The Eternal Flame and the candle
2000-200 BC
The natural aspect and organization of
human life forming tribes was hunting and gathering. People built
clustered settlements. The upper strata of groups/communities was the forming
of-- Priesthood. It has been written over and over, that most societies, if not
all, the upper strata had state-sanctioning ceremonies/rituals, i.e. religion,
the lower strata, the remnants of pre-state, pre-urban, folkways. Fire and fire ritual
was part of life way back when.
http://www.bergonia.org/History-Ancient.htm
Flame: Spiritual Theosophical
Dictionary on Flame
Flame (Holy).
The " Holy Flame" is the name given by the Eastern Asiatic Kabbalists
(Semites) to the Anima Mundi the "world- soul" The Initiates were
called the "Sons of the Holy Flame. ( Look at Soul, Sons and Holy Flame? )
The Eternal Flame
Another important aspect of
Celtic spirituality and ritual is fire. In most of the ancient Celtic nations,
it was noted by historians and others that it was the tradition of the village,
if not every house in the village, to have a sacred fire that was kept burning
at all times except when ritually extinguished and re-lit. These fires often had
appointed guardians whose duty it was to keep the fire, or at least hot coals
from the fire, burning at all times and through all types of weather. The
punishment for letting the fire die out was severe, sometimes even death. We
don't have such strict rules today, and in modern times it is not very easy to
keep a fire burning in your homes for any length of time, let alone most of the
year! Or is it? So, the strength of fire was very clear to the ancients.
Eternal flame
An eternal flame is most
often used as a symbol to remember someone important, a specific event, or a
group of brave and noble people. However, eternal flames exist in nature as
well, as byproducts of natural gas deposits leaking through the ground.
Symbolic
eternal flames
· The Bible commands that
"The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go
out", regarding the altar of the Tabernacle. (Leviticus 6:13, KJV)
· Arc de Triomphe in
Paris, which has burned continuously since 1921, in memory of all who died
in World War I;
· The Centennial Flame on
Parliament Hill in Ottawa symbolizes the unity of Canada;
· The square in downtown
Decatur, Georgia, for the Korean War, World War II and the Vietnam War;
· King Center in Atlanta,
Georgia for Martin Luther King;
· Rabin Square, Tel Aviv,
Israel for assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin;
· The John F. Kennedy
Eternal Flame, in Arlington National Cemetery;
· The Pont de l’Alma
Tunnel in Paris for Diana, Princess of Wales;
· Shanksville,
Pennsylvania to honour those aboard flight 93 on 9-11;
· Ground Zero, New York
City and Honolulu, Hawaii to honour victims of 9-11;
· Madonna del Ghisallo,
for all cyclists who have died;
· The Olympic Flame is a
kind of eternal flame which is kept lit throughout the Olympic Games;
· Atop the Prayer Tower on
the campus of ORU, which represents the baptism of the Holy Spirit;
· At a Buddhist tomb in
Nara, Japan, which has been burning for over 1100 years;
· At the Newport News
Victory Arch, commemorating American servicemen and women.
· The eternal flame
that was kept burning in the inner hearth of the Temple of Delphic Apollo in
Delphi.
· The eternal flame
burning at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden in Moscow
to honour the dead of the Great Patriotic
5,000
year old Yoga and the candle flame
The ancient Yogi’s know the
power of the candle flame.
Goals
of Yoga
Yoga is best known as a set of
physical practices that include gentle stretches, breathing practices and
progressive deep relaxation. These physical practices are intended to
ready the body and mind for meditation as well as for a meditative perspective
on life. These meditative practices include three goals that must be
achieved.
1. Develop the capacity
to withdraw the senses from focus on the outer world.
2 Develop the
capacity to concentrate on a meditative subject - a candle flame, a
sacred or uplifting word or image, or movement of breath.
3. This concentration
leads into a wordless and timeless experience of inner peace.
Candles through history became
an avenue to help one to spiritual enlightenment. Today, candles are very
popular, amazing shapes, colors and scents. They still are significant symbols
of religious, spiritual and emotional support.
Candle colors have their own
meanings. White is the color of peace, to purify, protection and spirituality.
Truth seeking, enlightenment, balance, strength, happiness. White is connected
to the moon’s energy. White draws to all the elements. White is the color of
light over darkness.
vigil light
n.
1. A small candle kept
burning in the chancel of Christian churches to symbolize the presence of
the Holy Sacrament; an altar light.
2. A candle lighted by a
worshiper for a special devotional purpose.
3. A light or candle kept
burning at a shrine or before an icon.
-Lady Gregory
It is generally accepted that
in Christian times, the fire of the Goddess at Kildare continued to be tended,
this time by nuns. Miranda Green suggests that the assumption that She was
associated with fire may be a confusion of the saint's aspects into Hers. This
idea implies that She may not have been a solar goddess at all, which presents
intriguing questions for those of us whose devotion to Her rests in large part
on Her solar and hearth symbolism. Nevertheless, the symbol is a powerful one
that has been integrated into the practice of many modern pagans - - a Goddess
who is at once touched by fire and by water. The fact of Her association with
the smithy does lend credibility to the notion, as may the solar symbolism of
the rush crosses made in honour of the saint at Imbolc (the most primitive being
a three-armed cross - - alluding perhaps to her Triunity?) and the legend of
Saint Brigit of Kildare, reported by Jean Markale, which says that her double
monastery was founded on a pre-Christian temple site, wherein a perpetual flame
was maintained by women.
