PHOTO: Moonrise, Victoria, Australia


This is a photo of moonrise, around 9pm in the month of March, as seen from my front yard in Rowville (about 30km South East of Melbourne city) in Victoria, Australia.

I chose this picture for two reasons: 1) the hand-held shot in low light led to a "painting on canvas" effect in the sky and clouds (which rendered very interesting colours) and 2) the symbolism of light and darkness.

Firstly, the colours in the sky, although muted, show a range of greys, purples, and indigo, with hints of pink. Then there is the white of the moon, which, to the naked eye at the time I took the shot, appeared a dusky yellow. The moon was full and very bright and, as you can see from the shot, lit up the sky so well and almost caused a flare on the lens. True beauty before our very eyes.

Secondly, the symbolism of light in darkness. In the picture there is a small source of light compared to the vast darkness surrounding it. This is symbolic of the world we currently live in: there is a small source of spiritual light within humanity surrounded by vast masses of darkness (evil) and spiritual deficiency (ignorance and lack of enlightenment). Despite the darkness, the light prevails and illuminates almost all of the world. 

It is only when the light is removed - through a new moon - when the earth sits between the sun and the moon, that darkness prevails. This symbolism is also quite significant - the earth (representing humanity and its fallen governors), comes between the sun (representing the light of God) and the moon (representing the reflection of God's light, or enlightenment, on the world) to cause a temporary state of darkness. However, even then, the darkness is temporary, because eventually the moon moves around the earth so that the earth is no longer in the way of the sun, and the moon once again reflects the light of the sun onto the earth.

The light never stops, the earth blocks it. But the light always re-emerges, and those who are conscious of it will see it and bathe in its beauty.


Image: Moonrise in March, Rowville, Victoria, Australia. Copyright - Michael Beaton

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Religious or Spiritual?

Image
There is confusion between religion and spirituality, and the many different definitions on what each might mean serve to confuse things even more. Both religion and spirituality typically relate humans to a higher purpose or being, commonly termed God. However, religion and spirituality are vastly different when it comes to how humans exercise their relationship to and with God. Religion is a dogmatic political system of affiliation that governs how followers of that system should conform to practices for the glorification and worship of deities and symbols for those deities. In religion, people are subjects of a worshipful establishment. Religion promotes a “brand” for the various types of affiliation (e.g. Christian; Jew; Muslim; etc.). Religion promotes loyalty to a particular dogma and its brand. For this reason religion can be divisive. Spirituality is impartial in terms of religion – it does not align to a particular set of dogmatic politics or brand of religious worship. In spi...
Read more

Knowing Gnosis

Image
This world loves labels. For some reason we relate to and understand the world when it is neatly divided into labels. To many, I am labelled a Christian. If that is because I believe Jesus Christ existed and brought an important message to humanity, then, yes, I am a Christian. If it’s because, in my past I attended church regularly, then, no, that is incorrect. Church attendance does not make me Christian. If you really want to label me, please call me a Gnostic. That still makes me Christian because I believe in Jesus Christ, but it also makes me much more. Before we continue, please know that I am not indoctrinated as a Gnostic – no body (like a church) has ordained me in formal ceremony (like baptism or confirmation) to be a Gnostic. I am a Gnostic because I personally choose it in the continuous pursuit of enlightenment (which I have yet to fully attain). As I wear the label “Gnostic”, I must establish a definition so that others can understand what I am. To me this is very amusin...
Read more

Foundations of Faith

Image
  History reflects the ideology of the dominant / ruling class. Actually, let me clarify this statement a little: history reflects the ideology of the governing instrument / institutions of the ruling class. The dominant element of society, which is quite often a minority across the entire population, supports and perpetuates the ideology of the ruling class. Basically the ruling elite maintain their power from the mass-support of a select group of common folk. So, what does any of this have to do with spirituality and faith? Ask yourself: what is the basis of my spiritual belief? If, for example, it is something like the dogma of the Catholic Church, or the fundamentalism of the Islamic religion, then you are subject to the dominant ideology I have spoken about above. Perhaps you should further ask: what is the truth behind my spiritual faith? Perhaps even: what is faith? To get to the root of true spiritual faith we must transcend doctrines established by the dominant / ruling cl...
Read more