BEDAK SEJUK ON QI XI

Eventhough today is actually the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (Qi-Xi) but the actual celebrations were carried out late last night. The Chinese believed that worshipping the Weaver Girl goddess or Zhi Nu would be grant the person skills in embroidery like the goddess herself. As bonus the worshipper would be also have good housekeeping skills. In days of yore, a girl's fate was limited to being a good wife and mother, and possessing good embroidery skill is something to shout about. Therefore since the days of Han Dynasty, many young females, married or unmarried would pay homage to the Seventh Sister Fairy on Qi-Xi festival, hoping to get a good match and to be a good homemaker.
Those families who practice this ritual would normally set up an altar in the compounds or gardens of their houses. A festoon (a sort of garland) is placed in the garden or courtyard and the single or newly married women in the household would make an offering to Niu Lang and Zhi Nu consisting of fruit, flowers, tea, and facial powder (cosmetics). After finishing the offering, half of the facial powder is thrown on the roof and the other half is divided among the young women. In this way the women are bound in beauty with Zhi Nu! A long time ago a popular event of the night was to pass a thread through the needle facing the bright moon, and those who managed to do so are said to be good in embroidery.
The traditional Chinese cosmetic used last time was made from high quality broken rice and fragrance derived from pandan leaves. Some use the bedak sejuk or beauty rice powder (see above picture) that they have made instead of the commercial cosmetic rice powder for the prayer ceremony. It is said that the ladies who used the bedak sejuk used for the prayer ceremony would be blessed with the gift of beauty.

My Aunt May would also collect water from the taps at around midnight and then soak rice in the water to make bedak sejuk or beauty rice powder. She uses good quality rice. The rice would be left to soak in the water for an entire year and only during the next double seven festival will it be used to make bedak sejuk.

Here is the process of how to make bedak sejuk using water collected on 7/7 day. You actually can make it in a few months but my instructions are for this special type of bedak sejuk.

1. The amount of rice to use is dependant on how much bedak sejuk you wish to make.
2. Make sure that you buy high quality rice.
3. The rice is then submerged in water for a whole year (until the next 7/7).
4. Then the rice powder is cleaned and place into either a cylindrical funnerl or a piece of cloth to make the beads of bedak sejuk. (Some people would just make rice powder cakes and just break them into pieces).
5. The rice drops are placed together with pandan leaves and then dried in the sun and later filled in bottles.

Oh! My Aunt May says that if it rains on this day, try to collect the water and use it to wash your face as the water is supposed to be blessed. Too bad I was in school when it rained in the morning and so I forgot to collect the water.