Page:The passing of Korea.djvu/530

 We find, first, the "procession of the years." It tells what star rules each year of a person's life from the tenth to the sixtyfourth. It tells what he must do to insure comfort and success, and it tells, by means of an obscure simile, what the condition of the body will be. It begins at the tenth year, because before that time no one marries, nor does a boy shave his head and become a monk. In order to show the way it is done, we will quote two or three of the formulae. For the eleventh year, for instance, we find that a boy will be under the influence of the "earth star" (Saturn), that his patron will be Yuraposal (a Buddhist saint), that he must pay particular attention to his body, which will resemble a hawk in the ashes. A girl in her eleventh year will be under the influence of the "man image star," her patron will be Kwaneumposal and it is her duty to show deference to the spirits. She is like a deer in a deep gorge.

And so it goes through the whole sixty-four years. The different stars are the Metal Star (Venus), Water Star (Mercury), Star Sun (Sun), Fire Star (Mars) and so on through the list. The patrons are a long list of Buddhist worthies. The duties are nominal, and the things that the body are like to are as follows: pig in hot water, deer in a blossom, hawk in the mountain, rat in the garden, wolf in the bag, pheasant in the ashes and lion in the river. In all there are eight animals, and the situations they find themselves in are twelve in number; river, garden, ravine, bag, field, ashes, grass, mountain, hot water, blossom, mill and hill. Among the animals there is no distinction between the good and the bad, but it is the combination that is unpropitious. The hawk in the ashes or the rat in the river, the pig in a bag and a hawk in a mill (rice-grinding mill) are evidently bad predicaments, while deer in the mountain, wolf in the field, rat in the garden and pig in the ashes are presumably happy combinations.

Then come the different star influences and their power over the destiny of a man or woman. For instance, in the Sun Star year, one will have many blessings, a good salary, a chance to