The 37th Chanukah Light

Later this week, December 21, 2006 (Rosh Chodesh Tevet 5767) marks the winter solstice, known among witches as the lesser sabbat, Yule. Spiritually, Yule corresponds to the "dark night of the soul", which in Jewish kabbalah corresponds to an experience of the chalal hapanui as a trial in the course of prophetic development.

This year, the winter solstice marking the darkest astrological night of the year is also the night of the 7th Chanukah candle. Falling on Thursday, the Hebrew and Celtic archetypes corresponding to the winter solstice of 5767 are Aaron and Lugh, respectively.

Aaron is the kohen gadol who kindles the lights of the menorah in the Temple and causes those lights to ascend.

In the Celtic myth, The Coming Of Lugh, Lugh is given the sword-scepter of Light by the one who rules the endless sea. As one is a silent aleph (א), so too are the letters "gh" at the end of Lugh silent. Pronounced "Loo", similarly to the Divine Name [1] Hoo (הוא), the silence of the Gaelic-Celtic "gh" of Lugh corresponds to the aleph of Hoo. Consequently, the phonetic transliteration of Lugh into Hebrew letters is Lua (לוא).

Lua (לוא) has a gematria of 37, making it the im hakolel of lamed-vav (לו) , where lamed-vav represents the 36 total lights lit over the 8 days of Chanukah (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8), the lamedvav tzaddkim and the concept of hitkalelut.

In Jewish kabbalah, it is taught that the mashiach will arise from one of the 36 lamedvav tzaddikim in existence. Consequently, the gematria of 37, and thus the name Lua, corresponds to the elevation of a lamedvavnik to the "next level"; that is, to become the catalyst of messianic consciousness using the power of "reverse vision", changing "not" (the translation of Lua) into "not not".

The specifically Welsh-Celtic name of Lugh is Lleu Llaw Gyffes, Lleu Strong Hand, where the name is etymologically derived from a proto-Celtic compound conveying the meaning "flowing vigor" and "flight, flying, soaring". This latter meaning of Lleu Llaw Gyffes links back to the function of Aaron, who kindles the lights of the Temple menorah and causes them to ascend.

Blessed Be, Amen.

Footnote:

[1] Sha'are Orah, R. Yosef Gikatilla

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