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Yin and Yang

At this point, you’d almost have to bury your head in the sand to not hear or see a reference of one the most popular eastern symbols of all time- yin and yang.

Yin and yang is so popular, in fact, that it’s now almost cliche’ and overdone in popular culture.

From art to popular culture, it has played a recurring appearance in much of western culture since the 60’s.

SEE ALSO: The Origin Of Prayer Wheels

The Symbology

In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang represent the similarities and interdependent between seemingly opposite and contradictory forces in the world.

Many physical manifestations of yin and yang exist, such as light and dark, male and female, air and earth, fire and water.

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This inherent duality of the world around us plays an important part in how ancient Chinese philosophy, medicine, and even martial arts.

The key concept to understand with yin and yang is that it doesn’t represent opposing forces- rather, it represent complementary forces.

These forces come together to make a system that is more powerful than when it’s together. Balance is the key that keeps that system working well.

For instance, we could not have life on earth in complete darkness or complete light; both are necessary in balance.

The Breakdown

• The outer circle- this represents the entire universe and everything in it. It encircles the duality of everything that exists.
• The black area- The black section of yin represents feminine, emotions, moon, darkness, night, stillness, contraction, and intuition.
• The white area- The white section of yang represents masculine, logic, light, sun, expansion, dominance, and activation.
• The small black and white circles- The small circles within the s-shapes represent how nothing is definite or absolute in the universe. For every masculine person, there is a little feminine, for every evil force there is a little good.
• The s-shape- Both of the sides push and press against each other, showing how there is an ebb and flow to the universal balance. When yang becomes too strong, yin encircles and pushes back, and vice versa. Both of them contribute to the other’s strength.

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