Sailors had a vested interest in encouraging the wind when they were becalmed. Scratching the mast of the ship was one method. An alternative method, though fraught with danger, was to whistle softly. Whistling loudly risked causing a gale. You could also pay the elements for a wind by tossing a coin overboard.
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Pamela Chen and Samantha Blossom, authors of the new The Mandarin Tree.
As modern Asian American mystics, we love to work with the heavenly creatures, or what you may know as mystical beings in...