The Jewish festival of Hanukkah is an 8-day holiday that celebrates the miracle of light. It generally falls in Capricorn season, which is fitting because it reflects some of the core lessons of this zodiac season.
Read on for 3 ways Hanukkah reflects archetypal aspects of Capricorn and practical ways you can apply these lessons to your life.
The Hanukkah Miracle
First, some brief history: In the second century BCE, the Seleucid Greek King Antiochus IV ordered the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The Maccabees, a small group of Jewish rebels, fought the Greeks and won, reclaiming their temple.
When they re-entered the temple, however, it was in shambles. Seeking oil to light the temple menorah, hey found only one small jar — enough for only one night.
The oil miraculously lasted for 8 days, however, which gave the Jews time to find new oil.
To commemorate and celebrate that miracle from the time of the temple, Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah, a festival in which we light candles each night for 8 nights.
3 Ways Hanukkah Evokes the Capricorn Archetype
(1) Slow and Steady Progress
As the cardinal sign of winter, Capricorn is a sign that initiates a season, like Aries, Cancer, and Libra. In contrast to the other cardinal signs, however, what Capricorn initiates has staying power. Ruled by Saturn, this sign is about building slowly and sustainably.
This is reflected in how we light the candles on each night of Hanukkah. The candle lighting happens progressively: we light one candle the first night, two the second night, three the third night, and so on until the eight night.
This is a perfect example of this aspect of the Capricorn archetype in action: every progression builds on the step before.
The point of this slow process is not just to reach the final destination of the final night when we light eight candles; it’s also in the journey itself.
Practical Application:
It’s easy to get lured by promises of instant results that you see on social media or television. For example, my real estate clients are often led by shows like “Home Makeover” to believe that renovations will be quick. They are surprised to learn that in real life, home renovations take time — especially if you want the structures to hold up.
Similarly, if you want to build strength, one day, week, month — or even a year — in the the gym won’t cut it. It requires showing up consistently and persistently over the long arc of time.
This is true for everything else in life as well.
Consider where you might be trying to skip steps or work in an unsustainable way. Remember that progress is not an overnight result, but a slow march of small steps over time.
(2) Informed by History and Legacy
At each night of Hanukkah, we pause to enjoy the candles and remember the miracle that took place thousands of years ago. Remembering that miracle helps give us faith in the future.
This backward-looking tendency is also intrinsic to Capricorn, a sign focused on legacy. Ruled by Saturn, the planet of time and wisdom, Capricorn is acutely aware of how the past can inform our plans for the future.
Practical Application:
In our lives and work we may often default to considering the future implications of our actions, but it’s also useful to considering what elements of our past are driving our motivations.
Understanding your motivations and the ways you might be trying to establish legacy can help you determine if your actions are aligned with your true motivation.
In addition, remembering how we navigated past challenges can help replenish our stores of self-trust and confidence when we hit new challenges. Even if the challenges are different, recalling how we persevered (a core Capricorn trait) can infuse us with fuel for our current journey.
(3) Trust in Your Resources
The theme of conserving and trusting resources is central to the theme of the miracle of the oil that we celebrate on Hanukkah.
As the first sign of winter, Capricorn knows that if we want to make it to spring, we must be judicious with our resources.
Therefore, as much as it works hard to build and create, Capricorn also prioritizes rest and care for the builder. It knows that without rest, we cannot sustain our efforts over the long term.
This is a sign that focuses on conservation of resources. It does this by focusing on the essential, simplifying, and making use of the resources and assets it has already amassed. This conservation also requires trust that your resources will sustain you.
By focusing on what it already has, Capricorn preserves energy it might have otherwise waste on creating or acquiring more.
Practical Application:
It’s easy to forget this lesson in a culture that constantly tempts us with the new and shiny and encouraging us to create more, or to find more clients and followers.
Winter is a time to conserve energy by using what you have harvested, to trust in your past efforts and what you have created, to find new ways to use what you already have.
One thing I’m focused on this Capricorn season is harvesting my older content for new purposes, rather than continuously creating more, and considering new offers I can create for current clients.
In the same way that one night’s worth of oil in the temple lasted for eight days, you might find that the resources you already have create a multiplier effect when you reuse and repurpose them.
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