Why put lights on the festive tree?
Or indeed in our gardens, on houses, draped around windows …
Lights appear in many different religious festivals in November, December and January. And it is definitely not a coincidence that those months are, in our Northern hemisphere, the darkest times of our year.
Light symbolises light returning – it is both as simple, and yet as deeply profound, as that!
At Samhain (Halloween) a candle is lit in windows to help travellers find their way to warmth and shelter by going towards family and to rest safely during the winter months. The lit candles also expand our channels of communication with loved ones in Spirit and so we are able to gain insights and messages as well as actual news from those family members travelling to spend the coming months under our roof!
And then, at Winter Solstice, we witness the shortest day of the year … and the longest night. After that time so the Sun begins to climb in the sky and our days lengthen.
Light returns …
Warmth returns …
Green returns …
and hope.
And so the lighting of lights in the darkest of time speaks to the deepest hopes that we all have … that the light will return and we will feel warm and safe again.
When you next light a candle take a moment to feel the connection, and the long history that each and every one of us have through our ancestors, to welcoming in the light.
As always, with love from Alison
PS download my free guide to inspiration by clicking here.
