No Power!
What better time to write about the value of light than during the SA state-wide blackout of September 28th?
My house is filled with the comforting soft glow of many candles, while the sound of pouring rain outside contrasts eerily with the peaceful silence inside. I can even hear my husband swallowing his tea!
Candle-light
Candle light… it connects us to a way of life which now appears sentimentally quaint, but which we also seem to yearn for with subtle disquiet. Life as it is now, for most of us is anything but filled with peace, and the simplicity of a candle throwing its timid light and gentle scent is within reach of anyone. Maybe that’s why we all love them so much. The candle invites us to pay attention to our own thoughts, and to feel the tension melt away from tense muscles.
A chance to recognise our longing?
As I sit in our home, with no power I am sure I am not the only one transported back in time. To think about what it would be like, only ever having candle light or oil filled lanterns. No humming fridge, no screens, advertisements, game shows, news broadcasts with graphic footage of other people’s loss, sadness and tragedy. No constant connection to the outside world via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Just the insular and protective connection to family within the walls of your home, where a comment is heard, and listening is active, because the distractions are not there. Even if you are living alone, imagine the stillness, the chance to meditate. Is this why we buy candles? Do we instinctively long for an unsophisticated life despite working so hard every day to become more technically advanced?
Aromatherapy
To enhance this experience even more we add the essence of sweet and earthy herbs and flowers to our candles. There is a grocery store of healing essences within the plants of mother earth; a remedy for anger, anxiety, or simply feeling forlorn and tired. Chamomile, rose and jasmine, add 2 drops of each essential oil to a warm bath, light tea lights in a row along the window sill and see how angry you feel after soaking in that delicious bit of heaven for half and hour. Easier still, find candles which are already infused with these natural essences.
Place a lavender bag under your pillow during the day ready for a peaceful night’s sleep, and place drops of neroli, geranium and lavender in an oil burner to send anxiety away in a perfumed cloud.
Light a candle infused with frankincense, lavender and sandalwood when fear grips at your stomach and sits tightly in your jaw. And have no doubts about these effects, they were divined in a day when there were no distractions, when there was ample time to study the effects of these unique plants. The writing down of these results was with an old ink nib on parchment, while a clock ticked steadily and the candle wax burned low.
An old remedy for depression and apathy
When despondency, loss of hope and apathy prevail, lift your spirits with a tiny drop or two of orange oil, frankincense and sandalwood. Invest in an old-fashioned linen handkerchief, place the drops on this and place your folded secret delight into your bag.
If sadness and depression sink in, try geranium, lavender and bergamot, a couple of drops of each into a warm bath. If you don’t have a bath, put the same into a carrier oil like sweet almond oil and use as a massage blend. Even a little of this rubbed gently into your temples can help. And for absolute despair, use sandalwood, neroli and geranium oils, 10 drops each into a carrier oil and used for massage or bath water.
During times of emotional exhaustion, there is nothing quite so uplifting and pleasant as the smell of a rose. Add rose essential oil to frankincense, a couple of drops of each into an oil burner.
And speaking of old fashioned remedies, get busy cleaning the bathroom with several drops of eucalyptus oil in hot water with a squirt of plain dishwashing liquid. You will enjoy a lovely clean bathroom but a sense of renewal and motivation as well.
Simple pleasures
Such lovely comforts are not too expensive or unobtainable. Candles scented with essential oils designed to heal a heavy heart, aromatherapy, peaceful music… all from an era when there was recognition of the requirements of the human heart and soul. And now long-lasting candles are available in pure soy and beeswax, wicks are free of lead…so they are safe to use freely in the home.
Silver lining
If there is a silver lining to these black-outs and stormy weather, maybe it is that we must reach to light a candle, to sit in the quiet to talk to each other. To do without our technology in order to remember a world without disquiet, and revisit our own inner sanctum.
