What’s the point of burning paper money during July and a half?
When burning paper money in July and a half, there is a certain time, location, circle, and burning inside and outside the circle.
Time: The first thing to pay attention to is the time to burn paper. On the day of Ghost Festival, you can’t just go out and burn paper whenever you want. This is definitely not possible during the day, because the Yang energy is dominant during the day. In terms of status, burning paper is inappropriate and has no effect; and it is not appropriate if it is too late. The deeper the night, the heavier the yin energy. Especially during such a sensitive time as the Ghost Festival, it is easy to be hit by evil spirits if you go out to burn paper too late.
Location: Where to burn paper is also an issue that needs attention. Different places have different customs about this: some places will put a brazier at the door to burn to ancestors; some places will choose to burn paper outside. , the specific location depends on local customs. If you choose to burn paper outside, it is best to burn some paper at the intersection.
Draw a circle: After choosing a place to burn paper, it is best to clean the ground before burning. Remember to use the small wooden stick you carry with you to draw a circle and trap the paper money we burn in it. However, this circle cannot Draw it as a solid circle. It would be bad if it is completely enclosed. Remember to leave an opening, and the location of the opening should be in the southwest direction.
Burn both inside and outside the circle: In addition to burning paper money inside the circle, it is best for us to burn a few pieces of paper outside the circle. In traditional Feng Shui, this is the best way to appease the lonely ghosts. Method, in this case, not only will they not cause you trouble, but they will bless you.
The origin of July Half
Hungry Ghost Festival is the name of Taoism. It is called July Half in folklore and Obon Festival in Buddhism. The main festival customs include worshiping ancestors. , placing river lanterns, worshiping the souls of the dead, burning paper ingots, offering sacrifices to the land, etc.
Its birth can be traced back to the ancestor worship and related festivals in ancient times. July is an auspicious month and a month of filial piety. The first half of July is a folk festival in early autumn to celebrate the harvest and reward the earth. When certain crops are ripe, it is customary for folk to worship their ancestors and use new rice as offerings to report the autumn harvest to their ancestors. It is a traditional cultural festival to remember ancestors, and its cultural core is to respect ancestors and fulfill filial piety.
In the "Book of Changes", "seven" is a changing number, the number of resurrection. "Book of Changes": "Repeating its path, it will come back in seven days, and the heaven will move." Seven is the number of yang and the number of heaven. After the yang energy between heaven and earth is extinguished, it can be reborn after seven days. This is the way of the movement of heaven and earth, yin and yang. Based on the cycle of growth and decline, the choice of people to worship ancestors on July 14 (27th) is related to the number of rebirths "seven". The Taoist Ghost Festival and the Buddhist Obon Festival are held on July 15th.