Have Yourself a Satanic Little Hanukkah

Photo courtesy of the author

I've been staring at my Hanukkah candles for the past four nights wondering why I was lighting them. None of my kids wanted to come down to celebrate with me. And I live far away from my family. But I light them anyway. Dutifully. Even if I'm not sure why I'm doing it. And in particular, I've been faced with the question of what Hanukkah means to me as a Satanist. If anything?

One of the key motivations I have in starting this blog was to document and think out a calendar of Satanic holidays. I had no intention of writing on Hanukkah, nor to include it in the Satanic year, but a few ideas have come to me in the candlelight.

To begin with, Hanukkah, even for Jews, is barely a holiday. Primarily, it is a commemoration of the Maccabean rebellion against the ruling Seleucids between 168-164 BCE. The Seleucids were a puppet empire ultimately under the control of the Macedonian Ptolemies. The holiday notes that after the successful rebellion, the Jews found the Temple (in Jerusalem) desecrated with Hellenic deities, and that the eternal light burning in the sacred Menorah had been extinguished. They found only enough oil to burn (in this sacred lamp) for one day, while it would take a full eight days to properly make and consecrate more oil. Miraculously, the oil for one day burned for the full eight days. And that is why Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days. So, rebellion against an evil empire that imposes its gods on an innocent populace - possibly Satanic; some bullshit about miracle burning oil - not Satanic.

The lighting of candles, regardless of their symbolism to the miracle, is in keeping with many other religious and cultural celebrations, including Divali, Sol Invictus (which I'll be writing about in another blog), and of course, Christmas, all of whom light candles after the winter solstice to symbolically welcome back the sun as the days get (even slightly) longer. Hanukkah's popularity, particularly in the West, is, however, a cultural competitor to Christmas - the "Jewish Christmas" as many have called it. A minor celebration (based on a major military victory and a minor miracle) inflated so Jewish kids don't feel so alienated in late December.

I, personally, have always felt alienated at Christmas: just the other day I was in Sainsbury's (a major grocery chain in the UK), and the entire place was decked out with advertisements celebrating Christmas, and (the Christian) family, and (the Christian) traditions. These promotional ads positively scream out the myth of togetherness, homogeneity, and of course, consumerism. But only if you are one of them. These promotions do not reflect my family, my culture, or the foods we would normally eat. For as long as I can remember, Christmas resonated with everything positive but excluded me. I never saw my people reflected in any of these ads, despite both Christmas and Hanukkah falling around the same time. I assume Hindus, Muslims, and other religious and cultural groups likewise feel excluded by the apparent Christian normativity of the season. On rare occasions, supermarkets might have a single shelf or section given over to Hanukkah, just in case a Jewish customer walked in. So the cultural significance of Hanukkah, particularly for Jews in the West, is that it is a necessary competitor to Christmas. But in trying to compete with the Christian hegemony, inevitably, Hanukkah came off as kind of a shit festival.

Let's ignore the supposed "miracle" of the oil. As non-theist Satanists, it's a moot point, and like a residual organ, it may have been useful at one time, but not anymore. But for Satanists who grew up Jewish, the role of the Maccabean rebellion is just as relevant today, as it was in the 2nd Century BCE. The Miltonian Satan, the ultimate rebel, as the banner we gather under, would approve of an annual celebration of political rebellion and the overthrowing of tyranny. And we can use this to our own ends.

As Satanists, regardless of the faith-based culture we were born into (and therefore had no choice), let us celebrate Hanukkah as a festival of rebellion - real, political rebellion. As I light each candle, in lieu of the theist prayers I am supposed to recite, let us remember those who still rebel today: in Gaza and the West Bank, in Ukraine, at COP28, the LGBTQ+ communities, and other forms of active rebellion against tyrannical states and ideologies. For next year (assuming I'm better organized than this year), I think for each of the nights of Hanukkah, for each of the candles lit, we should dedicate to a different rebellion/struggle around the world. Maybe we donate to a cause (if we can), or maybe we just educate ourselves further about the struggles of our brothers and sisters (if we cannot afford to donate). But we need to ensure our candles are seen, that our resistance to heteronormative, patriarchal, capitalist, fascist, totalitarian hegemonies is seen.

Resistance is never futile. We must never cease searching or fighting for Justice and Compassion. And maybe, in occupying Hanukkah, of appropriating this celebration for our Satanic ends, we can help offer a bit more light to a very dark world.

Stolen (reappropriated) from @anarcho-judaism

Ave Satanis

Ave Lilith

Ave te Ipsum