crushes rather than governs. Poseidon asks: Where do you exert control? Are you a protector of your domain or a rigid despot? How do you balance power with compassion? RITUAL: Invocation of Poseidon’s Command PURPOSE: To call upon strength, leadership, or the power to establish order in chaos. MATERIALS: A trident-shaped object or symbolic representation (can be crafted or drawn) Saltwater Blue or sea-green candles Shells or horse figurines (optional) A strong, grounded space to perform the ritual STEPS: Place the trident or its symbol before you. Light the candles, representing the sea and its powers. Sprinkle a few drops of saltwater around your space, envisioning Poseidon’s waves marking your territory. SPEAK THE INVOCATION:

Poseidon, lord of sea and shore, Keeper of waves, trident in hand, Grant me the strength to lead and guard, To rule with justice, firm but fair.

Visualize yourself standing tall like a pillar of rock amidst a stormy sea, unyielding but wise. Close the ritual with gratitude, grounding yourself and honoring the ocean’s mighty ruler. THE "BEST FIT" PRINCIPLE: Where Sedna is the deep, internal, life-giving source, Poseidon is the external, sovereign, structural power.

SOVEREIGNTY AND DOMAIN: The Emperor is the master of his realm. Poseidon's authority over the sea is absolute and was established at the dawn of the Olympian age when the cosmos was divided among the three brothers (Zeus, Poseidon, Hades). This act of structuring the universe is a perfect Emperor concept.

THE TRIDENT AS SCEPTER: The Emperor holds a scepter, a symbol of his power to rule. Poseidon's trident is one of the most famous symbols of divine authority in all mythology. It's not just a weapon; it is the tool with which he enforces his will, creating earthquakes and calming storms. It is his law made manifest.

THE SHADOW SIDE: Poseidon's infamous temper, his tyrannical rage against Odysseus, his stubbornness in his contest with Athena over Athens—these are all textbook examples of the Emperor's negative traits: inflexibility, despotism, and the use of power for personal grudges rather than the good of the realm.

THE RITUAL OF THE TRIDENT'S STRIKE (To Establish a Foundation)

OBJECTIVE: To create a stable, protected foundation in a chaotic area of your life. Use this when starting a major project, fortifying your personal boundaries, or bringing order to your home or mind.

MATERIALS:

A staff, a sturdy branch, or even your own arm and fist. This is your "Trident."

A bowl of saltwater.

Three stones, large enough to be stable. These represent the three points of the trident and the foundation you are building.

A piece of ground where you can perform the ritual (a yard, a park, or even a planter box).

STEPS:

SURVEYING THE DOMAIN: Stand before the piece of ground. This is your kingdom, the area you are about to bring into order. State your intention clearly and aloud. "I am here to bring order to my finances" or "I am here to establish a firm boundary of my personal time."

CONSECRATING THE TRIDENT: Hold your staff (or arm) and dip its end into the saltwater. Raise it to the sky. DECLARE ITS POWER: "This is not wood, but bone of the Earth. This is not my arm, but the will of the Sea. This is the Trident that strikes the foundation and commands the deep."

THE STRIKE: With all your focused intent, strike the ground firmly three times with the end of your staff. Each strike should be deliberate and powerful. With each strike, make a declaration:

(Strike 1): "By the power of the Earth Below, I set my foundation!"

(Strike 2): "By the power of the Sea Around, I set my boundary!"

(Strike 3): "By the power of the Sky Above, I declare my dominion!"

LAYING THE FOUNDATION: Place your three stones on the ground where you struck, forming a stable triangle. This is the physical anchor for the order you have created. Pour the remaining saltwater in a circle around the stones as a libation and a boundary of protection.

THE SOVEREIGN'S OATH: Stand straight, looking over your newly established "foundation." Make a vow of responsible rulership. "I will rule this domain with strength and with wisdom. I will be its protector, not its tyrant. This order is established. So it is."

CLOSING: Leave the stones in place for at least a full day and night. The act is complete. You have shifted from being a subject of chaos to the sovereign of your domain.

SYNCRETIC BRIDGE

Poseidon’s Trident → Dragon King’s Ji: Both split waves and enforce divine will.

Olympian Division → Fēngshuǐ of the Seas: The Dragon Kings divide the oceans like Bagua sectors.

THE "SCHOLAR'S HEART" MANDATE

🜄 THE HIGH PRIESTESS – Card II

TITLE: The Silent Tide-Mother / 默潮母 [Mò Cháo Mǔ]

MYTHIC ARCHETYPE: Mazu’s Shadow—The Unseen Admiral

TAOIST PARALLEL: Mazu [媽祖] as the Veiled Oracle, but merged with Longmu [龍母, Dragon Mother]—a figure who raised five dragon kings as her sons and learned the ocean’s secrets from them.

PIRATE TWIST: She’s not just a benevolent goddess—she’s the phantom captain of a ghost junk that sails the Gengen Ocean [亙亙海, the Taoist "sea of subconscious"]. Her ship has no crew; it’s manned by paper sailors [剪水兵, jiǎn shuǐ bīng] who whisper prophecies in the wind.

WHY THE HIGH PRIESTESS? She navigates by moon-compasses and star-mirrors, charting courses only the drowned can read.

TAOIST PIRATE SYMBOLISM

KEYWORDS [Upright]:

Hai Di Shu [海底書, "Book of the Seabed"]—the unwritten knowledge of currents.

The moonwell [月井, yuè jǐng]—a ship’s hold filled with black brine for scrying.

"Listening to the tide’s qi" [聽潮氣, tīng cháo qì]—intuition as piracy.

KEYWORDS [Reversed]:

A muffled bell [啞鐘, yǎ zhōng]—ignoring omens.

"Sailing the Meng [夢, dream] tides" without a mirror—delusion.

The Dragon Mother turning her back [a storm coming].

INTERPRETATION: This card is for when you must steer by what isn’t there. The Silent Tide-Mother doesn’t speak—she shows. Her power is in the gaps: the pause between waves, the glint off a sunken sword, the silence before the monsoon.

RITUAL: THE GHOST JUNK’S MOONWELL [鬼船月井, Guǐchuán Yuèjǐng]

[Inspired by Fujianese sailor necromancy and Ming-era mirror magic]

PURPOSE: To scry for truths hidden in your own depths.

MATERIALS:

A black lacquer bowl [or any dark vessel].

Saltwater + a drop of ink [to darken it].

A silver coin [with a hole, if possible].

Seven blue threads [for the Dragon Mother’s sons].

A candle [white or blue].

RITUAL:

At dusk, light the candle and place it behind the bowl so it casts a shadow into the water.

Drop the coin into the bowl. Chant:

七龍守古井， 一錢付潮銀。 沉者終須浮， 示我月盜隱。 Seven dragons guard the well, One coin pays the tide’s toll. What sinks must rise again— Show me what the moon stole.

Tie the threads around the bowl’s rim like rigging. Gaze into the ink-dark water until shapes form.

PARALLEL MYTHOLOGY

TITLE: Mother-of-Shells / Keeper of the Deep Waters MYTHIC ARCHETYPE: Yemọja [Orisha of the Ocean, Yoruba Tradition] MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE: Yemọja [Yoruba & Diasporic Traditions] REGION: Yoruba [West Africa], carried through the African diaspora into Brazil [Iemanjá], Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad. FORM: Ocean mother, goddess of rivers that become the sea; patron of motherhood, secrets, and moon-touched water TALE: Yemọja [also rendered Yemoja, Iemanjá] is the orisha of all waters—especially the rivers that flow to the ocean, which is her vast and sacred home. She governs fertility, mystery, prophecy, and the invisible connections between all living things. She is the keeper of hidden knowledge and ancestral memory. Her name derives from, “Yeye omo eja”—“Mother whose children are fish.” She is also a lunar being, often depicted with silver adornments, veils, and mirrors. WHY THE HIGH PRIESTESS? The High Priestess stands between worlds (the seen and the unseen) and calls us into inner silence, intuition, and sacred mystery. Yemọja embodies all this: she is the water that remembers, the ocean that dreams. Her temple is the shore at midnight, where truths are whispered between waves. INTERPRETATION THROUGH YEMỌJA: This card reminds you to listen with your blood, not just your ears. Yemọja calls through dreams and symbols. If you are still, she will show you what you already know. She is not loud. She does not shout. But she never lies. To draw her card is to be invited to descend inward, to the moonlit pool where truth waits patiently to be seen. RITUAL: Moonwater Mirror Rite PURPOSE: To receive guidance, deepen intuition, or connect to ancestral memory through Yemọja’s current MATERIALS: Bowl of river or ocean water [or moon-charged spring water] Small mirror or reflective dish White cloth or scarf Optional: silver jewelry or token STEPS: At night, ideally under a waxing or full moon, cover your space with the white cloth and place the mirror in the bowl of water so it floats or rests within. Light a single candle. Sit quietly, allowing your breath to match the imagined rhythm of gentle waves. Whisper this invocation:

Yemọja, mother of the fish, Open the sea between my soul and the stars. Let your waters carry my question to the deep, And return with the answer I already know.

Gaze into the mirror. Let images arise. Let nothing be rushed. What you seek will come. Afterward, wrap the mirror in the white cloth and keep it for future work. Pour the water into the earth or return it to a natural source. This ritual blends traditional offerings to Yemọja [mirror, moon, water, white cloth] with meditative introspection. In many Afro-Caribbean traditions, white is her sacred color, and mirrors are used to commune with orisha energy. SYNCRETIC BRIDGE

Yemọja’s Mirror → Taoist Jian [鑒, "mirror-divination"]:

Ancient Chinese mirrors were believed to reveal yao guai [妖怪, spirits]. Pirates used bronze mirrors to detect enemy ships in fog.

Dragonbone Oracles → Reading cracks in whale ribs.

Moonwater → Tide-Qi:

The Huangdi Yinfujing [黃帝陰符經] says water remembers—like Yemọja’s ancestral wisdom.

Salt-Script [writing questions on driftwood to let the sea erase/answer].

THE IMMEDIATE MATCH: The Drowned Man’s Conch Ritual [沉船螺術, Chénchuán Luó Shù]

Source: 《海盗陰法》 [Pirate Necromancy], 1798, salvaged from a waterlogged chest in the Thousand Ghost Reef.

WHY IT FITS: She is mother of drowned souls—this ritual forces kinship with them.

The conch’s spiral mirrors the cycle of life/death/revenge.

MOON CONNECTION: Performed at midnight, when lunar yin is strongest.

MATERIALS:

A conch stolen from a sunken ship’s corpse [must have barnacles still clinging to it].

Black salt [made from tidewater + ash from a burned ship’s log].

Three drops of your blood.

STEALING THE SHELL

Dive at low tide to pluck the conch from a drowned sailor’s hand [or where one should be].

Whisper:

借你耳舌，還你答案— 陰債暫欠，必以血還。 I borrow your ears and tongue, but promise repayment— This ghost-debt I owe, will be paid in blood.

WARNING: If the corpse opens its eyes, leave the shell—it’s already claimed.

AWAKENING THE DEAD VOICE

Rub the shell with black salt until it whistles [like wind through rigging].

Spit into the spiral, then chant:

沉船冤魂，螺是你棺— 今日開棺，說我問事！ Shipwrecked ghost, this shell is your coffin— Today I open it, speak my question!

Hold it to your left ear [the "ghost side"]. The answer will come as:

GARGLED WHISPER [truth].

SOUND OF CHOKING [lie].

YOUR OWN VOICE, BACKWARDS [the ghost has possessed you].

PAYING THE DEBT

Before sunset, you must:

Pour your blood into the sea where the shell was taken.

Burn a paper ship with the ghost’s name [if unknown, write "Unnamed Sailor of [Location]"].

If unpaid, the conch will fill with seawater in your hands and the drowned will claim your breath.

HISTORICAL CASE: In 1821, pirate Li Fan used this to find a Portuguese gold ship, but forgot to burn the paper ship. His crew swore the conch screamed all night before he walked overboard at dawn.

THE "SCHOLAR'S HEART" MANDATE:

Reputable Sources: Robert Farris Thompson's Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy, Mari Silva's Orishas: The Ultimate Guide to African Orisha Deities and Their Presence in Yoruba, Santeria, Voodoo and Hoodoo, along with an Explanation of Diloggun Divination and Lilith Dorsey's Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens The Divine Feminine in the African Religious Traditions. For the Taoist-Pirate rituals see:

《閩海幻視法》 [Fujian Sea Vision Magic], 1742.

🜄 THE EMPRESS – Card III

TITLE: The Saltblood Matriarch / 血鹽母 [Xuè Yán Mǔ]

MYTHIC ARCHETYPE: Mazu’s Wrath—The Queen of Shipwrecks

TAOIST PARALLEL: Mazu [媽祖] as the Storm-Bringer, fused with Lin Mo’s Legend—the girl who drowned saving her father’s fleet, only to rise as a goddess who both gives and takes from sailors.

PIRATE TWIST: She’s not just a savior—she’s the sovereign of drowned treasures, ruling a palace of sunken ships where barnacles bloom like orchids. Her severed fingers? Jade trade beads that became the first pearls.

WHY THE EMPRESS? She doesn’t just nurture—she decides. Her bounty is conditional: honor her, or she’ll salt your fields with shipwrecks.

TAOIST PIRATE SYMBOLISM

KEYWORDS [Upright]:

Fengshui of the Fathoms—arranging wreckage to attract wealth.

"Feeding the Sea" [祭海, jì hǎi]—offerings tossed to balance karma.

The Lóngnǚ’s dowry [龍女嫁妝]—sunken silks that surface as fortune.

KEYWORDS [Reversed]:

A cursed haul [厄運貨, èyùn huò]—plunder that starves its thief.

"Mazu’s turned tide" [媽祖反潮]—nurturance withdrawn.

The hungry ghosts [餓鬼, èguǐ] of ungrateful sailors.

INTERPRETATION: This card is abundance with teeth. The Saltblood Matriarch births coral from bones and feeds empires from her palms—but cross her, and your ships will founder. She’s the lesson: true wealth flows from reverence.

RITUAL: THE WRECKFEAST [沉船宴, Chénchuán Yàn]

[Inspired by Fujianese "Ghost Banquet" rites and pirate parole rituals]

PURPOSE: To restore flow to blocked creativity or resources.

MATERIALS:

A wooden bowl [driftwood if possible].

Nine coins [copper or brass].

Salt, rice and three drops of your blood.

A handful of sand.

A black silk cloth.

STEPS:

At low tide, lay the black silk as a "tablecloth." Arrange the bowl atop it.

LAYER THE OFFERINGS:

Salt [for preservation].

Rice [for prosperity].

Sand [for the seafloor].

Coins [for the dead’s favor].

Add the blood, whispering:

沉船之母，我付出代价—— 玉指张开，珍珠散开。 Mother of wrecks, I pay the price— Let your jade fingers open, your pearls unloose.

Bury the bowl at the shoreline. Let the tide take it.

PARALLEL MYTHOLOGY

TITLE: Sedna, Mistress of the Deep / Queen of the Sea’s Bounty MYTHIC ARCHETYPE: Inuit Sea Goddess REGION: Arctic regions of Greenland, Canada, and Alaska FORM: Goddess of the sea and marine animals; a powerful matron whose tragedy shaped the abundance of life beneath the waves TALE: Sedna was once a mortal woman, sometimes said to be mistreated by her father. In a fateful moment of betrayal or escape, she was cast into the frigid sea and transformed into the goddess of the marine creatures. Her fingers were severed as she clung to the kayak’s hull and from these fingers arose the seals, walruses, and whales—the lifeblood of the Inuit people. Sedna dwells in the depths, controlling the availability of sea mammals and demanding respect and ritual offerings to provide bounty. Her story is one of sorrow, transformation, and fierce maternal power. She is at once a nurturer and a stern guardian, teaching reverence for the ocean’s gifts. WHY THE EMPRESS? The Empress embodies fertility, growth, and the nurturing of life. Sedna’s dominion over the sea’s bounty makes her the perfect archetype—she is the ocean’s generous mother who sustains communities, even through hardship. INTERPRETATION THROUGH SEDNA: When Sedna graces your reading, she calls you to honor your roots and your power to nurture life—whether that’s literal or creative energy. She reminds you that abundance often arises through sacrifice and deep emotional work. Sedna asks: How do you tend the sources of your sustenance? Are you honoring the deep currents within that nourish your spirit? RITUAL: Offering to Sedna for Bounty and Protection PURPOSE: To invoke Sedna’s favor for sustenance, creativity, or emotional healing. MATERIALS: A bowl of cold seawater or snowmelt [or pure cold water] Small offerings: feathers, bones, shells, or polished stones Dark blue or sea-green cloth Candle [preferably blue or white] Optional: Inuit symbols or art. STEPS: Arrange the offerings on the cloth near your water bowl. Light the candle. Speak or chant a dedication:

Sedna, mother of the sea, From your sorrow springs life anew. I honor your depths, your strength, your rule— Bless my hands with your fierce grace.

Pour the water slowly over the offerings, imagining the sea’s currents carrying your respect to Sedna’s realm. Meditate on resilience and gratitude for the gifts you receive from the, “Deep.”

Let the candle burn safely, then close your ritual with thanks. THE "BEST FIT" PRINCIPLE: This is a subversive and powerful fit. The traditional Empress is often a serene, sun-drenched Earth Mother, effortlessly abundant. Sedna is none of those things. She is a chthonic, wounded, and demanding mother of the deep. And that's why she works.

THE SHADOW SIDE: The reversed meaning of The Empress [neglect, depletion, smothering] is perfectly embodied by an angry Sedna. When taboos are broken and she is disrespected, she withholds her bounty, tangling the sea animals in her hair, causing famine. She becomes the "Devouring Mother" not out of malice, but as a consequence of broken relationships.

ROLE OF SHAMAN. The most important concept is the shaman's ritual journey to Adlivun [the underworld at the bottom of the sea]. When hunting was poor, it was believed that Sedna's hair had become tangled with the sins and broken taboos of the community. A shaman had to journey in a trance state to her abode, appease her, and carefully comb her hair, untangling it to release the animals. This act of care is central.

This is sympathetic magic ritual based directly on this act of "tending the source."

RITUAL OF COMBING THE TANGLES [To Restore Abundance]

OBJECTIVE: To address a blockage in your life [creative, financial, emotional] by symbolically tending to the source of your abundance, acknowledging your neglect, and restoring a right relationship. This is for when you feel "stuck" or that your wellspring has run dry.

MATERIALS:

An effigy to represent Sedna. This does not need to be elaborate. A dark, oblong stone, a small doll, or even a bundle of dark cloth can work. This is the body of your "Source."

Tangled yarn, thread, or even your own hair from a brush. This represents the blockages, anxieties, neglects, and "sins" that are causing the famine.

A comb.

A bowl of ice-cold water.

An offering: fermented fish [鮭醢, guī hǎi].

STEPS:

PREPARATION: In a quiet, low-lit room, place the bowl of ice water before you. Set your Sedna effigy beside it. Take a moment to feel the cold radiating from the water. You are at the edge of the Arctic sea.

NAMING THE TANGLES: Take the tangled yarn. As you wrap it around your Sedna effigy, speak aloud the blockages and neglects in your life. Be specific and honest. "This is my fear of failure. This is my procrastination on my project. This is the envy I feel. This is the way I have disrespected my own creative energy. This is my lack of gratitude." Mangle and tangle the yarn until the effigy is ensnared.

THE JOURNEY DOWN: Dip your hands into the ice water. The shock is intentional. It focuses the mind. Close your eyes and visualize yourself descending into the dark, cold depths. You are the shaman on your journey. Feel the pressure, the silence. Approach the figure of the great goddess before you, tangled and angry.

THE ACT OF TENDING: Open your eyes. Pick up the comb. With immense patience and care, begin to comb out the tangles from the effigy. This is the central act. As you untangle each knot, speak words of apology and reconciliation. "I am sorry for this neglect. I release this fear. I will tend to my work. I will honor my creative gifts." This should not be rushed. Feel the resistance in the knots give way. Continue until the yarn is completely untangled and hangs freely.

THE OFFERING: Place your offering [the food] in the bowl of cold water, letting it sink. Say:

"Great Mother of the Deep, I have cared for you. I have untangled your hair. I offer you this nourishment in gratitude. Let the seals of inspiration swim free again. Let the whales of abundance return."

CLOSING: Lay the now-untangled yarn and the comb at the feet of the effigy. Bow your head in respect. The relationship is restored. Leave the offering in the water for a time before respectfully disposing of it in the earth. The ritual is complete.

SYNCRETIC BRIDGE

Sedna’s Fingers → Mazu’s Beads: Both transform severed body parts into oceanic bounty.

Shaman’s Comb → Pirate’s Parley: Untangling knots = negotiating with the sea’s wrath.

THE "SCHOLAR'S HEART" MANDATE:

The world is full of secret beings tradition has packed into almost every hidden corner and shadow. Wherever man has gone, we've brought our mirror realms and watchers in the dark with us. With scientific advances and steel and smog replacing the green grottoes and deep silences of the woods though, they've faded, slipping away from our consciousness as we filled it with TV sitcoms and internet cats. There's no room in our age of the fears of climate change for capricious elemental beings or for sea monsters over the roar of our whale hunting boats. Our grandmother's grandmother's folklore is far from us.

Most days.

On June 28, 2023, sitting on the sand at Eoropie Beach on the Isle of Lewis, a mother watching her family play in the water felt what she called a premonition.

"I was at the beach with my family and they were jumping in and out of the water – I've never felt uneasy and am in the water a lot, but I kept telling them to get out." [Story by Talker News • Yesterday 12:12 PM]

Everyone knows the capriciousness of the sea and, as the US's own Gulf Coast has recently proved, currents can snatch a person away without any warning. A mother of three children has a right to feel unsettled. It was what she did next that makes this a story.

She took pictures of the waves washing up on the shore.

"I felt uneasy about them being in there. I was taking loads of pictures but it wasn’t until I got home and looked through them that one picture stood out."

The picture in question was this one.

I - honestly see nothing. Or rather, what amazes me about the picture is how empty the beach is. I can't remember the last time I managed to find a beach that wasn't awash with people and it looks to me as if she had this stretch of beach entirely to herself, a mystery all of its own. For some reason though, she looked closer.

Stephanie Cranston thinks she might have caught a blue man of Minch on film.

“The way the sea is in that picture, you can see what looks like a figure coming out of the water.

My hair stood on end, it was pretty creepy – I've never seen anything like it before.

I don’t really believe in any stuff like that but I caught that in the picture and thought this is absolutely crazy.

The Hebrides has got myths about the blue men of the Munch – looking back at the picture it’s quite creepy.

I think if it is what I think it is, it’s the only one that’s ever been caught on camera.”

Let's roll this back a bit for those of us who aren't native enough to the area to know what's going on.

The blue men of Minch are basically storm kelpies. They haunt the waters of the area, looking to drag sailors and sometimes even their ships down to a watery grave in the darkness below the waves. When the weather is clear and the water is calm, the blue men sleep, sometimes drifting up to float on the surface, more often retreating to their underwater caves. When the weather is stormy however they rise to the surface and ride the cresting, wild waves, reveling in the chaos and looking for humans to drown. Woe then to any sailor who finds himself still caught out in the waters away from the safety of the shore. All hope isn't lost however. Sometimes, a clever and quick tongue can get you out of your approaching doom. Legend has it that, like the Mari Lwyd of Wales, the leader of the blue men will challenge a ship's captain to a poetry slam. Two lines a piece and if the captain can not only keep up but get in the last word of the poem, the blue men will let him and his ship go free. If he loses however, they will take their long arms and shake his ship to pieces, dragging anyone onboard to their deaths.

One of the odd things about the blue men is that they stick to a very small section of the coast. The Minch is a strait of water that separates the mainland of Scotland from a series of islands known as the Outer Hebrides or the Western Isles. It's only about 70 miles or 110km in length and can narrow down to as little as 14 miles or 23km across in some places. In the wideness of the world's oceans, that's not much. It's also believed to be the site of the biggest meteorite to ever hit the British Isles. The blue men are said to live here, and only here. Beyond those narrow shores, they're practically unknown.

The blue men are described as - well - blue. Sometimes its their caps that are described as blue and they themselves are grey faced. They skim either just on the surface or just under it when they swim, sometimes rising up as high as their waist in the water as they move like a dolphin, diving like dolphins too. They're human in appearance and size and even though they're described as kelpie I haven't found any references to them changing size or shape, never appearing as anything but regular sized human men in the water. There's no mention of women.

Clever poetry could appease them and like most ocean spirits, they could be bribed into bringing good fishing and weather. A candle lit on the shore at Halloween honored them and ale could be poured out into the wavebreak in the hopes that they would leave seaweed on the shore the village could use for fertilizer. Like most ocean spirits though they were the personification of the sea itself and just as capricious in mood and action.

The origin of the blue men might come from several points back in the island's history. There is speculation that the 'swimming above the water up to their waist' might have started with blue painted or tattooed Picts in low boats speeding along the strait, half hidden by the waves. Another explanation might be the North African slaves the Vikings brought with them when they wintered nearby, with both blue clothed Moors and the 'blue men of the desert' Tuareg people being suggested. Whatever the base of the legend was, it blended well with the idea of dangerous sea spirits along the coast and created the very unique blue men of Minch.