Worth Sharing: Candle Light

 

One of the things I've loved most about our Messianic journey was that we began lighting Shabbat candles each Friday evening.  I recall the very first time I saw a candle lighting performed on some movie watched as a teen.  I found it incredibly lovely and longed to perform such a ritual in my own home.  It was not however, until I was in my 50's and we began that portion of our spiritual journey that I began to kindle the lights on Friday evening.

 

One year our synagogue hosted a Passover supper and it happened it fell on a Friday night.  I was asked by our Rabbi to light the candles that evening before the group who assembled.  I was nervous as could be but went forward all the same and lit the candles and prayed.  And then I spoke from my heart and shared how blessed I'd been by performing the ritual in my own home each Friday night.  How it was said that  it is part of oral history that Sarah lit candles in her tent that burned for a full week from Friday at sundown until candle lighting time the next week, when she set up new candles and lit those.

And then I clearly saw a vision that I spoke before the church.  The candles I lit at that moment were just one set, among millions lit all around the world at the sunset hour.  And as the time drew near in other time zones and  homes, more and more candles were lit until light had travelled in a circle about the whole world on that one night each week.   I felt it was a powerful image of a woman's role in her home, then and now, to be  sisters and kindlers of light.

I've been fascinated for years now by candlelight  There is something so lovely and mesmerizing as the flame flickers and the light falls upon the table and the  things upon it.  It can transform every day items into beauty and has the same lovely effect upon people, too.

painting by Jean-Baptiste Santerre

“She had only a candle's light to see by, but candlelight never did badly by any woman.”

― John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman

Petrus Van Shendel, a Dutch artist, often painted night scenes lit only with a candle.  His studio was only half lit and his models  stood on the darkened side of the room while he stood in the light and  it was in that manner that he painted them.

He is well known for his night scenes, most especially his candlelit market scenes which took place in the hours just before dawn in the public market.  So much so that he was called  Monsieur Chandelle by the French.  

I find these market scenes especially moving and the shadowy figures behind the lit main model of the pictures is very effective.  The portrait above was painted in 1869.

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
― Anne Frank

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. – Francis of Assisi

I think one of the most heartening sights in the world is that of a candle in the window on a dark night, especially in cool or rainy weather.   Who doesn't long to be within a house on such a night when the elements are unfriendly and the wind spooks one with scuttling leaves or swaying branches that creak and groan?  And how welcoming to the traveler to come home and see the candle burning, awaiting their arrival!

Researchers believe that without obstructions, a person with healthy but average vision could see a candle flame from as far as 1.6 miles.

And there's one good reason to have a candle in the window, agreed?

It is believed that the Ancient Romans were the first to make traditional style dipped candles, as early as 500 BC.

• The term ‘candle’ originates from the Latin words ‘candela’ and ‘candere’ meaning ‘torch’ or ‘light’, and ‘to shine’ respectively.

• Time has been measured through the use of candles, often by markings on the invention, and sometimes with weights placed periodically in the wax that would drop and clang on a solid object, once the surrounding wax had melted.

In early days, candles were primarily made with animal fat, or tallow.  It was not uncommon during times of famine to have candles stolen so the fat could be eaten.

A candlemaker is known as a Chandler...Hence the French term,  Chandelier for hanging light fixtures.

Many of the authors I follow report that they light a candle each morning before they begin their daily reading.  It is part of their ritual, to greet the day with a cup of coffee or tea,  and a flickering candle on the table.    Sunday morning it was still dark when John and I were having breakfast and I was admittedly being lazy.  I lit the candles rather than get up and go across the room to turn on the overhead light above our dining table.   That oatmeal was the most elegant morning meal I've had in a very long time.   I could well understand why those who rise early, before daylight breaks, light a candle first thing each morning.