Your weekly, friendly froroscope! (1-10-07)

My friend Frathy* (Names have been changed to protect their identities) invited me to her son, Fram's 1st birthday. Now most of you are probably thinking, whoopee, 1st birthday, but in Korean culture, the first birthday was something to celebrate. Way back when (and if you think about it, even now) children who survived to their first birthday were given a special celebration called the Ttol (or dol). Actually, the first day of celebration (beyond the birth) is 100 days. Because if you lasted to 100 days (Baek-il), you were really doing well.

So the first birthday is called the Chut-tol and at the party, the Toljabi is performed. Here, the child wears a han-bok (traditional Korean outfit) and is set in front of a table of plenty (mostly stacked fruit, candies, sweet rice cakes which show to your guests the wealth and plenty of your family and which later, will be given out as treats for the guests). See Fram's table:


The child has to choose from several items (listed below) which will predict his/her future. They include:

-bow and arrow: the child will become a warrior
-needle and thread/noodles: the child will live long
-jujube: the child will have many descendants
-book, pencil, or related items: the child will become a successful scholar
-rice or rice cake: the child will become rich (some resources say choosing a rice cake means the child is not smart)
-ruler, needle, scissors: the child will be talented with his/her hands
-knife: the child will be a good cook
-money: the child will become rich

Now, most parents want the child to choose money because dammit, someone has to pay for college. Fram chose the noodles, rice and money!

Here's a photo of Fram with his hanbok on -- too cute!!! And he even wore the hat for most of the morning.


Here's a photo of me from my tol.


Just kidding. My friend Freven made this one up. I did have a tol, but no one can remember what I chose.

[Note: most of this text was stolen from this site]
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After a week of really weird weather (70F in NYC???), it is now snowing outside. However, from my window at work, the snow is traveling from the ground to the sky. Which shows me that this is Satan's snow and the devil's work. Everyone who said they would be sitting next to me in hell, get ready! I'll see you there!

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This week's horoscopes are dedicated to:

HAPPY B-DAY to Fram
HAPPY BELATED B-DAY to my nephew, Fraham
HAPPY B-DAY to Fremily Ferstle
Dedicated reader since 2006, Harris R. (or Frarris Fr.)
Frobyn aka "The Girl Who Ate Everything" (http://www.roboppy.net/food/ ) - WELCOME BACK
Frarey, Freven, Fralex and Frephany - SRIPRAPHAI mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Frasha - sorry I bailed!

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Copyright 2007 by Rob Brezsny