Reflections on a flame

[blckwngdorcl]

I'm sitting here at my computer and I've lit a candle in observance of the solstice day, to show the Lord that we haven't forgotten Him or His light, and that like the Lady we too wait for His return.

But what does that mean for us? Longer days, yes. More light for those with Seasonal Affective Disorder, yes. But what does it really mean? Why does lighting a candle in the middle of the night, waiting for the sun to rise, something that we know is going to happen in 12 hours, make some people feel secure? Why does it give some people hope?

Better question: Why doesn't it give me hope?

I don't know where to go from here...

Comments

[mister-bitters.livejournal.com]

The answer lies in Germanic customs, my friend. The candle is an adaptation of the Yule Log. In Scandinavia in particular, this time of year has only wan light for about 5 hours and total darkness the rest of the time. Further north, around Trondheim in Norway, it is completely dark. The Yule fires were to burn through the night to keep people safe from the monsters that roam at night, from the biting cold, and should it burn through the night without going out, it would bring good luck through the coming year.

Some see it as a portion of the sun's light (the sun, btw, is female for us as it is with the Celts) and I have to say that in some small way I hold to this as well. By burning through the night, it casts away shadows and drives away those malicious spirits that would do us harm at a time when they are at their most powerful. In that, the fires are protective and a small portion of Sunna's blessing for us when it is coldest and darkest.

While today we know the sun will rise again because we understand far more than our ancestors, they did not know for sure it would. The fires were a way to guide the sun back to us so that we may enjoy Sunna's radiance again.

[mister-bitters.livejournal.com]

To answer the other question would require a lot more time and rum than we have now. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that it likely has to do with what you truly believe in and not what you think you believe in..

[elorie.livejournal.com]

Hope and security have nothing to do with it, if you ask me.

Aligning yourself with the great forces of the universe might have something to do with it. At least, that's why I do it. It's a peculiarly practical thing to do at times, though that's not why one should do it. The serenity one occasionally achieves is a side effect.

[lunenoire.livejournal.com]

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness."

Screw the candle. Build a fire, and dare the darkness to make a move.

As to the other...I think you have to figure out if you're expecting something to happen. Then you figure out what it is you expect to happen. Then you'll figure out why you feel the way you do.

Conversely, if you know why you feel the way you do, you'll know what the desired manifestation is, and then you'll know how to bring it about.

[eloreen.livejournal.com]

Since in Northern Hemisphere, winter solstace (Yule) is the shortest day of the year and the longest night. Lighting a candle, or lots of them, helped to remember that there is hope that the light will come the next day. A lot of the old beliefs have some variation of the same theme.

Why it is not working for you is that maybe you know the light is always there with our artificial lights in our houses, cars, work areas, and places where we feel secured.

Next year, turn off all the lights in the house, or better yet (an you are bundled) be outside when you light that candle, yule log, etc. Think of our ancestors were hundreds of years ago when the tradition came about to celebrate the light. Maybe then, it will become real.