Archive for the ‘ying and yang’ tag
Origins of Moon Parties no comments
Those religions that are now regarded as ‘pagan’ came before the main organized religions of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is slightly different as it has evolved over thousands of years and still contains traces of religious beliefs that probably go back to the very dawn of man.
Many of the main religions around the world have interesting regional differences that reveal lot of local culture. For example, Tibetan Buddhism still aspects of the earlier Bon religion. In Japan people don’t see the contradiction of worshiping both Buddha and Shinto gods. In Buddhist temples you can often see statues of Shinto gods, often as ‘guardians’ to the Buddhist temple.
In China there is a strong ‘pagan’ aspect to Taosim. The Tao or way is often equated with a force of nature as well as an ideal to aspire to. Pagan religions tend to pantheistic and to also invest significance to primary apsects of nature such as the sun and the moon. In Chinese symbolism the sun is the male and the moon is the female. The sun is the ying and the moon is the yang.
In other countries literature reveals that the moon is associated with inconsistency. It constantly changes. It fits the rhythm of female menstruation. In Western culture the moon is a force that can incite madness. The word lunacy is a good example of this cultural vestige. The Romantic poets also invested the moon with the association with the much vaunted imagination.
In Thailand spirit worship is mixed in with Buddhism in common forms of worship. They have taken the worship of the moon a new step forward by inventing the Full Moon Party. There are moon parties now all over Thailand where tourists gather. The first and still the biggest is the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan island. It is held on Haad Rin Sunrise Beach and often attracts over 20,000 people who go a bit mad under the full moon. This madness, however, is probably caused by alcohol rather than any lunar influence.
It is likely that moon parties were common in the world pre-history, and it should come as no surprise that they are making a come back. At the same time the ideology of environmentalism is growing in importance. This ideology fits in very well with the reverence that paganism afford to nature.
Further research: the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan