Wu (fortuneteller)

"earth"

- I'll tell you a little secret, young Airbender. Just as you reshaped those clouds, you have the power to shape your own destiny.

Wu (more commonly referred to as Aunt Wu) is a fortuneteller who resides in Makapu Village near the active volcano Mt. Makapu. Well-regarded for her free and accurate readings, every prediction she makes is taken as gospel by the village at large. Her methods of divination run from palmistry to oracle bones and cloud reading. She is also helped in her hut by her assistant, Meng.

History
When Aunt Wu's cloud readings predicted the nearby volcano would not destroy the village, Katara and Aang accepted the reading, while the more skeptical Sokka grew frustrated with the populace's blind faith. After an expedition to the volcano proved that the volcano had become very active, the three found the only way to convince the villagers of the impending danger was to manipulate the clouds through Waterbending and Airbending, deliberately shaping them to elicit a more accurate reading. After the villagers were convinced the town was in danger, they helped Aang and the others to successfully protect the village from the volcano's fiery lava. Since the town was not destroyed just as Aunt Wu predicted, the villagers believed in Aunt Wu's fortune telling all the more, much to the displeasure and frustration of Sokka.

Unlike her brother, Katara became enthralled by the mysticism of fortune telling and the notion of knowing her future. Her reading predicted that she would one day marry a powerful Bender, which sent an eavesdropping Aang into elation. Sokka later noted on the immensity of Aang's bending power as he saved the village, which caused Katara to make a connection between Aang and her fortune.

After they saved the village, Aang returned the book to her, and she seemed angry at first, accusing them of playing with the clouds. But she then tells them that this was very clever. Surprisingly, Aunt Wu freely admited that she did not believe in any kind of predestination, claiming that her predictions would come true only if a person wished them to. She also appeared to find Iroh attractive (as many older women tend to do).

Trivia

 * Aunt Wu first appears in "The Fortuneteller". She also makes a short appearance in "Bato of the Water Tribe".
 * Wu may be written in Chinese as 巫, a rare surname meaning "shaman" or "sorceress". Shamanism was widespread in ancient China from the Shang dynasty until the Han. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, their preferred divination techniques was the reading of oracle bones- which Aunt Wu demonstrates in the show.
 * Aunt Wu's prediction of Katara marrying a powerful bender will come true, since Aang and Katara end up marrying and having at least one child, as revealed in The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra.
 * Perhaps coincidentally, "woo" is also a slang term used by skeptics to describe superstitious nonsense such as astrology and fortune telling.
 * Aunt Wu's headpiece is an upside-down symbol of the wise, the symbol Sokka got during Bato of the Water Tribe.

Тётя Ву