My husband, Ross is a Daoist priest, so I get to witness and sometimes participate in some pretty cool rituals. This is one of my favorites.
Duānwǔ
(端午), also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, falls annually on the 5th lunar day of the 5th lunar month, and is an important day in the Daoist and Chinese medicine calendars. It marks the peak of yang-qi, and is said to coincide with the height of activity of poisonous insects and critters. A most toxic time of the year, Daoists take precautions, which include the making of protective talismans, the ritual harvesting and blessings of mugwort/artemesia vulgaris (aiye 艾叶), as well as sweet flag/calamus (changpu 菖蒲), and the hanging of them at house and business entrances.
Another reminder of what nature provides… and the magic all around us.