Lighting the Candles - by Saga
For thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years
in the midst of winter, the dead of winter, as we say,
we have celebrated the darkness
and the light.
It is in the darkness of the womb that we are nourished into
life
It is in what we call the dark times that we learn the
hard-won truths of our lives
This is the time of endarkenment
when we gain wisdom.
For some, the mid-winter holiday is of great spiritual
significance,
for some, a time of remembering tribal or racial history,
and
at heart, for all of us it is a time of celebration
of hope, of rededication, of generosity, and gratitude,
At mid-winter we honor the lessons of the dark and the hope
of increasing light
We do not know the words they said.
the chants they sang,
or the dances they danced.
Those are lost to us.
But their stones, ah the stones remain.
Behemoth stones transported, we know not how, we know not
when,
and placed with such great care and skill,
with such knowledge and precision,
that even now, when the sun rises on the winter solstice
one particular crevice in the stones frames that spark on
the horizon
and the inner stone circles are set aglow with the light of
the rising sun.
In the western part of this western hemisphere
there are ruins of cliff dwellings,
built we know not how, we know not when,
but built they were by a people lost to us.
And built with such care and skill
with such knowledge and precision
that even now, when the sun rises on the winter solstice
the corner edge of one such tribal gathering place is set
ablaze with light,
light that travels hundreds of miles to
grace particular walls of other lodges
and then, falls upon one small carved symbol
in a crevice of stones carefully placed by human hands
high on a hill nearly impossible to climb.
Light blesses the hidden, the sacred,
on the winter solstice
Our Celtic ancestors
watched the stars through the solstice night
for portents of things to come,
lit great bonfires at dawn to welcome
the return of the Goddess Suna, the rebirth of the sun.
They burned huge yule logs,
bedecked the trees that had remained green through the
darkest times
and hung mistletoe in their homes for fertility and
prosperity.
Christians celebrate the birth of the son of God,
miraculously born from the womb of the Virgin
Mother of God, Queen of Heaven,
in the humblest of places, a dark cave.
Heralded by a star and choirs of angels,
honored by wise kings who brought gifts.
attended, too, by shepherds and their animals
who basked in the light brought into the world by
an innocent babe who would become
a great teacher, a Messiah sent to save the world.
In Thailand
The Mother of Waters,
when incense, flowers, and a lighted candle are placed
in bowls shaped as lotus blossoms
and set afloat in streams and lakes
Japanese Shinto families
decorate the house with small evergreen trees,
a reminder of that which endures
and bamboo, symbol of honesty.
On January first, families exchange gifts
forgive anyone who may have hurt or angered them,
and feast on traditional foods for prosperity and other good
fortune.
For those who have been enslaved, persecuted,
and scattered from their homelands
the midwinter celebration also honors
the courageous women and men who
fought to preserve holy places and sacred principles.
Kwanzaa is the holiday with a Swahili name
created by an African-American scholar in the volatile
1960’s,
an expression of gratitude to ancestors who survived
diaspora and slavery
and a celebration of pride in heritage.
Seven candles are lit in nightly succession,
from Christmas until the January New Year
marking the Nguzo Saba, seven principles to be fostered in
the community and in each individual
Unity
Self Determination
Responsibility
Abundance
Purpose
Creativity
and Faith
Chanukah, celebrates a miracle of light over 2100 years ago.
On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev
the time came to reclaim and reconsecrate
the Jewish temple in Jerusalem,
that beleaguered place, holy to many faiths.
The oil lamp there would be rekindled
to burn forevermore.
But only one night’s sacred oil remained
and that one night’s oil burned on and on
until the eighth day, when the lamp could be replenished,
a miracle of light to bless a people
who refuse to be destroyed or to turn from their faith.
On the twenty-fifth day of the month of Kislev,
when the third star appears in the sky after sundown,
Chanukah begins with the first lighting of the Menorah
candles.
For the next seven nights, beginning at sunset, more candles
are lit.
The children play with the dreidel, a spinning top carved
With the words “Nes qadol hayah sham”
“A great miracle happened there”
Latkes and other foods cooked in oil, grace the table,
symbols of enduring generosity.
On this winter’s night
Or on the twenty-fifth night of Kislev
Or on the solstice night
Or Christmas Eve
Or the seven nights of Kwanzaa
Move out below the stars.
Find the darkest possible place
to see them
And listen
Listen carefully
Listen with your heart
And you will hear the voices of our ancestors, yours and
mine.
You will hear them chanting, singing.
You will hear the forgotten songs,
the stolen chants
the silenced voices.
You will remember.
Light a candle, then
One candle, or seven, or hundreds.
Light each candle with the certainty that you
and all who have gone before you,
all who share this time with you,
and all who will come after you,
carry within the spark that grows into light.
And so, singing our way,
we light the world.
My gratitude to the late Reverend Jeanine Rae, who once
said, “All of the winter holidays have the same message: Tomorrow there will be a little more
light.” And to Deborah Wade, Mistress of
Wicca, who taught me the word endarkenment.
So very beautiful. thank you.
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