From Kumomisaki Town, to everyone
We have received a letter from afar from Jessica, a fortune teller who diligently writes our daily horoscopes.
#WhatAreYouTalkingAbout
Jessica works as a fortune teller at a shop called cortaho in Kumomisaki Town. I've heard cortaho is a cafe bar, but I haven't been there yet, so I don't know much about it. I have a feeling it's on the second or third floor of a long, narrow building, and the fortune telling was done on the upper floor.
I do clearly remember that the first floor was a confectionery shop called Korutaho. I believe they provided fresh pastries to the Okame Cafe in the suburbs.
It seems cortaho has a strong bar element, so the cute sweets from Korutaho don't seem to be very popular there.
Oh, I wasn't talking about sweets, was I?
Well then, please enjoy the letter from Jessica.
Hello to everyone on Earth. This is Jessica.
Thank you for always reading my horoscopes.
I am a fortune teller in a place called Kumomisaki Town, located in a world very far from where you all live.
According to what I heard from Pachiko, the people living here spend their days in much the same way as you do. Eating and sleeping. That is the foundation here as well. Within that, people live their lives worrying about various things and feeling joy.
In my world, fortune telling is sometimes used not to know the future that has yet to be seen, but to unravel the past. This is because, as I always convey in my horoscopes, everything is a cycle.
A cycle does not just mean the past and the present. It also applies to life and death, and the relationship between gaining and losing power. And it also applies to the ups and downs of fortune.
If you are alive—or rather, as long as you exist in any form—there will be good times and bad times. Listening to the stories of many people, I have noticed that what happens afterward can change significantly depending on how that person perceives things.
I know someone who is so lucky that anyone would envy them. Don't you think they must have been born under a special star? However, this person has the same ordinary luck as everyone else. By ordinary, I mean that while good things happen, bad things happen too.
When I first met this person, their luck was at an all-time low. However, they laughed brightly and laughed off my fortune telling. It's not that they don't believe in fortune telling. They said that even if it were true, it would be fine.
And then, they overcame that difficulty without any trouble. If you look at them in reality, you can see that this description is also wrong. In truth, they were just 'enjoying' it. They didn't think of any difficulty as suffering. They would be sad enough to exaggerate it, and if they failed, they would regret it as much as they could. Even so, they never remained trapped there.
There are people who get terribly depressed in the same situation as him. I think that is normal, and sometimes, feeling down is also necessary in the sense of a 'cycle'.
What is not good is blaming others or envying those who are doing well. There is also a 'cycle' to negative energy. It would be fine if it cycled between positive and negative, but if you get dragged into the negative side, it becomes difficult to return from there.
That became a bit of a difficult topic. It's a bad habit of mine.
Pachiko asked me to talk about the stars. Although I am a fortune teller, I also love astronomy itself. Since ancient times, fortune tellers have also been called 'star readers.' Watching the stars cycle and determining the past and future was an important duty.
Among those of you reading this, there may be some who do not believe in fortune telling. Some may wonder what on earth you can tell by looking at the stars in the sky. It is often said that the position of the stars in the sky cannot possibly influence life or society.
However, I do not think so. Perhaps I think that way because I am a fortune teller, but I feel that the world is connected everywhere. The fact that you exist here now and are reading what I have written, whether by necessity or coincidence, is not an event that happens in isolation. At the very least, it would not be possible without me, you, and Pachiko.
Ultimately, that is something that could not happen without this planet, the stars that illuminate it, and the vast world that spreads out beyond this sky. Though it becomes a bit of a crowded story if I include myself.
I have heard that the planet you live on is a planet that orbits a star. It takes a certain amount of force for a planet to orbit a star without drifting away. I think you can understand if you try spinning a ball attached to a string around yourself. Imagine how much force that would be if it were a large star.
The further away you go, the harder it is to stay on track. The longer you make that string, the more you will fail to maintain the same orbit unless you apply force skillfully, right? In other words, a great force is at work between each planet and the star at the center.
Even though space is vast, don't you think it's hard to imagine that it is completely unaffected by that force? At the very least, just by which side the star is on, a major difference like day and night occurs.
The fortune-telling cards I use represent the stars of the world I live in, as well as the guardian deities and their messengers passed down from ancient times.
Just like your world, the planet I live on is a planet that orbits a star. I have translated it as 'Sun' for clarity, but in reality, we call it 'Shin.' Pachiko asked me if it was the 'Shin' of the center or the 'Shin' of truth, but since the language is a bit different to begin with, that must be a coincidence. That said, I don't really know where the actual etymology lies.
The other stars orbit in the order of 'Knowledge,' 'Life (Living),' 'Light,' 'Stone,' 'Earth,' 'Wind,' 'Nothingness (Death),' 'Fire,' 'Wealth,' 'Time,' 'Water,' 'Darkness,' and 'Soul' from the center.
I live on the 'Star of Light.' It is said that it looks very bright when seen from the outside, but I have never been outside, so I don't know.
Originally, it seems we lived on the 'Star of Earth.' From there, we migrated to the 'Star of Light' and the 'Star of Wind.' We had long-standing exchanges with the two stars, but since communication was cut off a while ago, I don't know how they are doing now. It is certain that they are far away and the stars are cycling. Although I say 'a while ago,' it was before I was born, which is why I have never left this star.
This "Star of Light" has three satellites. What you would call "moons." We call them the "Sea Moon," the "Dark Moon," and the "Time Moon," respectively.
There is also moon-viewing in this world. We do it in the autumn, just like you. Since there are three of them, we can enjoy it for a long time. Depending on the year, the moon with the shortest orbit can even have two moon-viewing periods. It's all-you-can-eat dango, which I think Pachiko-san would love.
Each of the three moons has its own role.
The one that corresponds to the "moon" in your world is the "Sea Moon." One full cycle of this moon corresponds exactly to "one month." Here, "one month" is about 22 days. For the slight discrepancy, a "leap" is added in the same way. Since a year has eight months, it might seem to you that time passes very quickly.
In reality, I recall that about two and a half to three years here was about one year for you. Detailed calculations are difficult, so I accidentally forget them. When I try to contact Pachiko-san, it is not uncommon for things to be completely off.
Regarding the moon, Yuzuko-san from Okame Cafe summarized it in an easy-to-understand way in the Hotaruko Newsletter. I have obtained permission to quote it.
It is the moon that serves as the basis for the old calendar.
When it is a full moon and at its highest point, it is white, but it can shine blue depending on the time of day or the season.
It can become an emerald green like that seen in the shallows of southern islands, or a deep blue that reminds one of the deep, cold ocean.
The prevailing theory is that it was named this because it looks as if various seas can be seen inside the moon.
By the way, there were several expressions in foreign languages that were the same.
Actually, it seems this "Sea Moon" has the greatest influence on us.
It is also greatly involved in the ebb and flow of the tides and the activities of living things.
There was also a theory that it was named "Sea Moon" for that reason as well.
The "Time Moon" rotates more slowly than the "Sea Moon." It is large, but its light is very faint, and it is not very visible even when full.
Instead, a smaller satellite orbiting this moon shines. This is a star called the "True Star" or "Firefly Star," which waxes and wanes over a period of 5 days.
This waxing and waning has also been used for divination and calendars since ancient times. It seems that in many regions, it is still used as what you would call a "week."
According to Yuzuko-san, there are various theories about its origin, but what I know is that it became the "Time Moon"—the moon that marks time—from the movement of this True Star. The Sea Moon indicates a longer period. It seems it was called the "thing that marks time" to mean that it represents a finer period.
Actually... I didn't understand at all.
When I looked it up, various things came up, but there were so many theories that I didn't know how to summarize them.
If anyone knows, please, by all means, tell me.
Smaller stars orbit this "Time Moon."
These small stars are called "True Stars" or "Firefly Stars."
It seems to depend on the region, but in regions where they are called "True Stars," it seems the "True Star" is placed as the main focus rather than the "Time Moon."
This is because while the "Time Moon" has a very pale, gentle light, the "True Star" shines brightly and powerfully.
The reason it is called the "Firefly Star" is because this star rotates quickly, so a full moon, so to speak, arrives in just five days.
Here in Kumomisaki, of course, it is loved as the "Firefly Star."
The final "Dark Moon" looks even darker.
As it is responsible for "coldness" in divination, it has a color that makes one feel a bit uneasy somewhere.
Of the three moons, I like this Dark Moon the best. When I say that, people tend to think I'm a strange person, but I find value in its quiet existence within the darkness.
There is hope even in the darkness. This moon, which is darker than the dark sky and yet glows dully, seems to be a symbol of that.
It is the smallest of the three moons.
And its light is very weak, and it has a dark color.
Even when it is a full moon, it is so hard to see that you have to search the dark night sky earnestly.
At one time, this "Dark Moon" was thought to be the shadow of the "Sea Moon."
It was also said to attract bad things on the ground, or to attract bad things and bewilder people.
It was once called the "Shadow Moon," but it seems "Dark Moon" became established here at the end of the 1980s.
It has become quite long.
I hope that even a little bit of our world has been conveyed, though I feel I have only talked about unnecessary things. It might have been different from what you intended, Pachiko-san.
Finally, in any form or existence, "being" often involves pain. Sometimes, you may encounter difficulties that you cannot overcome on your own.
There is always someone by your side who will help you.
Even so, if you find yourself with nothing left to cling to, please remember me. On some distant star, I am waiting for the day I can be of help to you.
Jessica
What you choose to believe is up to you.
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