Light the Lanterns! From spirituality to socialising to spectacle, the rubescent gleam of lanterns vies with the brilliance of the Full Moon as Day 15 of the Spring Festival explodes in the dazzling climax of the Lantern Festival, ushering in bright hope for a wholesome and prosperous year ahead! Amidst this revelry is also a time for reflection and reunion. तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय holds special meaning as we seek to move with purpose from the darkness of ignorance unto the light of understanding.
The Lantern Festival brings hope to people and spirits alike! Lost and wandering souls are guided to their destinies by the light of lanterns carried along the streets by their families, as malevolent spirits are guided away from homes. It is an evening to also honour nature and higher beings.
As for the spirit, so for the mind! Learning never stops even on Day 15 of the Spring Festival as the Lantern Festival offers pleasurable intellectual stimulation for all ages in the form of riddle slips attached to lanterns, conveying befuddling puzzles, pithy wisdom, and omens. Try one: Which is faster, hot or cold? This is also a day of love. In times long gone, evenings around the Lantern Festival offered an opportunity for otherwise cloistered young women to be out and about with the community, admiring the spectacle of light while being secretly admired by potential suitors. Each attempting to convey their love through heartfelt poems delicately concealed within these lantern riddles:
"If there is light in the soul,
There will be beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person,
There will be harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house,
There will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world."
- Chinese Proverb
Wishing everyone a bright Lantern Festival and a happy Lunar New Year!
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