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Importance is attached within certain cultures and traditions to the waxing and waning of qualitative influences. These may be associated with gods, principles, astrological factors, etc or of combinations of these. In each case these are understood to act within a multi-cyclic framework, which may include cycles of very long periodicity (e.g. the 'Ages' in the Hindu tradition). Within such cycles the waxing influence (of the reborn god) may be represented as struggling to overcome the waning influence (of the exhausted outgoing god). Celebration of these events may be integrated within religious cycles.
Metaphor
The collective attention required by particular qualitative features of psycho-social life may be seen as waxing and waning within a multi-cyclic framework ensuring that adequate (but not excessive) attention is given to each such feature in order to achieve the harmony of the whole. The relationship between the features may be conflictual.
[Features]The richness of such cycles and the effort devoted to rendering them comprehensible through a multiplicity of stories and various interrelated coding systems (e.g. colour, number, sound, etc.).
[Contrast]In some cultures such systems are a determining factor in decision-making but often in a manner which stresses superficial features rather than the qualitative richness that they symbolize.
[Keys]The variety of qualities distinguished and the manner in which they are grouped into cyclic sets.