Paulo Coelho

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Weekly Free Association : The Moon

Author: Paulo Coelho

Taking the lead of last week’s free association, we now pass to the Moon.
In many traditions the moon is seen as the counterpart of the Sun. It is considered as the Yin – female – passive counterpart of the Solar Yang – active – male star.
The Moon, given that is it lighten by the rays of the Sun, is said to be “reflexive” – hence the association of the Goddess Athena, the goddess of rational thinking and technology, with the owl, animal that lives by night.
At the other side of the spectrum, the Moon, given that it reigns over the tides, is linked to the underworld, the world of imagination – the realm of Selene or Artemis for the Greeks.
We can see then the apparent opposition between reason and imagination. Yet bare in mind that in the world of symbols, apparent oppositions never actually exclude one another.
Now, you take the floor : what do you associate with the Moon?

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