Candlemas and the Light of the World
2 February 2026
The 2nd of February marks a turning point from the dark depths of winter to the growing light of spring. It is forty days after Christmas and halfway between winter solstice and spring equinox. At this winter cross-quarter, Candlemas is celebrated by lighting candles and bonfires to symbolize the warmth of the coming sun. Likewise, the ancient pagan fertility festivals and the more modern Groundhog Day are recognized at this time.1 Beyond such customs, Rudolf Steiner elucidates more profound meaning to this time which is revealed in light of the birth Jesus of Nazareth. As pictured in the Rembrandt painting above, the candle on the far right remains darkened as a new source of light illumines the Jesus child. Candlemas signifies not only a coming of the sun, but of the Sun-hero Christ—the long-awaited Light of the World.
According to the liturgical calendar, the 25th of January recognizes the Conversion of St. Paul at Damascus and is followed shortly thereafter on the 2nd of February by The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Both events represent a turning point or shift from old Judaic law, customs and tradition to a new course for humanity's evolution through the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of the Sun-Hero, Christ Jesus. The two accounts are affirmations of ancient prophecies of the coming Messiah now fulfilled. First, Saul, a fierce advocate of the law of Moses and brutal persecutor of Christians, blinded by the light of the living Christ then knew Christ Jesus was, in fact, the redeemer of whom the old prophets spoke. 2 Then we celebrate the elderly Simeon inspired to come to the Temple to witness, together with the prophetess Anna, the prophesied Messiah—Light of the World—in the Jesus child of the Gospel of Luke.
Rudolf Steiner discusses the esoteric significance of Simeon's recognition of the Jesus child's illumination by the Boddhisattva from ancient India. Unlike traditional Christianity that does not tie back to the ancient Eastern teachings, Dr. Steiner gives extraordinary detail on the Buddha and his intricate role in the incarnation of the Jesus child of Luke. The Bodhisattva now, in the glory of Buddhahood, rayed down from spiritual heights upon Jesus of the Nathan line of David.
These are the findings of spiritual investigation. It was the Bodhisattva of old who now, in the glory of Buddhahood, appeared to the shepherds. From the Akashic Chronicle we learn that in Palestine, in the ‘City of David’, a child was born to parents descended from the priestly line of the House of David. This child—I say it with emphasis—born of parents of whom the father at any rate was descended from the priestly line of the House of David, was to be shone upon from the very day of birth by the power radiating from Buddha in the spiritual world. We look with the shepherds into the manger where ‘Jesus of Nazareth’, as he is usually called, was born, and see the radiance above the little child; we know that in this picture is expressed the power of the Bodhisattva who became Buddha—the power that had formerly streamed to men and, working now upon humanity from the spiritual world, accomplished its greatest deed by shedding its lustre upon the child born at Bethlehem.3
The same being that rayed down from spiritual heights upon Jesus had been born as Prince Siddhartha in ancient India 600 years earlier. A man named Asita went to the royal palace to look for the little Bodhisattva-child. When he found him, Asita predicted to the King's dismay, the child would not rule over his kingdom but rather become a Buddha. Then Asita began to weep because he was old and would not live long enough to see the Prince become a Buddha and he did indeed die without witnessing it.
But when Jesus was being brought to the temple, Simeon was inspired by the Spirit to go into the Temple, and the child was brought to him. Rudolf Steiner reveals that Simeon was the reincarnated Asita who now beheld the Buddha raying down upon this Jesus child and visible in His aura.
Simeon was the same being who, as Asita, had wept because in that incarnation he would not be able to see the Bodhisattva attaining Buddhahood. But it was granted to him to witness the further stage in the development of this Individuality, and having 'the Holy Spirit upon him' he was able to perceive, at the presentation in the temple, the radiance of the glorified Bodhisattva above the head of the Jesus-child of the House of David. Then he could say to himself: 'Now you need no longer grieve, for what you did not live to see at that earlier time, you now behold: the glory of the Saviour shining above this babe. Lord, now let thy servant die in peace!'
As with the conversion of Paul at Damascus, Luke's account of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple represents the shift from the old Judaic law of Moses and those before him, including the ancient Indian tradition, to the New Covenant in Christ. Staying true to old Judaic law, the Jesus child of the Gospel of Luke is presented to the Lord at the Temple of Jerusalem and his mother Mary participates in the Judaic rite of purification after childbirth as was the tradition.4 The meeting of Simeon as well as the devout Anna pictured above in Rembrandt's painting, The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, can be seen as the encounter between the Old Covenant (represented by Simeon and Anna) and the New Covenant (the infant Jesus). Candlemas stems from the traditional blessing of candles, symbolizing Christ as the living "Light for revelation to the Gentiles" as proclaimed by Simeon. This festival serves as a liturgical bridge, concluding the Christmas cycle 40 days after the holiday and pointing toward Lent, which begins 40 days before Easter.
In Christianity as Mystical Fact, Rudolf Steiner compares the Indian priests, like the Brahmin Asita, being able to recognize the birth of a Buddha, with the devout Simeon reincarnated hundreds of years later, who recognized the Jesus child as the coming enlightened one, the savior foretold by the prophets.
The Brahmins, or Indian priests, who know what the birth of a Buddha means, interpret Maya’s dream. They have a definite, typical idea of a Buddha, to which the life of the personality about to be born will have to correspond. Similarly we read in Matthew II, 1, that when Herod “had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.” The Brahmin Asita says of Buddha: “This is the child which will become Buddha, the redeemer, the leader to immortality, freedom, and light.” Compare with this Luke 11, 25: “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him ... And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people: a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”5
Rudolf Steiner explains the complicated relationship of the Christ Being with the Buddha over the course of human evolution. In his lecture on the Principle of Spiritual Economy, From Buddha to Christ, Rudolf Steiner discusses how the Christ first illumined the Buddha who assisted in His own incarnation as Jesus. Then later, after his death and resurrection, the Christ joined Himself to the etheric realm of the earth, where we can find Him today.
The Christ was working in Buddha as a bodhisattva, and it was He who was now the planetary spirit of the earth since the event of Golgotha and who could since be found in the physical aura of the earth. Through the Christ-Principle a new light has been kindled in this world and beyond. The body of Jesus of Nazareth—the etheric and astral bodies and the ego of Jesus of Nazareth—exist in many copies in the spiritual world. Such a statement expresses something of great significance, and for a better understanding of it we can draw on nature for a number of enlightening examples. Just think of a grain seed that grows into a stalk and multiplies itself many times in the process. This apparently simple natural process is a parable of the events in the super-sensible world that are governed by certain laws. Many copies of the etheric and astral bodies and of the ego of Jesus of Nazareth exist in order to be incorporated in the preliminary bearers of the Christ-Principle. Everything connected with the Christ-Principle is so momentous that humanity can grasp it only little by little. [. . . ]
The copies of the ego of Jesus of Nazareth are waiting for us in the spiritual world to be utilized for the future evolution of humankind. People who endeavor to strive upward to the heights of spiritual wisdom and love are candidates for these copies of the ego of Jesus of Nazareth. They become bearers of Christ, true Christophori. On this earth they shall be heralds of His Second Coming.6
May we too recognize the coming of the Christ within our own souls and nurture those seeds with warmth of heart. May we radiate this warmth out to each other and join forces in brotherly love. May the Light of the World shine upon us and be gracious to us and grant us peace as we move forward in gratitude for the warm rays of Christ eternal.
NOTES
- The early church mapped their liturgical calendar to coincide with existing Roman pagan festivals. This midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox, known as the cross-quarter, was celebrated as the feast of Juno Beruata, the virgin mother of the god Mars and therefore became the day of the purification of the virgin Mary, and The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. In the Gaelic tradition, Imbolc, the feast of Brigid, a goddess of the dawn, healing and fertility and signified the coming of life to the world in spring and became Saint Brigid's day.
- See Luke 2:22-40.
- See Rudolf Steiner's lecture, The Gospel of St. Luke, Lecture V, GA 114, 19 September 1909, Basel. For additional insight into the birth of Jesus from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, see also The Gospel of John and the Three Other Gospels, Lecture III and From Jesus to Christ, Lecture VIII,.
- See SOL article, The Damascus Event: The Initiation & Conversion of Saul to St. Paul.
- See Rudolf Steiner's book, Christianity as Mystical Fact, Chapter VI, GA 8.
- See Rudolf Steiner's lecture, The Principle of Spiritual Economy, Lecture 11. From Buddha to Christ, GA 109.