Light 02: Diwali

By Circe -

Welcome to the 2023 Advent Calendar, which this year is just a list of things that light up all pretty. Previous entries are here. If you enjoy this and want to encourage me to bang more things out on a keyboard, consider supporting my Patreon, or sending something off of my Christmas list. If you'd rather support my spoiled pets, their Ratmas list is here. If you want to spend money but not on me, you can direct your donations to Mainely Rat Rescue, who handles rescue and foster operations for rats, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, and other small mammals in the New England area, or the MSPCA, where my critters got their medical care before I found a good exotics vet, and where I picked up Koda and Yogi. 

Enjoy your trip through the cavalcade of things that go blinky-blink in the dark!
A rat family celebrating Diwali
The Indian holiday Diwali was last month, right around when the US was celebrating Thanksgiving. Primarily Hindu in origin, it's also celebrated by many people of the Jain or Buddhist traditions. Which god or gods it is attached to seems to vary by faith and region; the main common features are decorations with lamps and candles, and passing out candy to anyone who will stand still long enough to take it. That's how I found out when it was this year -- I happened to be in an Indian classical dance class around the right time, and while I'm always appreciative of cashew candy and chocolate truffles, I had to ask why everyone was suddenly trying to hand them to me.

Diwali is one of many winter holidays around the world that are colloquially known as the "festival of lights". The human impulse to bring spots of brightness into the winter dark is universal. You gather with loved ones, make sure everyone is warm and well-fed, pray for prosperity to come with the return of the springtime sun, and cover absolutely everything with shiny things and blinky lights. 

If you have ever seen a Hindu wedding, you know that celebrations in India go all out with personal and environmental decorations. Diwali is not an exception. The front rat in the image is holding a shallow oil lamp called a diya, which are traditionally arranged to form glowing patterns on the floor for the multi-day Diwali celebrations. The rats, being tiny, only have a few to work with, but you can see much larger, more elaborate patterns in some of the Wikimedia illustrations. If you prefer a more modern look, there are companies that specialize in using LED smart lighting to create elaborate Diwali displays that cover your entire building.

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