r to marry Kengyuu(Altair), a prince who lived across the "river of heaven". As the marriage of Orihime Boshii and Kengyuu blossomed, Orihime Boshii neglected her weaving and this upset and worried her father. The emperor finally decided to separate the couple by means of the "river of heaven", however, for one day out of the year(7th day of the 7th month) the couple would be allowed to be together. On that day a boatman(the moon) would ferry Orihime Boshii across the river to see her husband Kengyuu...the boatman would only come to ferry Orihime Boshii across the "river of heaven" if she had finished her weaving...id she had not finished her weaving it would rain and the river would be too flooded to cross by boat. The gods took compassion on Orihime Boshii and allowed for a group of Kasasagi(magpies) to fly into the milky way and make a magpie bridge for Orihime Boshii to cross over to the other side and see Kengyuu.Tanabata, the festival based on this legend is celebrated every year on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Japanese lunar calendar. During this festival people write wishes to the gods on strips of paper, tie these strips of paper to freshly cut bamboo, eat seasonal vegetables, and decorate horse and cow figures made out of straw or water oats. Over the years water purification ceremonies, a marriage between a weaving lady and a water god, and other such ceremonies were added to the tanabata festival celebration. II. Setsubun Setsubun, Oni Out, Happiness In Setsubun is a Japanese lunar new year festival to rid the upcoming year of bad spirits. In short, beans are thrown all over the house, on people, on business, and whatever else people want guarded from the destruction of evil spirits. People are then suppossed to eat the beans. Let's look at how astronomy plays a role in the Setsubun tradition:1. Setsubun occurs on the day before Risshun(spring).2. "The setsu of Setsubun (literally "sectional separatio...
