Showing posts with label air. Show all posts
Showing posts with label air. Show all posts

Sunday, 23 July 2017

♎ | Libra

♎ (Libra) is the seventh astrological sign in the Western zodiac, ruled by the planet Venus. Just like the Gemini and Aquarius, it is an air sign. The Sun is in this sign between 23 September and 22 October.

The symbol ♎ looks like underscored upper-case letter Ω (Omega), but most probably has nothing to do with it. According to one source,

The symbol for Libra represents the scales of a balance, but it also shows the setting Sun in the horizon. There are many views on the symbol of Libra, but the most revealing one of all is the view of it as an obstacle that needs to be overcome. The lower line of the symbol represents the earthly, rational approach that has no obstacles on its way, but the higher line that reaches for the sky seems to be a huge hill to be crossed in order to reach the other side of the balance.

More photos related to zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

Tuesday, 20 June 2017

♊ | Gemini

♊ (Gemini) is the third astrological sign in the Western zodiac, ruled by the planet Mercury. The sun is in this sign between 21 May and 20 June. Some of the coolest people out there were born under this sign. They are often referred to as “Geminis”, for no good reason. As the word “Gemini” is derived from Latin geminī, which is already plural of geminus (“twin”), there no need in further pluralisation.

The glyph ♊ looks like a variant of the Roman numeral Ⅱ, which it most probably is.

More photos related to zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

Monday, 27 February 2017

气 | qì

In Mandarin Chinese, 气 (Pinyin: qì 🔊) means “air”, “gas”, “breath” and things of that nature. In traditional Chinese culture, qì is an active principle contained in any living thing.

Both 气 and Shinjitai kanji 気 are simplified forms of the traditional character 氣. Uncle Hanzi says that it is a cloud 气 over (presumably just cooked) rice 米, “meaning steam from food”. Could it have been a depiction of a person blowing on hot rice? Ponte Ryūrui points out that

the ancient 气 is not the same character as modern simplified Chinese 气. The former is a pictograph of a breath in the form of vapour, as observed on a cold day, whereas the latter is a simplification of 氣.
In any case, since the symbol for rice could be either present or absent from the character, I’d suggest we forget about rice for now and simply try to remember that 气 is about blowing.

More photos of sea glass @ Shutterstock.