The Korean Fox’s wedding” (여우비, yeoubi, literally “fox rain”).

Have you ever been caught in a sun shower? That magical moment when rain falls from a cloudless sky and the world seems to glitter? In Korea, this isn't just a weather quirk, it's a secret ceremony. Folklore whispers that this ethereal light is the lanterns of a hidden procession, and the rain is the tears of a fox spirit taking a mate. Welcome to the Fox’s Wedding, a tale where nature’s paradox reveals a profound truth about life itself.

In a time when the world was closer to the spirits, there was a saying among the villages nestled in the mountains and fields: beware the day when the sun shines through the rain.

On such days, the elders would gather the children close and tell them the tale. They said this strange weather was a sign of the Fox’s Wedding. A clever fox spirit, a creature of both magic and mischief, was taking a mate. Their procession was a secret, spectral thing, a celebration meant only for the eyes of spirits. To stumble upon it was a dangerous fortune, one might receive a wondrous blessing or a terrible curse, for foxes are creatures of paradox.

The rain, they said, was the tears of the fox, weeping for all the tricks and paths not taken. The sunlight was its joyful grin, shining with the cleverness of a life fully lived.

And so, the phenomenon of sun-shower became known as fox rain, a moment where two opposites existed as one. It was not purely happy, nor purely sad, but a mysterious and beautiful blend of both, a truth hidden in plain sight.

This old tale holds a deep wisdom for the autumn of our lives. The final stage of our journey is much like the Fox’s Wedding. It is a time of reflection, where we look back on the long path we have walked.

The sunlight is our Integrity, the warm glow of acceptance. It is the feeling of a story well-told, of love given and received, of pride in our work and laughter in our memories. It is the wisdom to see the pattern in the tapestry of our days.

But coexisting with the sun is the rain, our Despair. These are the cool drops of regret for words unsaid, paths untraveled, and mistakes made. It is the sorrow for what “could have been,” the grief for lost time and loved ones gone.

The fox teaches us that wisdom is not the absence of rain, but the understanding that both sun and rain fall upon the same field. A life of integrity is not one without regret, but one where we can hold our gratitude and our grief together, acknowledging that both are essential threads in the same rich tapestry. The final blessing is to stand in the fox rain, feel both at once, and know that your story, in all its joy and sorrow, was your own.