Totems: Monkey

See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. That is a saying greatly associated with the monkey, with this creature being viewed differently from culture to culture. India has its own monkey god, Hanuman. China on the other hand, has Sun Wukong. Both are well known to the world.

The monkey as a totem teaches to not spread rumours and to not be quick to judge what is seen. What is seen is not always as it seems, nor are rumours something of certain fact. Rumours and judging isn’t the way to go.

To observe surroundings and allow expression of interest of one’s environment is not a bad thing. The monkey knows it can be useful. Taking interest and observing is a good way to learn, as not all that is told with words are the best way to learn.

Looking at both the lighter and darker sides of life is not of all negativity. Just as there is a kind world, a cruel world is also all around. The monkey knows and teaches to look at both, not just one side or the other.

Gods And Goddesses: Rulers of Hell

Feng Du is also referred to as the Chinese Hell, where there are multiple courts and rulers to each.  And for each ruler, there is also a specific wrong-doing they deal with done by people.

Qin Guang Wang is the ruler of the first court of Feng Du. It is Qin Guang Wang who decides whom gets to go right through Feng Du, or have to suffer through it for one’s wrong doings. Originally, Yen Lo Wang had the position of Qin Guang Wang, but Yen Lo Wang didn’t punish people as harshly and so Qin Guang Wang took over the position.

Qu Jiang Wang is the ruler of the second court of Feng Du. He punishes depravity and perversion by people. Those who have taken liberties with people’s lives (incompetent doctors, kidnappers, etc) are also punished by this god.

Song Di Wang is the ruler of the third court of Feng Du. He is the punisher of people whom have been drug addicts, blasphemers and murderers.

Wu Guan Wang rules over the fourth court. Forgers, counterfeiters, cheats and family matters are dealt with by this god.  He runs what is known as the Black Pool Hell, with the black referring to the deep red of blood.

The god of death and the ruler of the Fifth Court of Feng-Du (realm of the dead with all of the levels of Hells), Yen-Lo-Wang, was the formerly the King of the First Court of Hell but was accused of leniency. The Jade Emperor put another King of Hell in charge of judgement while putting Yen-Lo-Wang to the Fifth Hell. Yen-Lo-Wang is however not just in charge of what goes on in the Fifth Hell (gouging and boiling), but he himself rules over the whole of Feng-Du. Interestingly, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, Sun Wukong, wiped his name out along with names of all the other monkeys known to him in the Book of Life and Death which granted them immortality much to Yen-Lo-Wang's displeasure.

Bian Cheng Wang takes care of the sixth court of Feng Du. Punishment for sexual sins are punished. Liars, gossipers and slanderers also are punished by Bian Cheng Wang, with bad hygiene also what this god deals with.

Tai Shan Wang takes control of the seventh court of Feng Du, dealing with arsonists, deceivers, terrorists and traitors.

Du Shi Wang rules the eighth court of Feng Du where those who betrayed their religion are punished. Du Shi Wang shows how ones family is doing before sending off to the ninth court.

Ping Deng Wang, ruler of the ninth court, looks at your case before sending you off to the tenth court.

Zhuang Lun Wang rules the tenth and final court of Feng Du. He decides your fate before allowing for rebirth. The goddess Meng Po is also there, ready to give her brew to cause amnesia.

Gods And Goddesses: Dragon Kings

The Dragon Kings are guardians of rain, who under orders of the Jade Emperor send rain. These are the deities to go to if there is a water shortage in an area. Their true forms are of dragons, but take one human form. The four Dragon Kings are brothers.

Ao Kuang is the Dragon King of the East. The god Lu Ban once went to him to get a blueprint of his palace. Sun Wukong also went to him for a weapon, getting a cudgel. Despite Ao Kuang and Sun Wukong not getting along very well at first, their differences were settled later. He had a son called Ao Ping, who sadly was killed in battled with a being called Nezha.

Ao Chin is the Dragon King of the South. He once gave Sun Wukong a cap.

Ao Jun is of the West. He was once visited by Sun Wukong and later complained to the Jade Emperor about it.

Ao Shun is of the North. He once owned a pair of shoes great for stepping on clouds which was given to Sun Wukong. 

Gods And Goddesses: Xi Wang Mu

The Queen Mother of the West, or Xi Wang Mu, has the title of Yaochi Jinmu (Golden Mother of the Shining Lake). She is also referred simply as Queen Mother. Xi Wang Mu is the goddess of life and immortality. Many women have looked up the Xi Wang Mu, whom this goddess will protect female believers. Xi Wang Mu is the wife of the Jade Emperor.
　
The third day of the third lunar month and the eighteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Xi Wang Mu’s birthday is celebrated.
　
Often depicted holding court within the palace she resides, where it is believed she grows an orchid of peaches of immortality that ripens every three thousand years. Xi Wang Mu is also known for serving guests these peaches of immortality and wearing a headdress in which these peaches of immortality suspend from it.
　
A being known as Tetsakumi once imprisoned Xi Wang Mu in hopes of gaining a peach of immortality. Xi Wang Mu was able to get a message to the ruler of Heaven, Jade Emperor, who gave the god of fire, Zhu Rong, the title of Heavenly Executioner and the job of dealing with Tetsakumi. Zhu Rong defeated Tetsakumi eventually, gaining a mortal wound. Xi Wang Mu was saved by Zhu Rong and left unable to save Zhu Rong with a peach of immortality.
　
Xi Wang Mu is thought of having met many famous Chinese figures. Xi Wang Mu is said to have taught Yu The Great, met King Mu of the Zhou Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Houyi quested for immortality after he and his wife Chang E lost it, getting given a pill of immortality from Xi Wang Mu. Chan Chu stole the Elixir of Immortality from Xi Wang Mu and got punished by being turned into a three legged frog. Xi Wang Mu unintentionally offended the Monkey King, Sun Wukong, by not inviting him to a banquet, leading to Sun Wukong getting drunk.

Gods And Goddesses: Er Lang

Er Lang, also known as Erlang or Er Lang Shen and Erlang Shen is a god who is well known for having an opened third eye. He is the nephew of the Jade Emperor and enemy of the god Zhang Xian.
Er Lang is said to be the son of Li Bing (the engineer who is responsible for the irrigation infra-structure Dujiangyan).
　
Er Lang is also a filial son and a great fighter. Upon his mother died he found his way to the underworld to save his mother from it. He uses his fighting ability to subdue evil spirits, to which the Howling Celestial Dog helps Er Lang. His weapon of choice is a spear.
　
Er Lang helped his father with the irrigation system and the two had a temple built in their honour.
Li Bing actually sent out his son Er Lang out to find the source of the regions floods, Er Lang spent a year without any success learning of the cause of the floods. It was one time that Er Lang sheltered in a cave and came across a tiger that he slew. Seven hunters who witnessed this agreed to join Er Lang on his quest.
　
On the outskirts of Guanxian an old woman was found crying, to which the group was told it was due to their grandson being sacrificed to a local river god who had the form of a dragon. Er Lang and the hunters went to the temple of the river god and captured the dragon which freed the region from the floods, finishing Er Lang’s quest as to find out why there was floods.
　
In Journey to the West, Er Lang is ordered by the Jade Emperor to subdue Sun Wukong who was to be punished for causing havoc in Heaven. Er Lang duels Sun Wukong and eventually defeats Sun Wukong after several transformations plus help from other gods. Er Lang would appear to Sun Wukong as ally rather later on.

Sanzang

Sanzang, also known as Tang Sanzang, Xuanzang, Tang Monk and in some English translations of Journey to the West, Tripitaka. He is the monk that vowed to the Tang Emperor to go from China to India to get Buddhist scriptures and gained three disciples along the way; Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing.
It is said that Sanzang lived from 602AD to 664AD.

Sanzang himself has the ability to easily remember scriptures after reading it once and to meditate two or three years non-stop if needed. He is a compassionate and caring man who tries to help those in need, but can be easily fooled by demons along with easily captured. If it wasn’t for his three disciples he surely would have died during his travels to fetch scriptures.

Sometimes, a bodhisattva known as Ksitigarbha is mistaken as Sanzang or the other way round due to the two being portrayed similarly with robes, a crown and a staff of a monk. Sanzang is also described often as handsome.
Sanzang also appears in the games Warriors Orochi 2 and Warriors Orochi Z but as an attractive woman rather then handsome man.

Originally this monk was Jin Chan Zi, a disciple of the Buddha and was banished to earth due to being disobedient and didn’t pay attention to Buddha’s teachings. Over the course of ten lives Sanzang was a monk until he was born to a couple known as Mr. and Mrs Chen.

Mr. and Mrs. Chen were taking Sanzang’s grandmother to a high post that was recently secured, with the grandmother falling ill on the way. Mr. Chen bought a carp for her and noticed this carp blinking, so he put it back into the sea as he thought it was a special creature. It was after this that the grandmother decided to stay at an inn, asking Mr. Chen and Mrs. Chen to go by themselves.

Upon taking a boat the couple were in trouble, the two men in charge killed Mr Chen and pushed him into the sea with one of them impersonating Mr. Chen. Mrs. Chen who also was heavily pregnant bore a son soon after, Sanzang, tying him to a board and throwing him into the nearby river seeing as she was fearful that he would be killed.

Sanzang eventually was found by the head monk of a monastery who raised him under the name of Jiang Liu. It was during this time that Mr. Chen’s spirit was revived by the Dragon King who found him. It was this Dragon King that turned out to be the carp that Mr. Chen had released and Mr. Chen’s body was preserved by a magic pearl, from then on Mr. Chen stayed with the Dragon King waiting for his family to find him.

Sanzang grew up as a monk known as Xuanzang, and it was one day that he would ask the head monk of his heritage due to being provoked by another monk. It was revealed to Sanzang a letter found with his body as a baby that explained his origins and what happened to his father. Sanzang vowed revenge and left the monastery.

Sanzang did find his mother who told him to go see Sanzang’s very grandfather, a powerful official. Sanzang’s grandfather lead troops to execute the people who caused his very family trouble. Sanzang went on to find his grandmother and found her just as he found his mother, bringing the old woman back to see Sanzang’s mother.

Upon the reunion, family went to the bank of the river that Sanzang’s father, Mr. Chen, died. Mr. Chen’s body was seen floating towards them on the river. Mr. Chen was pulled out and he started to breathe again.

Years after this, Sanzang was asked by the Emperor of Tang to hold a religious ceremony. It was during the ceremony that Sanzang was approached by Guanyin and her disciple in disguise whom gave Sanzang a monks staff and robe, telling Sanzang to find scriptures known as the Sanzang in India. Guanyin and her disciple left in their original forms and after this the Emperor became sworn brothers with Sanzang, giving him the surname of Tang and changing his name of Xuanzang to Sanzang.

Soon after the events during the religious ceremony, Sanzang left for the scriptures. During the travels he found his first disciple stuck under a mountain and freed him, this was Sun Wukong and he had a band put around his head to keep him under control.
In going to Gao Village Sanzang found his second disciple, Zhu Bajie, and his third disciple Sha Wujing was found in going to a river that needed to be passed.

Over the course of his travels, many demons have captured Sanzang. Many wanted to eat the meat of Sanzang for long life due to a rumour that the very meat of Sanzang will cause the consumer to live for a considerable amount of time. Some whom have captured Sanzang didn’t want to eat his meat, they wanted sex with him. Sanzang got away from all those who captured him thanks to the help of his disciples and eventually got the scriptures he so long he sought after, becoming a Buddha.

Sha Wujing

Out of the three disciples of the monk Sanzang, it is Sha Wujing who is sadly the weakest out of the three and does the least in contribution when travelling with Sanzang. Wujing knows eighteen transformations and his weapon, gotten in Heaven, is the yueyachan. This weapon of Wujing’s itself is a double headed staff with a crescent moon blade at one end while a spade on the other.

In English translations of Journey to the West, Sha Wujing is known be called Sand, Sandy and Friar Sand.

Sha Wujing was originally the Curtain-Lifting General of Heaven and in Journey to the West it is said he accidentally broke a vase of the Jade Emperor although it is also said by some that the vase was broken in a fit of rage. By rage or by accident, Wujing was punished with eight hundred strikes of a rod and sent down to earth.

Wujing when he went down to earth was reincarnated as a sand demon that ate men. On earth, Sha Wujing lived in a place known as “Flowing Sand River” or “Quicksand River” (with the river currently known as Kaldu River). Wujing sadly had a punishment of getting seven flying swords sent from Heaven stabbing him in the chest on a daily basis, Wujing retreated into the river to avoid this punishment and living within the river.

While living at the river, a group of nine monks actually was on a pilgrimage to fetch scriptures who were passing the river Wujing lived in. Wujing ate these monks, throwing their bones into the river, the heads of the monks however floated to the delight of Wujing. It was these skulls that Wujing strung on a rope and played with when bored.

Eventually, the bodhisattva Guanyin was searching for people to guide the monk Sanzang west to find scriptures and found Wujing. Guanyin converted Wujing to Buddhism and gave him the name Sha Wujing, meaning “Sand Awakened to Purity”. Told to wait for a monk, Wujing did so and when Sanzang did come along Wujing was mistaken for an enemy by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie. Guanyin intervened, clearing up everything and Wujing became the third disciple of Sanzang.

In the becoming a disciple of Sanzang, Wujing was put in the robe of a Buddhist pilgrim’s and his skull necklace turned into a necklace of a monk. During his travels with Sanzang and his fellow disciples his ability to fight in water was useful despite being the weakest of the three.

At the end of the journey Wujing became an arhat known as the Golden Bodied Arhat.

Zhu Bajie

Zhu Bajie is half man and half pig, whom is also well known as Pigsy or simply Pig in the English translations of Journey to the West. It is Bajie himself who is lazy, gluttonous and a lusty fellow whom over the course of Journey to the West has caused himself, his fellow disciples and master trouble.


Before becoming a disciple to the monk Sanzang, Bajie was much like the way he was as he is seen in Journey to the West except for being completely human rather then part human and part pig. Due to his greed, laziness and lust Bajie was warned by an immortal to change his way of life so he wouldn’t have to suffer after death. Asking to train him the immortal agreed and Bajie eventually ascended to Heaven.

In Heaven, the Jade Emperor gave Bajie a nine toothed rake which many gods had a part of creating it and is quite the powerful weapon.

Bajie was known as Marshal Tian Peng, the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy and Marshal of the Heavenly Tumbleweed, and because of this is referred as Marshal Tian Peng or Heavenly Tumbleweed by heavenly beings many years after actually being banished from Heaven later on.
Bajie’s title as marshal was so as he was the commander of 80,000 heavenly warriors.

Bajie’s banishment from Heaven was from his own stupidity, as at a party in Heaven he got drunk and when he saw the moon goddess Chang E adored her beauty and tried making advances on Chang E to which she rejected. Chang E reported this to the Jade Emperor and was banished to Heaven. Bajie was to be reborn as a human,  yet was unlucky as there was a mishap and he was born as the part man, part pig creature Bajie became well known as.

The only thing Bajie had left after his banishment from Heaven was his nine toothed rake that was given by the Jade Emperor.

As a pig-man creature Bajie was a man-eater until the bodhisattva Guanyin came along and converted him to Buddhism, giving Bajie the Buddhist name of Zhu Wuneng which means ‘Pig Aware of Ability’. Guanyin told Bajie to wait for a monk which he faithfully did.

Bajie notably had the power of thirty-six transformations and the ability to ride clouds, using his ability to transform to become a handsome man and do hard work for a family in a place called Gao Village. While at the village Bajie helped much on a farm but eventually kidnapped the daughter of the village elder with a note being left behind demanding marriage.

The monk Sanzang and his first disciple Sun Wukong eventually got to Gao Village and learnt of this abduction by Bajie. Sun Wukong and Bajie eventually fight, with Bajie revealing that he is waiting for Sanzang. After this Bajie went to see the monk he had waited so long for and got given the name Bajie, roughly meaning “eight restraints” or “eight commandments”.

Bajie stayed loyal to Sanzang and helped the monk get the scriptures he was after. Although he did help, especially so when going underwater was needed (seeing as his fellow disciple Sun Wukong was more powerful but couldn’t fight underwater unlike Bajie), he was only awarded a job after fetching the scriptures. This job is however a suiting job for Bajie due to his greed, eating all the leftovers he could along with having the title of “Cleanser of the Alters”.

Sun Wukong

Sun Wukong goes by several names and titles which includes Monkey King, Monkey, Sun The Novice, Great Sage Equalling Heaven, and Protector of the Horses. His story starts when he was born from a stone on the Mountain of Flower and Fruit.

Sun Wukong became a king of a group of monkeys after finding a cave behind a waterfall called Water Curtain Cave where he became known as the Handsome Monkey King. Sun Wukong realized he was only mortal and feared death, so he travelled on a raft over seas, finding civilisation where he learnt to talk and walk just like a human. He eventually found an Daoist sage called Bodhi. This sage named the Handsome Monkey King Sun Wukong, ‘Monkey Aware of Emptiness’. From then on, the Handsome Monkey King went by the name of Sun Wukong.

Bodhi taught Sun Wukong magic, how to ride clouds, seventy-two transformations and the Way of Immortality. Sun Wukong, after years of training under Bodhi was expelled for showing off where he went back to the Mountain of Flower and Fruit where he found his subjects were under some trouble with a monster that Sun Wukong defeated. Back at where he ruled as a king he ruled over an army of monkeys and befriended demons.
Sun Wukong, knowing just magic wasn’t needed to defeat others wanted a weapon, which he got of the Dragon King‘s along with some armour. The Golden Banded Cudgel is he weapon which he used to defeat many demons.

Later, Sun Wukong got his hands on the Book of Life and Death. He took the name of himself but also the names of the monkeys he knew making himself and all the monkeys he knew immortal. The Dragon Kings and the god of death, Yen Lo Wang made a complaint to the ruler of heaven, the Jade Emperor.  The Dragon King’s complained of rudeness and theft while Yen Lo Wang complained of the names wiped out in the Book of Birth and Death.

The Jade Emperor was advised to pardon Sun Wukong and give him a post in Heaven, which was Protector of the Horses where he was the head of the heavenly stables. When Sun Wukong found the post was low in rank he left in anger and from then on hated it when he was referred as Protector of the Horses. The Jade Emperor ordered heavenly troops to capture Sun Wukong who were defeated. Sun Wukong asked for the title of Great Sage Equalling Heaven and the Jade Emperor again pardoned him plus gave Sun Wukong the title he asked for.

He was then put in charge of the peach orchard to keep this monkey busy, but Sun Wukong couldn’t resist the peaches of immortality and ate them. When Sun Wukong wasn’t invited to the peach banquet by goddess Queen Mother of the West so he went to the banquet before anyone arrived and ate the food and wine. Drunkenly Sun Wukong went to the home of the founder of Daoism, Lord Lao Zi, and gobbled up his pills of immortality. After this, Sun Wukong went back to the Mountain of Flower and Fruit.

When the Jade Emperor found out about this, sent his army to deal with  Sun Wukong. After much troubles capturing Sun Wukong he was finally caught, with whatever attempt to execute him failing. Soon Lord Lao Zi put Sun Wukong into his furnace for forty-nine days. Sun Wukong survived and his eyes smoked over the many days spent in it giving him the ability to see far and through disguise, illusion and transformation, but his eyes were highly vulnerable to smoke for this very reason.

After getting out of Lao Zi’s furnace Sun Wukong fights the heavenly soldiers all by himself. Lord Buddha was called upon and made a bet with Sun Wukong, if Sun Wukong wins he will rule over heaven but if Lord Buddha wins the bet he expects an apology. All Sun Wukong was asked to do was to jump off Lord Buddha’s hand, and Sun Wukong jumped off of it where he found himself in front of five pillars where he pissed on a pillar. When Sun Wukong saw Lord Buddha again he thought he won the bet, but Lord Buddha proved him wrong, the very piss that put all over a pillar was actually Lord Buddha’s finger.

Sun Wukong thought Lord Buddha was doing a trick on him and he was put under Five Elements Mountain where a paper talisman was placed on it, stopping Sun Wukong from escaping. Sun Wukong was under Five Elements mountain for five centuries where he was fed molten copper and iron pills.

The Bodhisattva Guanyin got Sun Wukong to become the disciple of a Buddhist monk by the name of Sansang, who was the one who released Sun Wukong from under the mountain. Sansang was given a headband (which he tricked to get put on Sun Wukong’s head) and a spell by Bodhisattva Guanyin. The spell was known as the Band-Tightening Spell, which when recited gave Sun Wukong much pain and it helped much to keep this troublesome monkey in control.

As a disciple of Sanzang, Sun Wukong found two others that promised to become Sanzang’s disciples and recruited them. They were known as Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing. A dragon ate Sanzang’s horse earlier on in Sanzang’s travel to the west for Buddhist scriptures, and this dragon was turned into a horse to serve as the horse he had eaten.

Over the long travel, Sun Wukong defeated many demons and after getting the scriptures his master, Sanzang, was after had attained Buddhahood with the title, “Buddha Victorious Against Disaster”.

Hades, Santa Muerte and Yen-Lo-Wang

Many fear it, many like me find it interesting. When you look at different cultures you can see how views about death and the afterlife is different, even with individual people there are many views with death. Death is something that nobody can escape and there is countless symbols for it such as of a human skull. Over the years there has been many cults to death gods and there are three who have caught my attention that highly relate to death.

There is Hades, child of Cronus and Rhea. A god who was feared to a point that people didn’t say his name and it is said to know Hades is to be dead. Hades is the eldest brother out of his siblings. When the Olympians defeated the Titans and took control, there was to be a new order that would forever determine the power structure of the gods. In Ancient Greek law there was a law that told that the eldest son should get the biggest share, but Zeus, Poseidon and Hades draw lots.  Hades draws the shortest straw which gave him the power over the underworld instead of being the ruler of the universe or the seas.
The underworld is named after Hades himself and it is well known to have several sections. In Hades, there are three places one can go, the Asphodel Meadows, a place of ordinary souls are sent, the second is of Elysium, this is the resting place of the souls of the heroic and the virtuous. There is a place where those who offended the gods go, this is the third place to be sent; Tartarus, a place so associated with the Christian Hell it gets mentioned in the New Testament in 2 Peter (2:4: “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains…”). Some translations of the Bible however simply call Tartarus ‘hell’.

Santa Muerte, Saint Death, “Our Little White Girl”, is of much worship today and its cult is much condemned by the Catholic Church in Mexico. She is said to wear a white robe and of skeletal appearance, often carrying a globe and a scythe. Santa Muerte apparently has over two million worshippers who offer her incense, food, flowers, and even cigarettes and cigars. Sadly, many associate the worship of Saint Death with doing criminal work.

The god of death and the ruler of the Fifth Court of Feng-Du (realm of the dead with all of the levels of Hells), Yen-Lo-Wang, was the formerly the King of the First Court of Hell but was accused of leniency. The Jade Emperor put another King of Hell in charge of judgement while putting Yen-Lo-Wang to the Fifth Hell. Yen-Lo-Wang is however not just in charge of what goes on in the Fifth Hell (gouging and boiling), but he himself rules over the whole of Feng-Du. Interestingly, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven, Sun Wukong, wiped his name out along with names of all the other monkeys known to him in the Book of Life and Death which granted them immortality much to Yen-Lo-Wang's displeasure.

I, personally, am interested in death and it has captivated my mind for some years now, nor am I a stranger to it anymore as I have came across death time and time again through not only animal form but plant life, too.

Bottle Gourds

The calabash, or bottle gourd, is one plant that is considered quite lucky and has had much appreciation from the Chinese. It has a hard shell which can be used as a bottle and traditionally used to carry medicine, wine, water and elixirs. Not only was the gourds shell used to carry medicine but the plant has been used as medicine itself, and from what I have heard, makes a good eating.


Gourds is popular as use as a charm for warding off evil spirits and disease thanks to its Chinese name, hulu, which the character hu in itself means ‘protect’ or ‘guard’, but not only that but also ‘blessing’. Also, hu sounds like fu to which fu means ‘good fortune’ or ‘happiness’.

The legendary Sun Wukong himself once got word that demon were on their way to capture him with their magic gourd, so he disguises himself as an immortal before meeting them. These demons were unaware that this immortal was really Sun Wukong and these demons showed off their magic gourd to which Sun Wukong himself shows an ordinary gourd to these demons but claims it can hold the entire universe within it. These demons on hearing such a claim wanted to trade their gourd for this apparent universe containing one but on the condition that it is proved that it can be done. Sun Wukong, under permission from spirits, blocks out the light of the sun, moon and stars for a single hour and is able to trick these demons into thinking that the disguised Sun Wukong has bottled up the Heaven’s, thus being able to get a magic gourd for an ordinary one. This little story about Sun Wukong and these demons also is a good story to tell about how easily people can be fooled.

Gourds are also associated with old age and charms. Interestingly enough, old men many, many years back would frequently be seen carrying gourds on their backs. One old god known as Shou, also known as the Star of Longevity, is often seen carrying a Peach of Immortality and a staff of peach wood. Shou also carries a gourd himself to which people have disagreements on what is actually in it. Some say water, others nectar, I also have heard a couple claims of Shou carrying an elixir within his gourd.

The bottle gourd itself has many tales surrounding it within China and it is also a symbol of Heaven and Earth or the universe. It is also amusing as bottle gourds tend to be in the shape of the number eight, which is considered a highly lucky number in China.

My Inspirations

As a youth I do have much to learn but like many others I do get inspired and what have inspired me throughout my life are the beliefs and mythologies of cultures.


I have been quite the fan of the game Age of Mythologies for many years and it has created much of my interest in religions across the globe. Though Age of Mythologies tells of the gods and goddesses of Egypt, Greece and of the Norse it gave limited knowledge and this is what probably gave the biggest spark with my interest in the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Though today my interest in Egypt is small I still watch shows about the beliefs of the ancient Egyptian’s and of the pharaohs when given the chance. And luckily today, I have more resources to learn about gods and goddesses of many more cultures then just of three to which I frequently use to my advantage. There are many inspiring stories to be told within mythologies such as to redeem oneself as it was with Hercules.
When I was between the ages ten to twelve I was learning Greek at school due to it being compulsory. I enjoyed it but after many years of not saying a word in Greek or having anything to keep my Greek as it was when I stopped learning the language, I remember nothing of it, but what has kept to my heart over the years from my Greek classes is of the Odyssey. To my luck I have been able to get my hands on the Odyssey itself earlier in the year thanks to needing to study it at school for one of my classes. The main man, Odysseus, I found to be a role model as soon as I originally heard the Odyssey. Odysseus himself continued on to get home to his wife and son despite the odds and the suffering he dealt with even when he got to his home land of Ithaca. It was also was his wits and quick thinking that kept Odysseus alive. This combination of a large will to do something aided with intelligence is what inspired me since childhood.

Since I am a small fan of Dragon Ball Z I do sometimes check up to see if there is anything new and one day I was wondering how the idea to create Dragon Ball Z itself came from. I did a bit of studying which lead me to Journey to the West and this is where the idea of Dragon Ball Z came from. Even the Japanese name of the monkey Journey to the West is mainly about, Son Goku, is where the name of the main character, Goku, from Dragon Ball Z is from. I eventually got myself Journey to the West to read and despite the large length of it I read from beginning to end. The monkey born from stone, Sun Wukong, is that monkey who went from a king of monkeys to a Buddha over the course of many, many years. Sun Wukong is the character who shows that even if you did great misdeeds in the past you can still atone for your previous actions and even reach Buddhahood, which I find highly inspiring.

This is what I have found inspiring within my life and many thanks to all of those have read this.