On Rain

I like rain. Besides the point that I need rain. I like it. There is something peculiar to the way it rains, and the promise of it brings me a sense of comfort. Again, besides the argument of it being biologically programmed for me to appreciate it. There is a spiritual affect of rain that goes beyond the unga bunganess of human psychology. I made this post as a self-excuse to go and explore different cultural interpretations and stories on rain, which I will give my own at the end.

雨

From what I gathered, in the Chinese culture, rain symbolizes good fortune and abundance. This makes sense as rain leads to good outcomes in substance farming, which is what was historically practiced in Chinese civilizations. The mythological creatures of rain are the dragons, which hold the power of the mortals. Traditional rain dances then have many symbolism related to dragons, which apparently is why we have dragon dance for Chinese New Year’s (fact check this). The main mythological story I have access to (on Google) is about Yinglong 應龍 and how it helped give rise/legitimacy to one of China’s oldest empires and leader Yu 大禹.

I would imagine then someone experiencing rain in this mythosphere, delighted by the signaling of good fortune and thankful for their dragon deities.

あめ

For Japan, I kind of expected they had a rich connection with rain as well, given their reputation of receiving a lot of rain. To that point, they have around 10+ words to describe specific forms of rain, types of water, and different attitudes towards it. For the seasons, they have the terms 春雨 (spring rain), 梅雨 (long rain), and 夕立 (summer rain). Each reflecting key characteristics of the type of rain being received. They also have specific onomatopoeia related to the sound the rain makes! On the cultural and mythological front, Shinto shrines in Japan are dedicated to their own deities related to the weather, specifically Suijin 水神. The Shinto religion also treats water as a means of purification. This tidbit might be why in Spirited Away there is such an emphasis on the bath house.

It seems here that rain is interpreted depending on the context of season, time, and moment, which is reflected in the language. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s bad.

me

Given the short internet dive, I come back to ask myself: Why does falling H20 even relate at all to my mood? And to that, my interpretation is: rain tells me to stay inside. Obviously, as a homebody, this is great news; of course I say: Yes, let me stay inside. But I think there is another layer to that. Rain is a sign to take care of myself, to sit back and take inventory of my psyche, because it is the process that gets you places. This makes me believe that our bio-psychological programming is important in context, as it allows the mind to get into a soothed state in order to have reflection. I also see nature and harmony through the line where nature provides us with precious resources unconstitutionally.

In the end, I like the rain, and this blog post is my way to pay some sort of respect to it.

Citations

https://tsukublog.wordpress.com/2022/04/29/having-evolved-in-a-very-rainy-country-the-japanese-language-is-unusually-rich-in-words-and-expressions-describing-different-kinds-of-rain/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinglong