The Heavenly Loom
The heavenly loom is the celestial weaving frame of Zhinü, the Weaver Girl, who in Chinese myth wove the patterned clouds of the sky beside the Heavenly River, the Milky Way. When she married the cowherd Niulang and neglected her weaving, the Jade Emperor or the Queen Mother of the West separated the pair across the river, allowing them to meet only once a year; on the seventh night of the seventh month, magpies form a bridge over the river and the lovers reunite. The tale, first recorded in Han-era poetry, became the origin of the Qixi festival, the Chinese Valentine's day, when girls pray to