Just got home from my first guitar lesson. I met Devon at her house, a cute little thing that she has with her husband, also a musician. I feel encouraged by her
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Diwali, as with many holidays in Indian culture, has many stories surrounding it. There are many 'reasons' why we celebrate it, and as many mythological personae involved.
Diwali is called the 'festival of lights.' Its a fun holiday; people light little lamps (diyas) and set off firecrackers. Nowadays, people also string tons of christmas lights in windows and trees. Its also the fiscal new year: people take this time to revere the prospect of prosperity. Its not worshipping money, but rather respecting what money, hard work and luck will do for one's fate. Children are given new clothes to wear, and generally a new item is bought for the household.
The story I most remember is that of Rama. He's the son of a king who was exiled from the kingdom by one of his stepmoms. During that time Rama engaged in a mythological heroic quest, and upon his return, the kingdom was lit with as many lamps that the people could muster. That day is what we celebrate as diwali.
We celebrate by having sweets (mithai), gambling (for pennies in my family :P) and generally spending time with each other. We also do a prayer: we set up a spot with paintings of the gods and goddesses, some flowers, some mithai, some coins and other things I'm forgetting about. Usually we start by telling the stories of diwali. Then we say some prayers, usually to the goddess of prosperity, the goddess of knowledge and some other beings. These just consist of praises and the like. Then we eat a bite of the sweets and put a red dot on our forehead as a blessing from god.
There's a bit more to it than that; I just checked out the wikipedia entry and its pretty good, so that's a place to start.
Diwali is called the 'festival of lights.' Its a fun holiday; people light little lamps (diyas) and set off firecrackers. Nowadays, people also string tons of christmas lights in windows and trees. Its also the fiscal new year: people take this time to revere the prospect of prosperity. Its not worshipping money, but rather respecting what money, hard work and luck will do for one's fate. Children are given new clothes to wear, and generally a new item is bought for the household.
The story I most remember is that of Rama. He's the son of a king who was exiled from the kingdom by one of his stepmoms. During that time Rama engaged in a mythological heroic quest, and upon his return, the kingdom was lit with as many lamps that the people could muster. That day is what we celebrate as diwali.
We celebrate by having sweets (mithai), gambling (for pennies in my family :P) and generally spending time with each other. We also do a prayer: we set up a spot with paintings of the gods and goddesses, some flowers, some mithai, some coins and other things I'm forgetting about. Usually we start by telling the stories of diwali. Then we say some prayers, usually to the goddess of prosperity, the goddess of knowledge and some other beings. These just consist of praises and the like. Then we eat a bite of the sweets and put a red dot on our forehead as a blessing from god.
There's a bit more to it than that; I just checked out the wikipedia entry and its pretty good, so that's a place to start.
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