Yin and yang are wonderful "Y" words. The depth of the symbolism is profound, yet simple. It represents the duality and interdependence of nature and of our very being. It is everything.
From the Eastern culture, the symbol (also called the Taiji) is a circle made up of teardrop shaped black and white swirls, each with a speck of the other within it. Opposites, yet complimentary and inclusive of all that there is and all that will be. It is symbolic of balance, inclusion and the never-ending cycle of life.
Yin is the black portion of the symbol. It is associated with female energy, intuition, passivity, the earth and the moon. The energy is ascending in nature. It is often associated with even numbers, calmness and death. It is said the color orange and the tiger are associated with Yin in Eastern culture.
Yang is the white portion of the symbol and associated with male energy, the sun and energy and action. The energy is descending. It is often associated with odd numbers, energy and birth. Often represented in Eastern culture as an azure blue or with a dragon.
Within each of the primary color swirls is a small round dot of the opposite color. This speaks to the truth that there is an interdependence and a constant relationship between the two. You cannot have yin without yang. They flow into each other. Day into night. Birth into death (and re-birth again), hot into cold and so it goes. In Taoism, it speaks to the universal truth that it is what it is. The path is about harmony through change.
Yin-yang speaks to our wholeness. We are truly greater than the sum of our parts. We have within us, everything. Each and every one of us. We are both yin and yang. We are darkness and we are light. We have elements of both. Our goal is to achieve balance of the two and recognizing and respecting the yin-yang in those around us.
We are not only part of the circle of life, we ARE the circle of life.
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