(Photo by Michael Warwick)
Today, a friend and I planned to stop by the Ninth Annual SF Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony at the Berkeley Aquatic Park and have dinner together. On the way there, we missed our designated bus stop. The bus took us all the way to the Berkeley Marina and dropped us off by the ocean side, which made for an unexpected 10 minute seaside getaway.
The landscape was gloomy and dark, except for the small section of orange and yellow light running perpendicular to the horizon that contrasted with the grey and cloudy sky. While breathtaking, it actually seemed kind of ominous. As if the light of hope and happiness was slowly but surely slipping away…
Everything seemed really eerie... The pier seemed to stretch on forever and disappear into the ocean. The waves were especially strong and high. The large sundial at the entrance of the pier stood darkly without light shining upon it.
The ocean has always somewhat scared me. People getting lost at sea, drownings, submarine accidents, and the likes. If I had been alone, I probably would have broken down and cried. I keep connecting this particular visit to a recent nightmare, which might have skewed my brighter memory of it..
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We then took the bus back to our original destination and walked to the Aquatic Park for lantern ceremony. Here’s a short summary with some main points about the history of the event from an article:
The Berkeley ceremony is modeled after a Japanese tradition in which lighted paper lanterns are decorated and set adrift across a sea of water. The journey of the lantern across the water represents the journey of the individual soul moving towards peace in the afterlife.
At the ceremony, attendees will decorate lantern shades, or “soul ships”, with personal messages connected with their own vision of peace. Freedkin encourages children to decorate their lanterns with images that represent the type of world they want to create. “It’s a great way for them to start being in the habit of thinking of themselves as having a role in these issues,” said Freedkin. “Kids will draw fields and hills and rainbows and unicorns. It was great to see that.”
When we got there, a hundred or so lanterns were making their way across the same body of water that I had helped clean up a few months ago for community service. Watching the lanterns slowly make their way across the water was a beautiful sight. We followed the lanterns on their trip to the opposite side. One little boy was happy to see that his own lantern had reached the opposite bank. Many of the lanterns made by kids had drawings of random things, which was really cute. They made me smile.
The lantern ceremony commemorates the victims of war, calls for the end to nuclear warfare, and advocates world peace. It was a unique and meaningful event. Although I didn’t decorate my own lantern, I was happy that there were a lot of people that did.
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Periwinkle Raindrops and Puffs 