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Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby
The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk
The rain makes running pools in the gutter
The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night
And I love the rain.
-April Rain Song, Langston Hughes
rainy day at UCI
I love the rain.
Maybe it’s a product of being raised primarily in sunny Southern California, where rainy days were few and far between. Rainy days meant indoor lunches in elementary school, warm sweaters and boots, and an unspeakable excitement for some novelty.
I love the percussiveness of rain, filling the usually-still-and-silent air with noise, a musical score composed by nature itself. I love its aesthetic beauty, adding a glowy haze to our typical surroundings.
I love the rain.
Prof. Wasserstrom’s lectures traced the ways ideas morph and change, evolve, and take on new meaning.
One such symbol is the Yin & Yang, which he discussed briefly as having been recontextualized in different cultures and historical periods. Though originally used in Daoist philosophy, where it described the natural balance of the Yin (darkness, cold, passivity) and the Yang (light, warmth, activity), its meaning has largely transformed in the Western World after being used as a symbol for counterculture, spirituality, and peace movements, recontextualized as a symbol of harmony and “good and evil.” In recent periods, the symbol has been commercialized and utilized in branding for wellness and self-help.
In this way, we can see that symbols evolve both through space and time.
The same symbol, concept, or idea can be taken in different ways by different people at different times.
It could stand in for two vastly different emotions.
Many of these symbols are highly nuanced and intricate.
--> A visual symbol that takes on this same recontextualization and change is rain.
credit: Pinterest
Rain.
Rain.
The concept of "rain" traverses the world, taking on new meanings and interpretations. if we see cultures as built worlds, rain fits into their construction in different ways.
sources
sources
Japan: https://www.tjf.or.jp/takarabako/japaneseculture/14rain.htm
Native America: http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/native/dance/rain_zuni.htm; https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/5512
Aztec: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tlaloc
Europe & The West: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder
India: https://www.thehansindia.com/featured/sunday-hans/rain-and-spirituality-888268
Africa: https://sk.sagepub.com/ency/edvol/africanreligion/chpt/rain
In film, rain is utilized as a tool to evoke a wide range of emotions. Though rain is a singular concept, it is reshaped to serve many different purposes.
rain - romantic & free
Rain is free-falling. In this scene, rain represents the joy in spontaneity and yielding to uncontrollable circumstances. Though Allie initially is upset by the rain, she eventually lets go, laughing and enjoying its freshness. As they confess to one another in the rain, making up, rain makes up the backdrop for a romantic moment.
rain - melancholy & cold
In this scene, rain takes on a more oppressive connotation: the coldness of rain functions almost as punishment to Peter. Rain can be interpreted as a metaphor for tears, evoking melancholy and sorrow. This cold, depressive tone of rain is another valid contextualization of the symbol.
rain - calm & mysterious
In this scene, the rain is gentle and calming, softly hitting Satsuki's umbrella. With the appearance of Totoro comes a mysterious element to the rain. Rain, because of its properties of disrupting visibility, is often associated with mystery and wonder.
rain - emotional intensity & clarity
Rain typically has connotations of clarity, for its ability to "wash away" the facades of our character, just as water "washes away" impurities from the air. Darcy and Elizabeth both are able to clear the air by expressing their feelings, and the rain adds to the emotional height of their vulnerability.
I am also particularly interested in how rain is reinterpreted and recontextualized in songs.
happy happy happy
With it's crisp articulations, sharp vibrato, chipper instrumentation, and whimsical vocals, Singin' in the Rain is a song that feels like frolicking. In this song, rain is seen as a delight in the world, evoking the desire to sing, dance, and skip.
uncertainty and incongruity
Contrasting with the song above, Have You Ever Seen the Rain speaks to the disjointedness and incongruity of seeing the rain on a sunny day. It becomes a metaphor for the looming sorrow and unease that is to come, even on a "sunny," or good day.
even in my own life, rain has undergone changes in meaning, relevance and association.
to conclude...
Symbols and ideas are constantly evolving and changing, transforming anew in relation to historical, cultural, and temporal contexts. The Yin & Yang has evolved from simply a Daoist symbol to a universal one of balance, harmony, and peace, just as rain as a universal symbol has come to mean both joy, tranquility, and deep sorrow. This fluidity of an entity's meaning showcases the power of worldbuilding. Those who interact, analyze, and connect with an idea or object give it new meaning, reshaping and reimagining what it could mean and represent. Nothing is ever set in stone, and everything is continuously being added to, being changed, being rebuilt.
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