“A turtle is at the heart of the Lo Shu Square mythology,” Rachel said. “In ancient China, there was an incredible flood. In fact, flood narratives are nearly universal, all of them telling stories of massive changes to human civilization. Anyway, during this flood, people offered sacrifices to the Luo River, hoping to assuage the god causing the flooding. A turtle emerged from the water, and it had a strange pattern on its back.”

