This week in Northern Thailand we are celebrating the Lunar Festival of Loy Kratong – a unique and romantic festival dedicated to the Goddess of the Waters, Mae Khongkha.
It is the loveliest of all the Thai festivals, I think, taking place for three nights under the light of the full moon. Traditionally, people launch small banana leaf boats into the rivers. The boats are beautifully decorated and filled with flowers, incense and tiny candles. With their “Kratongs”, people ask forgiveness for anything they have done to harm or pollute the rivers and they give thanks for the water that has brought an abundant harvest.
Many cultures have similar ceremonies that honor water and in many places wells, rivers and springs are considered especially sacred. In Interior Alignment™, we see the element of Water as having vital, purifying properties and we often use it in Space Clearing Ceremonies. Water is healing. Water is essential to life. And, it is one of our most precious resources on Earth.
Research by Dr. Masaru Emoto shows that water molecules can change to reflect the impact of prayer, appreciation, love and gratitude. His incredible photographs show that even simple acts of honoring water can make a big difference.
So, I invite you, next time you are near the ocean, or at a lake or a river, take a flower or a leaf in your hands. Say a blessing or a prayer of thanks and imagine the flower taking in that blessing. Then, release the flower into the water, feeling your blessing being transmitted to the water though the flower.
Through simple rituals such as this, we can cleanse and heal the waters of the Earth. We can be reminded of our connection to nature and our place in the Web of Life.
Copyright 2007, Deb Swingholm. All rights reserved.
Tags: healing, Loy Kratong, Masaru Emoto, purification, Thailand, water ceremony
