Let there be Light! -Why Lighting Candles Feels so Spiritual

As a nature photographer, I’m hyper-aware of the shifting light throughout the day, including the magical “golden hour” just before sunrise and sunset. The right lighting can make a big difference to photo quality. Even before I got into photography, I’d always loved watching the play of light and shadow on water or sifting through leaves.

Both natural light and the lights that we kindle can be powerful points of spiritual connection. Light was the first creation in the Torah (Genesis 1:1-3), and the Kabbalists often described God as a boundless, infinite light. On a physical level, sunlight is necessary for life on earth to exist. On a spiritual level, light has a universal meaning of goodness, hope, and healing. In The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, Ellen Frankel and Betsy Platkin Teutsch describe light as, “the primary link between divine and human worlds.”

Thus, it’s no surprise that the simple act of lighting candles or oil lamps is an important spiritual practice in Judaism and many world religions. An ancient Midrash (scriptural interpretation) imagines God, the creator of divine light, as inviting us into a partnership of illuminating the world by bidding us to light candles in our homes and holy places.

Each Jewish candle has its own purpose. Shabbat candles are lit each Friday before sundown to provide lighting for the Shabbat meal, harmony in the home, and today, when we have electric lights, a special more “golden” atmosphere. Lighting Shabbat candles is also a traditional time to say personal prayers for loved ones or send them a blessing.

A braided havdalah candle is kindled on Saturday night to signal the end of the Sabbath and beginning of the week and its labors. For me, the sight of its torch-like fire evokes the Torah’s descriptions of the burning bush in which God appeared to Moses or the pillar of fire through which God appeared to the Israelites (Exodus 13:12).

Hanukkah lights have a different purpose. They are not for lighting the home but are placed in a window to “publicize the miracle” of the holiday (which is much more than the little jug of oil, but the miracle of survival, faith, and triumph against the odds). I find a lot of meaning in the unspoken message of candles or oil lights increasing from day to day, from the idea of “lighting a single candle rather than curse the darkness” to the growing light of fellowship and community.

Since ancient times, human beings have lit candles in memory of the dead. In remembering departed loved ones, Jewish people traditionally light a tall candle that lasts for the shiva (week of mourning), and subsequently light smaller Yahrzeit candles every year, recalling that “God’s candle is the human soul” (Proverbs 20:27). Lighting a memorial candle is a way to bring the person’s life into our world, a light that, like the flame, we can contemplate and admire but not physically touch.

Lighting candles or lamps seems to be a universal impulse, from Hanukkah to Diwali to the Chinese Lantern Festival. This summer, on a visit to Denmark, I learned that for Danes, lighting candles any time of day is a big part of making life “hygge,” an untranslatable term connoting an atmosphere of coziness, contentment, and friendship essential to their culture.

For a mystical teaching on candles, I turn to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, a great modern Torah scholar and physicist who pioneered modern Jewish meditation based on ancient sources. In his books Inner Space and Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide, Kaplan used the metaphor of a candle flame to represent the soul’s five levels, based on Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). The black base of the flame represents Nefesh, the physical, animating soul. The blue of the flame represents Ruach, the emotional soul. The bright glow of the flame represents the Neshamah, or higher spiritual consciousness. The surrounding aura of the flame represents Chaya, a transcendent level of soul encountered rarely in this lifetime, one that I would call “destiny.” Finally, there is Yechidah, the Divine Unity. Beyond the individual candle, it is the One who lights them all. It’s simultaneously the spark of God planted like a seed in each of us, while also the transcendent divine source beyond-the-beyond.

[Note: all the “ch” sounds in these Hebrew words are pronounced as in “Bach.”]

My teacher, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, loved to share this ancient Midrash:

Rabbi Shimon ben Yehozadak asked Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman, saying: “Since I hear that you are a master of Aggadah [sacred lore], tell me how light was created.”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman replied: “God wrapped God-self in a white garment, and the radiance of God’s majesty illuminated the world from one end to the other.”

Now he had answered him in a whisper, and so the former observed, “There is a verse which states it explicitly: ‘You wrap yourself with light as with a garment’ (Psalm 104:2), yet you say it in a whisper!”

“Just as I heard it in a whisper, so have I told it to you in a whisper,” he replied.

Genesis Rabbah 3:4

Two Practices for a mini-retreat with light:

Outdoors

Everyday experiences, from sunrise every morning to glimpsing the night sky, can assume miraculous importance when we approach them with awe and reverence.

Next time you see beautiful light outdoors in nature, instead of walking by or even grabbing your phone for a photo, pause to take it in, to let the light and its colors enter your soul. You can even take a cue from the Midrash above and try whispering, “You wrap Yourself with light as with a garment.”

Indoors

When you light a candle for religious celebrations or personal meditation, take a few moments to gaze into the flame until you can discern the different levels of color and illumination. Imagine a light glowing inside of you as the dimensions of your soul: Nefesh (vital life force), Ruach (creative spirit), Neshamah (higher spiritual awareness and contemplation), and even the connection to Chaya and Yechidah, the higher dimensions of soul that represent destiny and divine unity. As you contemplate the light, sense your inner light connected to the divine light that illuminates the world. Slow down and feel your inner and outer glow.

Note: When obtaining candles, it’s healthier and more ecologically sound to choose beeswax, soy, or coconut oil with natural (or no) scents, rather than a petroleum-based paraffin. Make sure the room has ventilation and never leave a candle unattended.

Please comment and share your own spiritual practices with candles and light.

A version of this post first appeared in The Wisdom Daily as “Wrapping Ourselves in God’s Light,” and on my Substack: GPS for Your Inner Landscape