Do You Believe in Magic
Do you believe in magic?
I hope so. I certainly do. Sometimes I have forgotten about magic, sometimes for way to long, but it always seems to come back in its own mysterious way. I am not even sure if I know what magic is. I think it is about believing in something so strongly that it feels so very real even if grownups, scientists, politicians and other people, or even yourself sometimes, tell you that it is not possible, because the rules and laws of life say it cannot be done. Magic loves to have a big belly laugh when others talk about what is and is not possible, because magic does happen when we let it happen.
I am not sure. Maybe you have a better way of describing magic. But what I know is that for the past several days I have been with thousands of people on the streets of Chaingmai, a city in Thailand, who have been making magic happen. It has all been part of a holiday called Loi Kratong, which means to float banana boats down the river.
Let me tell you about the boats first. They take a cross section of a banana tree, and then they fold strips of banana leaves in amazing shapes. Mixed in with the green leaves, they place exotic flowers in beautiful designs. On each boat, they put one candle and three incense sticks. I saw people sitting on the floor of their shops making these boats, as well as on the sidewalks, and on the grass along the river. Hundreds of families were making them. I saw old grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, teenagers and young children all making these beautiful boats together. Each family that makes them has a table on the sidewalks or by the river selling them. And each table has different designs. In fact, each boat even on the same table looks different. They are like snowflakes, trees, puppies or people; every one of them is different. And every one of them is beautiful. I would see one that I thought was the most beautiful one yet and want to buy it. Then I would see another one on another table and think that was the most beautiful one, and then a minute later see one that was the most beautiful one of all (except for the next one that I saw).
One of the best parts of trying to buy one was meeting all the families. They were all so happy. Every person that we talked to selling the katongs was smiling and laughing, so we started smiling and laughing and taking those good feelings to the next table. I know that all this smiling and laughing is what made these boats so beautiful. The magic had already begun.
Two nights in a row Lucy and I walked on the streets by the river and bought different boats. They were so beautiful and inexpensive that everyone can afford them. Then, with thousands of other people we went down to the river. There were people everywhere carrying these katongs. We saw people walking by themselves, teenagers with their friends or boyfriend or girlfriend, moms and dads in families, older people, all carrying the katongs. Some were wearing nice clothes, many were wearing what they wear everyday. We saw one older woman wear a traditional Thai skirt and blouse like they probably used to wear but hardly do anymore. She walked like a Queen with a few people in her family following her. Everybody, whether they were rich or poor, it did not matter; they went down to the river with their kratongs. They would light the candles and incense sticks, put a coin in them and stand by the river for a few minutes making a wish for good luck, then would gently place their kratongs into the river and push them off. They believe that if the candle stays lit until you cannot see it anymore, then your wish comes true.
With everyone else, we made wishes for ourselves and everyone that we know (yes, we even wished that you have good luck), and even for people that we do not know, because it sure would be wonderful if everybody had good luck. That would surely be a magical world. When we finished, we sat by the river and watching our kratongs float away. After awhile, I could not tell which one was ours anymore. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of kratongs floating by us where we sat by the river. All over the city so many people had come down to the river to wish for good luck, and all of their boats were floating by us. The river was lit up with candles. On many of the boats the candles had already gone out, but they were still floating along with all the lit ones. They never stopped coming past us. I think it was the biggest navy in the world, and everyone of them was floating away looking for good luck.
On this festival, people, particularly young people, really like to have fun by lighting many different kinds of firecrackers and fireworks. Originally this was not part of the tradition but in recent times came from China where people believe that explosions scare away bad spirits. Many of the more traditional Thai people do not like all the noise. There were loud ones, quiet little ones, and super loud ones. Some were fireworks with bright colours sprouting over the river, others sounded and felt like bombs with huge amounts of smoke coming out of the water. They were going off all the time. There really was not one second, not even half a second in all the hours that we were there where there was not noise and banging going on. It was exciting and annoying at the same time.
My favourite part of Loi Kratong is the hot air balloons, called Kom Loi. They are not really balloons, but that is what they call them. Out of paper and a thin bamboo rim, they make a bag that is about a meter high and wide. To the middle of the rim, they attach a cross section of a toilet paper roll that has been soaked in paraffin. When you buy one (they are also cheap), you can write wishes on the paper. Then with the open end down, you light the roll and hold it, waiting for it to fill up with hot air. After a minute it starts to float in place, and then after a few more minutes you can feel it tugging upwards. When you let it go, it magically floats up into the air, rising and rising and rising. You would not believe how high it goes. You watch your special flame rising into the sky. But of course, there are hundreds of other people who are doing the same thing. Every minute, there are other lights floating high up into the sky.
There was not a cloud in the sky. The moon was full and very bright. Floating towards the moon, and around her were hundreds of lights. We were making our own stars in the heavens. Everywhere we looked into the sky, in every direction, we saw hundreds of new stars floating together in new constellations that were changing every minute. I had long lost sight of my star, but I knew it was playing with all the others, and laughing with the moon. Then I noticed that everyone else kept looking up at the sky in absolute amazement too. We were all children. It did not matter how young or old we were. Our wonderful thoughts were singing with the moon and she seemed so happy last night. I believe that last night all our wishes made a new universe. We were truly making magic.
One morning there was a contest for even larger hot air balloons. They were like the ones we had bought but about three meters on each side. A team had made and decorated each balloon. Attached to the balloons, as they rose in the air was a string of firecrackers and gliding airplanes. As each one got higher in the air, the firecrackers would go off, a tail on the balloon would unwind, and the gliding airplanes would take off in circles, with different coloured smoke coming out of their backs. Every minute another one went up while many people watched.
An hour later, a group of people started unrolling a huge balloon made out of some kind of thin plastic paper, tape and wire. They used a large fan to fill it up with air, and then one person with a very large torch released hot air into it. When it started rising, I realized that it was taller than the three-story building we were next to. When it started floating up into the sky, hundreds of people were applauding. I thought that was the end, but I should have known better. Another team brought out their huge white balloon. With this one, everything went wrong. It started ripping all over and was not filling properly. They lit the firecrackers too early by mistake, and the whole team had to jump out of the way. It looked like it would never go up at all. But in the typical Thai way, no one seemed bothered, and within a minute it too was rising into the sky. It was not even half filled with air. In fact it was really flat, but that did not stop it from flying into the sky. We lost sight of it as the third team brought their balloon into the yard. And then, 15 minutes later, the white balloon floated back to land within a few meters of where it had taken off.
That was my favourite. It taught me something really important about never giving up. If you do not get upset about a few mistakes and believe in something strongly enough, your wishes will float up to the sky. And then when it was finished flying, in order to show us how beautiful it really was, it came right back to us again. To me that was magic.
Do you believe in magic? I hope so, because I surely do. The last few days have shown me that when people believe in sharing joy and good luck together, wonderful magic is made.
I hope so. I certainly do. Sometimes I have forgotten about magic, sometimes for way to long, but it always seems to come back in its own mysterious way. I am not even sure if I know what magic is. I think it is about believing in something so strongly that it feels so very real even if grownups, scientists, politicians and other people, or even yourself sometimes, tell you that it is not possible, because the rules and laws of life say it cannot be done. Magic loves to have a big belly laugh when others talk about what is and is not possible, because magic does happen when we let it happen.
I am not sure. Maybe you have a better way of describing magic. But what I know is that for the past several days I have been with thousands of people on the streets of Chaingmai, a city in Thailand, who have been making magic happen. It has all been part of a holiday called Loi Kratong, which means to float banana boats down the river.
Let me tell you about the boats first. They take a cross section of a banana tree, and then they fold strips of banana leaves in amazing shapes. Mixed in with the green leaves, they place exotic flowers in beautiful designs. On each boat, they put one candle and three incense sticks. I saw people sitting on the floor of their shops making these boats, as well as on the sidewalks, and on the grass along the river. Hundreds of families were making them. I saw old grandmas and grandpas, moms and dads, teenagers and young children all making these beautiful boats together. Each family that makes them has a table on the sidewalks or by the river selling them. And each table has different designs. In fact, each boat even on the same table looks different. They are like snowflakes, trees, puppies or people; every one of them is different. And every one of them is beautiful. I would see one that I thought was the most beautiful one yet and want to buy it. Then I would see another one on another table and think that was the most beautiful one, and then a minute later see one that was the most beautiful one of all (except for the next one that I saw).
One of the best parts of trying to buy one was meeting all the families. They were all so happy. Every person that we talked to selling the katongs was smiling and laughing, so we started smiling and laughing and taking those good feelings to the next table. I know that all this smiling and laughing is what made these boats so beautiful. The magic had already begun.
Two nights in a row Lucy and I walked on the streets by the river and bought different boats. They were so beautiful and inexpensive that everyone can afford them. Then, with thousands of other people we went down to the river. There were people everywhere carrying these katongs. We saw people walking by themselves, teenagers with their friends or boyfriend or girlfriend, moms and dads in families, older people, all carrying the katongs. Some were wearing nice clothes, many were wearing what they wear everyday. We saw one older woman wear a traditional Thai skirt and blouse like they probably used to wear but hardly do anymore. She walked like a Queen with a few people in her family following her. Everybody, whether they were rich or poor, it did not matter; they went down to the river with their kratongs. They would light the candles and incense sticks, put a coin in them and stand by the river for a few minutes making a wish for good luck, then would gently place their kratongs into the river and push them off. They believe that if the candle stays lit until you cannot see it anymore, then your wish comes true.
With everyone else, we made wishes for ourselves and everyone that we know (yes, we even wished that you have good luck), and even for people that we do not know, because it sure would be wonderful if everybody had good luck. That would surely be a magical world. When we finished, we sat by the river and watching our kratongs float away. After awhile, I could not tell which one was ours anymore. There were thousands and thousands and thousands of kratongs floating by us where we sat by the river. All over the city so many people had come down to the river to wish for good luck, and all of their boats were floating by us. The river was lit up with candles. On many of the boats the candles had already gone out, but they were still floating along with all the lit ones. They never stopped coming past us. I think it was the biggest navy in the world, and everyone of them was floating away looking for good luck.
On this festival, people, particularly young people, really like to have fun by lighting many different kinds of firecrackers and fireworks. Originally this was not part of the tradition but in recent times came from China where people believe that explosions scare away bad spirits. Many of the more traditional Thai people do not like all the noise. There were loud ones, quiet little ones, and super loud ones. Some were fireworks with bright colours sprouting over the river, others sounded and felt like bombs with huge amounts of smoke coming out of the water. They were going off all the time. There really was not one second, not even half a second in all the hours that we were there where there was not noise and banging going on. It was exciting and annoying at the same time.
My favourite part of Loi Kratong is the hot air balloons, called Kom Loi. They are not really balloons, but that is what they call them. Out of paper and a thin bamboo rim, they make a bag that is about a meter high and wide. To the middle of the rim, they attach a cross section of a toilet paper roll that has been soaked in paraffin. When you buy one (they are also cheap), you can write wishes on the paper. Then with the open end down, you light the roll and hold it, waiting for it to fill up with hot air. After a minute it starts to float in place, and then after a few more minutes you can feel it tugging upwards. When you let it go, it magically floats up into the air, rising and rising and rising. You would not believe how high it goes. You watch your special flame rising into the sky. But of course, there are hundreds of other people who are doing the same thing. Every minute, there are other lights floating high up into the sky.
There was not a cloud in the sky. The moon was full and very bright. Floating towards the moon, and around her were hundreds of lights. We were making our own stars in the heavens. Everywhere we looked into the sky, in every direction, we saw hundreds of new stars floating together in new constellations that were changing every minute. I had long lost sight of my star, but I knew it was playing with all the others, and laughing with the moon. Then I noticed that everyone else kept looking up at the sky in absolute amazement too. We were all children. It did not matter how young or old we were. Our wonderful thoughts were singing with the moon and she seemed so happy last night. I believe that last night all our wishes made a new universe. We were truly making magic.
One morning there was a contest for even larger hot air balloons. They were like the ones we had bought but about three meters on each side. A team had made and decorated each balloon. Attached to the balloons, as they rose in the air was a string of firecrackers and gliding airplanes. As each one got higher in the air, the firecrackers would go off, a tail on the balloon would unwind, and the gliding airplanes would take off in circles, with different coloured smoke coming out of their backs. Every minute another one went up while many people watched.
An hour later, a group of people started unrolling a huge balloon made out of some kind of thin plastic paper, tape and wire. They used a large fan to fill it up with air, and then one person with a very large torch released hot air into it. When it started rising, I realized that it was taller than the three-story building we were next to. When it started floating up into the sky, hundreds of people were applauding. I thought that was the end, but I should have known better. Another team brought out their huge white balloon. With this one, everything went wrong. It started ripping all over and was not filling properly. They lit the firecrackers too early by mistake, and the whole team had to jump out of the way. It looked like it would never go up at all. But in the typical Thai way, no one seemed bothered, and within a minute it too was rising into the sky. It was not even half filled with air. In fact it was really flat, but that did not stop it from flying into the sky. We lost sight of it as the third team brought their balloon into the yard. And then, 15 minutes later, the white balloon floated back to land within a few meters of where it had taken off.
That was my favourite. It taught me something really important about never giving up. If you do not get upset about a few mistakes and believe in something strongly enough, your wishes will float up to the sky. And then when it was finished flying, in order to show us how beautiful it really was, it came right back to us again. To me that was magic.
Do you believe in magic? I hope so, because I surely do. The last few days have shown me that when people believe in sharing joy and good luck together, wonderful magic is made.
posted by Ralph at 7:55 PM
<< Home