Valentin, Joyce, Joey, Chris, Karmen, Leonard, Sandy, Gloria, Jeff

(Newsletter linked at this point… )

Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem by Judas Maccabee in 165 BC. Rededication was necessary because Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of Syria and overlord of Palestine, had profaned (defiled) the temple. In 168 BC, on a date corresponding approximately to December 25 in the Gregorian calendar, the temple was dedicated to the worship of the pagan god Zeus Olympius by order of Antiochus, who forbade the practice of Judaism. An altar to Zeus was set up on the high altar. When Judas Maccabee recaptured Jerusalem three years later, he had the temple purged and a new altar put up in place of the desecrated one. The temple was then rededicated to God with festivities that lasted eight days (see 1 Maccabees chapters 3 and 4).

According to tradition, only a one-day supply of non-desecrated olive oil could be found for the rededication, but that small quantity burned miraculously for eight days.

Jews commemorate this event by lighting candles for the eight nights of Hanukkah. A complete set of Hanukkah candles contains 44 (2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9).  The principal source for the story of Hanukkah is the Talmud.

The principal feature of present-day Hanukkah celebrations is the lighting of candles, one the first night, two the second, and so on until eight candles have been lit in a special candelabrum called a menorah. A Hanukkah menorah has eight branches and a holder for an extra candle that is used to light the others. (A seven-branched menorah is now a symbol for the state of Israel.) A blessing is said each night as the Hanukkah candles are lit.

Hanukkah is a festive family occasion, with special foods and songs. Children generally receive small gifts or money, known as Hanukkah gelt (money), each evening after the candles are lit. Foods fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and doughnuts, commemorate the miracle of the oil. Sweet foods also are popular, and children may receive chocolate coins in place of Hanukkah gelt. Songs also play a part in the festivities and remind the family of the events commemorated.

We offer Hanukkah sets of 45 candles in a tasteful organza bag.  Colors are: ivory; blue and ivory; and rainbow mix. The candles are 5/8" diameter and 5" tall. The retail price is $14.95 per set.

The tradition of lighting small bonfires, called luminarias, on La Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) was brought from Spain to Old Mexico in the 16th century by Franciscan monks. They were set alongside roads and churchyards to guide people to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. This custom then traveled northward with the Spanish into what was to become New Mexico. Here the crisscross fires of piñon wood came to symbolize lighting the Christ child’s way on December 24th.

So how did luminarias go from being small bonfires to lights in small paper bags?

These lights have their roots in the 1800's. Small bonfires, like the current day bonfires on the corners of Canyon Road in Santa Fe, were used to guide people to Christmas Mass. Quite often they were set out during the final night of Las Posadas, the symbolic representation of Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem, walking from home to home before Jesus was born. In later days, children carried small farolitos as they reenacted Las Posadas.

How to Use Luminarias and Farolitos

Now people use luminarias or farolitos to decorate the path to their door as well as outlining the roofline of their home with these warm inviting lights. People in Albuquerque tend to call the paper bag lanterns, luminarias, but natives from Santa Fe insist the correct term is farolitos. Historically, a true luminaria is a series of small bonfires lining the roads. We use the terms interchangeably.

Make Your Own

Making luminarias, or farolitos, is fairly easy. Just purchase paper bags, tea light or votive candles, and gather some sand. Crafty people will fold the tops down and cut holiday shapes in the bags. Fill each bag with several inches of sand and press the votive candle in the center of the sand so that the flame does not touch the paper. For the novice, we would recommend beginning with lining your walk way and skip the more dangerous positioning of Luminarias on your roof. We would also recommend choosing a dry night with very little wind. Luminarias will usually burn about 4 hours before going out. You'll probably be headed for bed about that time!

Places to See Grand Displays of Farolitos and Luminarias and Southwest Holiday Lights:

      Santa Fe's Canyon Road, Christmas Eve, and through the season.
      Rio de Las Luces (River of Lights) at Albuquerque's Botanic Garden.
      Noches de las Luminarias - Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, Arizona.
      Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico Luminaria Festival
      Tlaquepaque Luminaria Festival - Sedona, Arizona

Our beeswax votives burn about 18 hours, so they can be used over several nights in a luminaria, or use a tea light for one night.  We have some odd colored votives on sale for $2 each. Call for details - 1.877.736.2887.

There's much talk in the air about reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in order to curb the global warming effect that elevated levels of CO2 in the atmosphere is causing.  It may or may not be too late to avert disaster, but surely we are morally compelled to understand the problem and do what we can to mitigate it. 

(Newsletter linked at this point… )

What we call air is a mixture of gases.  The major elements are: about 78% nitrogen; 21% oxygen; 1% argon.  These combine and recombine with other elements in many molecular forms.  One such molecule is carbon dioxide, made of one atom of carbon and two atoms of oxygen, which comprises only about 0.033% of our air.

We humans, and most all things animal, are intimately connected to the rest of the natural world via the carbon cycle.  When we breathe in, our lungs take up the oxygen in the air.  When we breathe out, we put back CO2.  What we call “fresh” air is air rich with oxygen; and from an immediate human perspective, oxygen is the thing we most urgently care about.  But where does the oxygen come from, and where does the CO2 go? 

Trees, plants, and most all things vegetable, also breathe.  They breathe in carbon dioxide, and breathe out oxygen.  The oxygen we need to live comes from them.  The carbon dioxide they need comes from us.  The carbon that we exhale as CO2 also comes into our bodies from the plants in the form of food, either directly through vegetables, grains, fruits, etc. or in meat and eggs taken from animals that have eaten plants.   

The carbon from the CO2 that plants absorb becomes part of them and is trapped there for the duration of their lives.  In the course of life on earth, much carbon has been trapped in deposits of dead organic matter that became oil, natural gas, and the other hydrocarbons we use as fuels.  When we burn those fuels, we release the carbon back into the air.  We’ve released more than the vegetable world can re-absorb, and so the atmospheric levels are rising.  And to worsen the matter, we’ve been cutting and burning forests which has the double effect of reducing the number of oxygen-producing, carbon dioxide absorbing plants, and also releases their carbon.

Fire is a chemical process.  When a substance is burned, it undergoes a chemical transformation, a chemical reaction.  Oxygen from the air is combined with other elements from the molecules of the substance.  As an example, the combustion of methane (CH4), the simplest hydrocarbon molecule, made of one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen:

 CH4 + (2) 02   =>   CO2 + (2) H2O 

One molecule of methane combines in combustion with two molecules of oxygen to produce one molecule of carbon dioxide and two molecules of water (vapor, steam).

When we burn a candle, the same process happens.  Beeswax produces a very “clean” burn, meaning that it produces mostly carbon dioxide and water, as the reaction above.  This is good, and does not harm us.  Chemical candles of paraffin and such produce far more “dirty” burns, leaving carbon monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) and partially burned hydrocarbons (soot) that are toxic and do harm us.  But in neither case is the carbon dioxide the issue.  See below. 

(As an aside, there is no difference between the carbon dioxide (or any atom or molecule) from a source we deem good, such a as beeswax candles, versus a source we deem not good, such as a coal-fired electric plant.  There is no good CO2 and no bad CO2.  CO2 is CO2, no matter the source.) 

We cannot stop producing CO2.  We do it with every breath.  If we killed ourselves in despair, our bodies would release CO2 in cremation or burial.  This is natural, and OK.  We have the right to our lives, perhaps even the right to enjoy our lives. 

Humans have celebrated and sanctified with fire since time immemorial.  I don’t think we need to stop.  The burning of candles is a miniscule contributor to the CO2 crisis.  There are a thousand other ways we can reduce our CO2 contributions.  Probably the candles you burn in one year equate to no more than a gallon or two of gasoline, that thing you bought and didn’t need, and so on.  If we want to both use candles and reduce our impact, there are so many things we could change first. 

What we all must do is increase our awareness of how we contribute to the problem and the solution.  Good questions yield good answers.  Everything (!) we buy, everything we do contributes, because it’s all related to energy, and our primary source of energy is fossil fuels and things burned.  There are no simple answers except that by consuming less, perhaps even doing less, we reduce our impact.   

Most of the choices involve complex considerations and range from the large and significant items to the small and daily practices: 

Conclusion:  The natural balance between vegetable life and animal life has taken eons to evolve; but in the short course of human ascendancy we’ve shifted that balance, and it seems we’re about to see the catastrophic result on many fronts.  Every choice we make in our lives counts towards the future.  Those of us who care must take a look at our options and make the best choices we can while continuing to live with joy and with light. 

Every year we donate the candle dipping event at the Santa Fe Waldorf School and other local schools.  It takes me back to great memories of childhood. 

That's Valentin and me leading the rabble.

We have tools and supplies to lend and donate to schools.  Please contact us to find out more.