Kite Flying Day

Observed annually on February 8th, National Kite Flying Day is marked by kite flying enthusiasts across the country.

Kites date back to China in 470 B.C. China is full of lore and histories of the origins of the kite. Many are related to the way wind affects the leaves on the trees, the shelters they lived in, blowing away the sails on their ships and the hats they wore upon their heads. The stories also tell of kites being invented to spy on their enemies or to send messages.

There is also evidence that the people of South Sea Islands were using kites for fishing around the same time as the people of China.

Early kites were constructed from bamboo or sturdy reeds for framing. Leaves, silk or paper made ideal sails. Vines or braided fibers completed the line or tether. While kites were initially used as tools, they were also ceremonial as well. Used to send messages into the heavens or to lift offerings up to the gods, kites had a symbolic place in the culture.

For A Magickal Kite Flying Day

• Themes: Wishes; Freedom; Playfulness; Air; Movement
• Symbols: Wind; Sailing Ships
• Presiding Goddess: Shina Tsu Hime

About the Goddess Shina Tsu Hime:

This Japanese wind goddess disperses the morning fog. She also keeps away evil, distracting winds, winds that threaten to uproot or blur our spiritual focus. Because of this, Shina Tsu Hime has become the patroness of sailors and farmers, the latter of whom pray to her for fertile winds bearing seed and rain.

To do today:

Join our Eastern cousins in kite-flying festivities. Shina Tsu Hine will be glad to meet with you in a nearby park and give life to your kite. As it flies, release a wish on the winds. Or cut the kite free and liberate a weight from your shoulders.

While you’re out, gather up nine leaves that Shina Tsu Hime banters about (one for each remaning month). Turn clockwise in a circle, releasing all but one leaf back into Shina Tsu Hime’s care while saying:

Come May, bring movement in my goals.
Come June, playful love makes me whole.
Come July, my wishes I will see.
Come August, hope grows in me.
Come September, all distractions you abate.
Come October, my spirit you liberate.
Come November, my health is assured.
Come December, in my heart you endure.

Keep the last leaf with you, releasing it only when you need one of this goddess’s attributes to manifest quickly.

Kite Flying Tips

Today kites are popular both as hobbies and for outdoor fun. They range from a simple diamond kite to more complicated box kites and giant sled kites. Stunt kites, also known as sport kites, are designed so the operator can maneuver the kite into dips, twists, and dives with dramatic effect.

Go outside and fly a kite if weather permits. If not, make one inside. In some parts of the country, the time of year may make it difficult to fly a kite. There are kite festivals at various periods of the year. Use today to scout out those festivals and make a plan to join in. Use #NationalKiteFlyingDay to post on social media.

How to get your kite up in the air and keep it there:

• Be sure the kite is assembled correctly.
• Check the wind. Some kites require more wind and others less. Picking the right day for your kite is key. A light breeze (5-20 mph) is generally optimal.
• Be safe. Don’t fly the kite near power lines, trees or other sky high obstacles. Wide open spaces are best.
• Be safer. Don’t fly in the rain.
• When launching the kite, be sure to have your back to the wind. If the wind is light, have a friend hold the kite down wind and hold your line taught, reeling in slowly until the kite launches.
• Don’t let the line out too quickly. Let the line out at the same pace the kite is gaining altitude.

Kite Flying Quotes

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.
~Anais Nin

Kites fly highest against the wind, not with it.
~Winston Churchill

A kite needs to be tied down in order to fly. I learned how important restrictions can sometimes be in order to experience freedom.
~Damien Rice

You will find truth more quickly through delight than gravity. Let out a little more string on your kite.
~Alan Cohen

My wife holds the kite strings that let me go ‘weeeeeee’, then she reels me back in.
~Jeff Bridges

Strong people are made by opposition like kites that go up against the wind.
~Frank Harris

Sources:

• National Day Calendar
• 365 Goddess