Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,
We are on our way to the stars. We already visited Andromeda and today we will explore Aquila (Eagle). In this constellation we find the bright stars Altair and Vega which have their own Japanese Festival on the 7th of the 7th month Tanabata and there are a few haiku which are written by Basho about this Tanabata Festival. That story in short:
Star
Festival. On the 7th of Seventh Month, this festival celebrates the legend of
the Shepherd Boy and Weaver Girl, represented as two stars, Altair and Vega.
These two lovers are doomed to be separated by Heaven’s River (the Milky Way)
all year except on this day, when magpies form a bridge with their wings.
do not even peer
through the leaves of the silk tree
light falls from the stars
tanabata -
autumn is truly here
as nights begin
© Matsuo Basho
through the leaves of the silk tree
light falls from the stars
tanabata -
autumn is truly here
as nights begin
© Matsuo Basho
We will see this wonderful festival again in our celebrations month October 2015.
 |
| Aquila (Eagle) |
Depicted as an eagle, Aquila is named for the bird that belonged to Zeus. Aquila's most famous task was carrying the mortal Ganymede to the heavens to serve as Zeus' cup bearer.
Two major novae have been observed in Aquila. The first one was in 389 AD and was recorded to be as bright as Venus. The other shone brighter than Altair, the brightest star in Aquila. A nova is what the ancients called a "new star." In reality, it is not a new star at all, but a very old one that suddenly becomes bright again, regaining some of the former glory of its youth. Here at CDHK we have seen the Eagle several times coming by and so I have chosen a few haiku from my archives to share here with you all.
endless sky
-
King of Birds praying
Om Mane Padme Hum
King of Birds praying
Om Mane Padme Hum
high above
Mother Earth
I feel like an Eagle watching
searching for new life
I feel like an Eagle watching
searching for new life
searching
for new life
inside with my Inner Eye
flight of an Eagle
inside with my Inner Eye
flight of an Eagle
fly like an
Eagle
as free as a bird in the sky
living my dream
© Chèvrefeuilleas free as a bird in the sky
living my dream
And a last one, also by myself:
whispering leaves
telling all wisdom of the steppes -
cry of an eagle
© Chèvrefeuille
Well I hope you did like this "trip to the stars" of today and I hope I have inspired you all to write an all new haiku or tanka.This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until September 5th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our next episode, Camelopardalis (Giraffe), later on.
~Kristjaan: I thought that since you have learned to write in my language, I ought to study a bit of yours out of courtesy for what you are doing here. So for the past few months I have been working on that. Just in time for your big month ahead :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Joanna. That's amazing that you've learned my language that fast. Dat is geweldig. Nederlands is geen makkelijke taal om te leren als je niet nederlands bent. Chapeau.
DeleteWell, I learned German at school, and that helps.
ReplyDelete