Is the Autumnal Equinox a traditional festival to worship the moon? What is the ritual for worshiping the moon?
On the autumnal equinox, the day and night are of equal length. As a solar term that divides 24 hours equally, is the Autumnal Equinox a traditional festival to worship the moon? What is the ritual for worshiping the moon? There are also many special customs and traditions. The eighth month of the lunar calendar is also called "Mid-Autumn", and every autumn rain brings a chill. Shuimoxiansheng.com will accompany you through every day of the eighth lunar month of 2019.Is the Autumnal Equinox a traditional festival to worship the moon?——The Autumnal Equinox is the 16th solar term of the year. The Autumnal Equinox in the Year of the Golden Year is on September 23, 2019, the 25th day of the eighth lunar month.What is the relationship between the Autumnal Equinox and the Moon Festival? ——In ancient times, the Autumnal Equinox was a traditional "Moon Festival". For example, there is an ancient saying that "In spring, worship the sun, and in autumn, worship the moon." According to research, the Moon Festival was originally scheduled for the Autumnal Equinox. However, since the date of this day in the eighth month of the lunar calendar varies every year, there is not always a full moon. And offering sacrifices to the moon without a moon is a great spoiler of the scenery. Therefore, the "Moon Festival" was later moved from the "Autumnal Equinox" to the Mid-Autumn Festival and fixed on August 15th. Therefore, the Autumnal Equinox is a traditional festival to worship the moon. ——Moon worship is a very old custom in our country. It is actually an activity of worship for the "Moon God" by the ancients. In ancient times, there was a custom of "watching the moon in the evening of autumn". Xiyue means worshiping the moon god. What is the origin of the moon festival? ——"The Book of Rites" records: "The emperor worships the sun in the morning in spring and the moon in the evening in autumn. The morning is for the sun and the evening is for the moon." The evening of the moon here refers to the night when he worships the moon. Moon worship originated from the ancient people’s worship of the moon. Later, the moon as a celestial body was personified and became the moon god. The royal families of all dynasties called the Moon God the God of Night Light. After the rise of Taoism, the Moon God was called Taiyin Xingjun. However, most people believe that the Moon Goddess is a female, Chang'e, and call her Yue Gu or Yue Jie. What is the ritual of worshiping the moon?——The traditional Chinese moon worship is usually done as a family unit. Among those who participate in the worship, a chief priest (to lead the work), a MC (equivalent to the host), and several deacons (assistants to the chief priest) are selected. Usually an older female elder or housewife serves as the chief priest. According to tradition, "Men do not worship the moon, and women do not worship the kitchen god." Therefore, men usually serve as celebrants and deacons to assist in the moon worship. Things to prepare:——A sacrificial table or altar. An ordinary small table will do. ——Several straw mats. Used for worship ceremony. Ordinary straw mat. Can be padded. —— An incense burner and some incense. Ordinary small incense burner. ——Several plates, bowls, and other sacrificial containers. ——Two red candles. Used for lighting, creating atmosphere and burning incense. ——One bottle of ordinary wine and three wine jugs. Wine glasses are also available. Offerings for the Moon Festival: - Moon cakes, hunting for festival game, glutinous rice cakes, drinking, fruits, edamame, cockscombs, etc. The fruits used in the moon worship are generally apples, pears, red dates, grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, peanuts, bananas, water chestnuts, etc. Freshly ripe edamame is also a common offering. Sacrificial texts and moon paper: ——Moonlight paper: You can search for moonlight paper pictures on the Internet and print them out. You can also draw it yourself. ——Prayer: Reading prayers to the moon during the moon worship can better express sincerity and respect. The prayer for the moon should be short and elegant, and can be in the form of four-, five- or seven-character poems. The blessing should be written neatly on rice paper with a brush. Clothing preparation: ——You can wear casual Hanfu clothes suitable for autumn. Men can wear deep clothing, robes, straight clothes, etc. Women can wear deep clothing, jackets or skirts. Before offering sacrifices to the moon, one needs to bathe and change clothes to show sincerity and respect to the moon god. Ceremony process: ——Among those who participate in the moon worship, a main priest, a celebrant and several deacons are selected, and the others are assistant priests. The elder female elder or housewife will be the main priest. During collective moon worship ceremonies, the main priest is also selected from among women. According to tradition, men do not worship the moon. Men can serve as celebrants, deacons to assist in the moon worship, or perform other auxiliary work. ——The main priest sat on the red carpet, took three incense sticks from the deacon, made a wish, and inserted them into the incense burner. After repeating this three times, the deacon filled the wine cup and handed it to the main priest. The main priest poured the wine on the ground in front of the table and then placed the wine cup on the altar. Then, the main priest read aloud the prayer towards the moon with the help of candlelight. The prayer read, "It is the mid-autumn of the Bingxu year. We, the sincere descendants of the Chinese nation, want to revive China's name, restore propriety and follow virtue. We pray for a bright night... I present this prayer to the gods, and I hope they will enjoy it!" Then, the main priest put the prayer and moon paper in a small basin in front of the table and burned them. |
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