Star -a symbol or ritual !

During this Christmas season, I have been fascinated by the different visually attractive stars used to announce the season of Christmas. 

The star which appeared in the east directed the wise men to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Since then the star has been a symbol associated with Christmas along with other symbols of manger, gifts, etc. The star in the east was a pathfinder leading the wise men to the  baby born in a manger who was to be the saviour of humankind. The star represents a profound meaning and mission in the Christmas story. 

However, has it gradually become an item of decoration! One can find in the market all forms of well crafted star like decoration items, which trivialises it from being a symbol. It is a ritual to hang a star outside homes, shops, public places, etc because it gives a festive look to the season. People from all faiths would hang a star outside their homes in rural parts of the state of Kerala, when I live. Its colourful look is eye-catching.

There are many instances of symbols becoming rituals over a period of time. I heard a story which illustrates this. A sage used to have long periods of meditation, during which time his white cat got used to sit beside him still. After his death his followers used to meditate in the same place along with the cat. Then the cat also died. So the followers got another cat but they could not get the cat to sit still. Then  the followers of the sage also died one by one. The meditation site became a pilgrim place, where a white cat was tied to the post and the visitors paid their homage to the cat.  

It is a story, unlikely to be true. However, the story tells us how meaningful symbols can decline to be a ritual without any meaning.  

A symbol represents a meaning or a message which so touches us that it helps in converging our attention beyond the visible object to the symbol. Most of us would treasure a gift someone dear to us gave us. It is not the object, which is important here, but the giver of the gift. The gift reminds us of the giver. 

I wish we would have some symbols that add meaning and richness to our lives!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)