The woman who drank the elixir and lives alone with it
Warning
Immortality is a distance not a gift
Resonance
Those who long for someone those who keep the mid-autumn feast
Symbols
WaterCup
Mythology Summary
Chang'e drinks the elixir of immortality meant for her husband and floats to the moon, where she lives in a cold palace with a rabbit who pounds medicine. Once a year he can visit her. She is immortality as separation rather than as triumph.
Modern Practice
Chang'e is honoured at the Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes, incense and looking up. Her practice is the offering made at a distance to someone you cannot reach.