At the same time that Christians, and most non-religious people too, are getting ready for Christmas, Jewish people are also getting ready for another celebration, called Hannukah. Because in this secular and/or multifaith society we can never be sure that everyone's even faintly familiar with the traditional festivals, I'm going to tell you a little bit about Hannukah, as I told it to some of our children a couple of years ago.
December 24th is the first day of Hannukah this year, and it lasts for eight days, and here's how it began and why it's a special time. More than a hundred years before Jesus was born but in the same part of the world, in Israel, there was a lot of fighting going on. It wasn't exactly a war, but it was a time when the ruler of the country wanted everyone to do things his way, and didn't let anyone decide for themselves how to live or what to believe. That still happens, as you know. There are still tyrants who oppress the people.
This man was the King of Syria, and he did a horrible thing to the Jews whose country he had conquered. The Jews had a very beautiful building, called the Temple, where they went to meet together and worship, like we worship together here. The Syrian King damaged the Temple so badly that it couldn't be used any more, and he burned all the holy books, and it made the Jews very sad and bitter. It was like having their home destroyed; there was nowhere they could go to worship together. For a long time, they didn't have a Temple.
But there was a group of Jews called the Maccabees who were especially strong and brave, and they fought the king for years and years without giving up, and they won some great victories. At last they were strong enough that they could rebuild the ruined Temple. They made it beautiful again, the way it used to be, and they decided to have a celebration called a Dedication. In the Hebrew language, the Dedication was called Hannukah. Part of the celebration was to light one light every night for eight nights; it was a ritual, something like our chalice-lighting every Sunday.
The lights at that time weren't candles; they were oil (it so happens that we use oil in our chalice, too) and the oil which was used for the Dedication was a special kind, consecrated oil. And there was a problem. There was only a little tiny bit of the special oil, only enough to light the first night's light. There wasn't nearly enough for eight nights. What could they do? Well, they decided that it was better to light just one light than none at all - better to light one candle, or one oil lamp, than to curse the darkness!
So they started their Dedication celebration by lighting one light with the little bit of oil they had, and they said, "Let's come back tomorrow night to worship and celebrate our beautiful Temple, even though we won't be able to light another lamp." So they came back the next night, and what do you think they found? They expected the oil to be all burned up and gone, but the light was still shining and there was enough oil to light another one! They were SO surprised and happy! And it was the same thing when they came back to worship at the Temple on the third night, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, and the seventh, and even enough for the eighth night. It was amazing! It was a miracle!
And ever since then, in December, Jewish people have remembered that miracle and celebrated like the people did all those centuries ago when they dedicated their beautiful Temple. They call the celebration Hannukah, and they light eight candles, one every night, to remember the miracle of the oil which lasted for eight days. They nearly always use a candle-holder shaped like this one, only bigger. It's called a Menorah, and as you can see it has eight candles and one extra one in the middle for lighting the others.
So next time you hear of the holiday called Hannukah, or the Festival of Lights, you'll know that it started a long time ago, when the Temple was rebuilt and was dedicated with a little bit of marvellous oil which lasted for eight nights. I invite you now to listen, through the new hearing which comes with knowledge of the story, to this reading adapted from words of Unitarian Minister Richard Gilbert. His words are designed for a chalice lighting; I light an additional candle in honour of Hannukah:
At this festive season, we light this candle to signify for us both Advent and Hannukah, both the expectation of God with us, and the triumph of the human spirit over opression.
Rise up, O flame;
By your light glowing
Show to us beauty, vision and joy.
Symbol of a free faith, burn with the holy oil
of helpfulness and service.
Spread warmth and light and hope:
Warm hearts grown cold with indifference;
Light dark places with justice;
Rekindle hope in despair
May we bring fuel for thy fire of love.
May the oil of lovingkindness flow from us
To your leaping flame.
May hands of service shelter you,
That no winds of hate may extinguish your brightness.
May your light and warmth be eternal.
May we be keepers of your flame. Amen.
This is the time of the Winter Solstice. It takes place very early tomorrow -- at 2.04 am, to be exact – the moment when the sun is at its greatest distance from the earth and shines directly over the tropic of Capricorn. Although we may think that winter has already started, the Solstice is the official start, and the season will last until March 20th, the Spring Equinox. As Unitarians, we recognize as one of the sources of our living tradition the spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature. So along with our observances of Hannukah and Christmas, we join with our pagan and wiccan friends in celebrating Solstice. Two years ago we had a Solstice ceremony which incorporated more ritual than we can easily include in a Sunday morning service such as this, but by using some words from that ceremony I hope I can evoke something of its spirit. I shall also use some of the questions I posed then, for you to ponder this morning and perhaps later.
We meet here at the still point of the turning year,
In a space between the worlds,
In this [place] of sacred quietness,
To celebrate the Solstice mysteries.
Let the darkness of this season enfold and embrace you.
Let it rock you gently.
Be still, be still.
Only in darkness can stars shine across the vastness of space.
Only in darkness is the moon's dance so clear.
There is mystery in the darkness, born in the quiet hours.
There is magic in the darkness.
Do not be afraid: we are born of this magic.
It fills our dreams that root, and unravel, and reweave themselves
Only in the shelter of darkness.
Darkness fills our soul, not with despair, but with promise.
It is the cave in which we rest and renew our soul
We are born of darkness, and each night we return
To the darkness of our beginnings.
Take a moment to ponder this imagery of darkness and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What are the dreams that are rooting and unravelling and reweaving in the darkness of your inner life?
What, and where, for you, is the cave in which you rest and renew your soul?
Can you return, even if only for a little while, to your beginnings, when everything was fresh and unknown, so that there is the possibility of a new birth?
Also in the Winter Solstice celebration, there is an honouring of the Goddess. She is seen as the cold of space, the lightless womb of existence, the deepest abyss. She is called the Virgin of Light, the Crone of Darkness, the Mother of Time. Take a moment to ponder the imagery of the Goddess, and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What is your Goddess, your generative and nurturing Power -- how would you describe her?
Where is your Goddess in this season of the year – where do you find her?
In what aspects of yourself and your life can your Goddess be seen?
Winter Solstice celebrations keep coming back to imagery of the Mother and of birth. Here’s another picture for pondering:
In the beginning we came from the darkness of the womb.
There we were created, nourished and prepared for our birth into the light.
Within us, we still carry that fertile darkness.
There we hold the seeds of hopes and dreams to come.
There we nourish our hopes for love, joy and peace for all.
We shield these tender roots until they are strong enough
To come forth and flourish in the light.
As the sun strengthens above, so will our new ways grow and bloom.
Dark is the rich fertile earth that cradles the seed, nourishing growth.
Take a moment to ponder this image of the fertile seeds and the seedlings coming forth, and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What are you called to birth in your life?
What are you called to make new, to bring forward into the light?
How can you tend and nurture these seedlings, so that they will grow with you in the coming year?
I didn’t know until recently that the Solstice is celebrated not only in Wicca and other pagan or earth-centred traditions, but in Shinto, one of the religions of Japan. My Multi-Faith Calendar tells me that on December 22nd, there is a Grand Ceremony of the Winter Solstice in Japan, with symbolism very much like the observances we think of as pagan. In the east as well as the west, the earth Mother gives birth to the Sun on this day, but for many weeks the Sun is small and weak. Just as we light our chalice candle each week as a sign that we encourage the light of truth and the warmth of love, so it is traditional at Winter Solstice to encourage the small, weak Sun by the lighting of flames and fires.
We light this candle for the infant Solstice Sun: a ray of hope,
A symbol of the Light within us all,
That will grow and strengthen,
Despite the cold to come;
Light that dispels despair and resignation.
Behold the light that can never die, reborn once more in the Solstice Sky!
I end my reflections with more of the traditional Solstice words in a meditative mood:
Earth mother, Sun father, you who are called by a thousand names,
May all remember: we are cells in your body and dance together.
You are the grain and the loaf that sustains us each day,
And as you are patient with our struggles to learn
So shall we be patient with ourselves and each other.
You are radiant light and sacred dark - the balance-
You are the embrace that heartens, and the freedom beyond fear.
Within you we are born, we grow, live, and die;
You bring us around the circle to rebirth,
Within us you dance, forever.
And finally, carry this with you through the holiday season, through Hannukah, Solstice and Christmas, the beautiful old incantation,
All shall be well, all shall be well.
All manner of things shall be well.
Let the winter come and go,
All manner of things shall be well.