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The Christian Wheel of the Year: Candlemas
Feb. 2nd, 2022 11:53 am
Candlemas
February 2nd is the Feast of Candlemas, one of our many neglected feasts in need of a revival.
Candlemas celebrates the presentation of the Christ-Child at the temple, 33 days after his circumcision and at the end of His Mother's 40 day confinement. As we read in the Gospel of Luke:
22 And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
29 “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word;
30 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
31 which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to thy people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him; 34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel,
and for a sign that is spoken against
35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also),
that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phan′u-el, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity, 37 and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
It's worth noting that the "male opening the womb"-- that is to say, the male firstborn child-- was sacred to the gods of most peoples' of the ancient world. Every home was a sort of church then, and the priest was the father. The priest of the entire family was the firstborn male, who took his own father's place; each extended family was led by a male priest, and was joined with other families in a clan and a tribe, each led by a man who was at once, father, priest, and king. This, by the way, is why ancient writings about "politics" need to be approached with much more caution than we often see in the modern world-- to the people of 2500 years ago, whether Jew or Greek, Roman, Celt or Hindu, the idea of what we would now call "government" was inextricably bound to ideas of what we would now call "religion" and also "family".
Traditional Celebrations
Candlemas is the final, official ending of the Christmas season. I have friends who don't put up their Christmas tree until Christmas Eve, and don't take it down until Candlemas comes to an end. For my family, this is a bit too much-- I take down the tree after Epiphany. But I'm not in a hurry to take down all the Christmas decorations, and I don't think you should be either. January tends to be the longest, coldest, darkest month of the year, without even the anticipation of Christmas that brightens December; there's no reason to remove the extra lights in the home before you have to!
Above all, Candlemas is known (as you might imagine) for the blessing of candles.
According to magical philosophy, the world is composed of a series of discrete "planes" of being, starting from the highest, which is occupied by God Alone, and cascading downward through the Noetic level of angelic intelligences and awakened human souls; the Psychic or Astral level of ordinary mind and emotion; and the Hylic or Physical level of ordinary matter. Between the Psychic and the Hylic is a grey area sometimes called the "Etheric"; this is the level of the life force, qi or prana. Today we tend to call it "energy." Certain physical objects can be consecrated in such a way that they affect the etheric level. Fire, which is itself at the border betwen the physical and energetic, is among these, and consecrated candles are very potent magical tools.
The Cycle of the Seasons
February 2nd, or the days immediately surrounding it, marks a shift in the seasons. This shift is acknowledged in many cultures. Traditional Chinese healers have probably done a better job than anyone else of tracking the subtle shifts of energy throughout the year. (A remnant of this exists in Candlemas itself, of course, but also in the celebration of Groundhog's Day, which was such an important feature of my youth in Pennsylvania.) As we've discussed before, the term "jia qi" in Chinese refers specifically to the energy of the calendar. Today is one of the major qi nodes in the Chinese way of thinking-- days on which a major energetic shift occurs.
At Candlemas, the heavy Yin energy of Winter is exhausted, and has finally petered out. Yang has been reborn, and Spring has begun-- but it's still very, very weak. In terms of the elements, a Taoist thinker would say that Water (Great Yin) has given way to Wood (Lesser Yang). In the Western way of thinking, it's more the case that the Earth element of Winter is still present, but now it's mingled with the Air that will be dominant in Spring. The result is the same. As the Taoist teacher Liu Ming put it:
"This time of the year, we're pretty much flatlining. Your past experience has minimal value. Your inspiration is not available. Just sprouting. It doesn't matter if you're 11 or 90-- Yin is exhausted, so your past has no power."
And so, what do you do? It's easy to be depressed this time of year-- and in fact, it's somewhat natural to be. But the worst of it, which comes with the ghost nodes and the Dead in January, should be fading out. You start to get the first hints of inspiration. The trick is to follow them, start socializing, start something new, but don't go to excess. It's not July yet!
Candlemas is a very nice celebration for this time of year. It's joyful, it's happy, but it's not over the top. It's symbol is the candle, the little flame burning bright and hot in the winter cold.
Candlemas is a very nice celebration for this time of year. It's joyful, it's happy, but it's not over the top. It's symbol is the candle, the little flame burning bright and hot in the winter cold.
Meditation for Candlemas
The passage from the Gospel of Luke that I quoted above makes an excellent theme for meditation today. It's worth noting that this is the Fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, which we'll discuss in due time. For now, enter into meditation in the usual way, and bring the scene before you mind. Watch Saint Joseph and the Theotokos approach the temple with the Child, and make their offering of two pigeons. Listen to the prophecies of Simeon and Anna. Be present in the scene. Then withdraw your mind from the concrete imagery, and allow yourself to simply think about it. What can you learn? What does it mean?
The Blessing of Candles
The proper magical working for today is, of course, the blessing of candles. You can do that by the following me
1. Open a working space in the usual way, with the Sign of the Cross, opening prayers, holy water and incense.
2. Turn your attention to the candles and say the following prayers, making the Sign of the Cross over them every time you encounter a +. You should visualize the cross in white, holy fire.
Our help is in the Name of the Lord
Who hath made the Heavens and the Earth.
The Lord be with you.
And with thy spirit.
Oh candles, I exorcise you in the name of God + the Father Almighty, in the name of Jesus + Christ His Son, our Lord, and in the name of the Holy + Spirit. May God uproot and cast out from these objects, all power of the devil, all attacks of the unclean spirit, and all deceptions of Satan, so that they may bring health of mind and body to all who use them. We ask this through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is coming to judge the living and the dead and the world by fire. Amen.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, light of everlasting life, you have given us candles to dispel the darkness. We humbly implore you now to bless + these candles at our lowly request, and hallow + them by the light of your grace. By the power of the Holy + Cross, endow them with a heavenly blessing. May the blessing they receive be sufficiently powerful that, wherever they are placed or lighted, the princes of darkness shall flee in fear, along with all their legions, and nevermore dare to disturb those who serve you, the almighty God. Let the entire building in which these candles are kept, be free from the power of the adversary, and be defended from the snares of the Enemy. Grand we pray, that those who will use these candles may be protected from every assault of the Evil Spirit ,and be safeguarded from all danger. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
The candles are then sprinkled three times with holy water, and censed three times with incense.
There is also a more traditional, longer form blessing, which you can find here.
3. If you like, you can enter into meditation for a time, concentrating on the nature and the meaning of candles blessed at Candlemas. You may find the following words from Dom Prosper Gueranger a useful guide to meditation:
According to St. Ivo of Chartres, the wax—which is formed from the juice of flowers by the bee (which has always been considered as the emblem of virginity)—signifies the virginal flesh of the Divine Infant, who diminished not, either by his conception or his birth, the spotless purity of his Blessed Mother. The same holy Bishop would have us see, in the flame of our Candle, a symbol of Jesus, who came to enlighten our darkness. St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, speaking on the same mystery, bids us consider three things in the blessed Candle: the Wax, the Wick, and the Flame. The Wax, he says, which is the production of the virginal bee, is the Flesh of our Lord; the Wick, which is within, is his Soul; the Flame, which burns on the top, is his Divinity.
4. Close by saying the Come, Holy Spirit prayer or another closing prayer of your choice; also, ask for guidance in the use of the blessed candles, which are now a potent spiritual weapon in your possession. Then repeat the Asperges and censing from the opening, and make the Sign of the Cross.
