The Festival of Lanterns and Hope
The boat was tapered and with the outriggers on the sides, it proceeded calmly in the bay with emerald water surrounded by limestone cliffs. Joy wagged her tail leaning over the railing, curiously sniffing that strange, shiny surface. Will enjoyed the sun and the peace of that earthly paradise that was the Palawan archipelago in the Philippines. The helmsman, Tim, anchored in a lagoon, cooked a delicious grill and offered Will and Joy the best and tastiest fish they had ever eaten. Speaking cheerfully, it turned out that the next day, in San Fernando, a city not far from Manila, there was a magical festival, the lantern festival, a symbol of light and hope. This festival always fell on the last Saturday before Christmas, which was the very next day! As tradition dictated, the participants were always eleven villages competing to build the most beautiful lantern. Tim said that his great-grandfather had participated in the first lantern festival, it was 1900 and the lanterns were made of Japanese rice paper, bamboo and had a small candle inside. Now the lanterns are… quite different, Tim added, laughing. So it was that Will, full of curiosity, boarded the first plane with Joy for San Fernando and the lantern festival. He wasn't sure what to expect, but what he saw certainly surpassed his wildest imagination. In front of him there were 11 lanterns, each with a diameter of about 6 meters, formed by many colored lights that turned on and off like in a kaleidoscope. One had a star motif, in another the lights arranged in concentric circles turned on intermittently giving an idea of movement, in another a spiral gave way to the petals of a colored flower. Everything was light and color, joy and dynamism, infusing these sensations in the observer.
Scented candle
Light is joy, life and hope. So, in honor of the Christmas Lantern Festival, we make a beautiful, and fragrant, cinnamon candle at home. Perfect as a centerpiece, as a Christmas gift or to spread a warm and enveloping aroma of cinnamon in the rooms, capable of bringing a good mood. Get a glass jar, candle, cinnamon sticks and string. Insert the candle into the jar. Place the cinnamon sticks around the glass jar, to cover, if possible, the entire glass surface, and secure them with string. When you light the candle, the heat that will be released will also heat the cinnamon which will diffuse its delicious aroma.
