Festivals

by Buff This is a season of festivals – Hanukah and Thanksgiving, for two. Giving thanks for miracles, for friends, family, health. Rejoicing in lights as we head into the dark winter. My brother and sister-in-law are currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand. They recently participated in an annual festival of lights, called Yi Peng, which involves releasing floating lanterns into the air. The lanterns are paper with candles inside, and the hot air allows the lanterns to ascend. Your lantern also carries your hopes and wishes for the coming year. As you can see from the photo, it is a spectacular sight! The Thais also enjoy fireworks, (as do I) but this gentle sky full of tiny lights puts fireworks to shame. Another festival that was celebrated at the same time was Loi Krathong. Participants release krathongs, which are little boats of palm leaves, flowers, incense sticks and candles, into the river. They not only show respect to the river, but let feelings of bad deeds and unworthy thoughts leave them along with the boats. We should all take a lesson from these festivals. We need to show more respect for rivers and all of nature’s other glories, and more humility to own up to our bad thoughts and let them go. We need more gentle, meaningful celebrations of light in our lives, and less noise and gunpowder.