‘Advent’ is a Christian tradition and the word means ‘Coming’ in Latin (the coming of Jesus into the world): it is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas. In the old days Advent was a thoughtful and serious occasion, but these days it is a time for celebration and anticipation of the Christmas Eve. During recent years, Scandinavian Christmas celebrations in general have become more ‘non spiritual’ events open for everyone to enjoy, regardless of faith, nationality, or background. Advent always starts on the Sunday closest to November 30 and the most common way to count down is by an ‘Advent Wreath’ with 4 candles, an idea coming from pre-Christian Germany, often made up of evergreens that symbolize everlasting life. In Scandinavia, people lit the candles around a wheel and offered prayers to the god of light to turn the earth back towards the sun. By the Middle Ages, the Christian Church had adopted the Advent Wreath. Each candle has its own meaning: one candle is lit on the first Sunday of Advent, two are lit on the second Sunday and so on. A calendar candle is also used to count down to Christmas Day from the 1st to the 24th of December, the Christmas Eve: usually it’s a bigger candle that has the days up to Christmas Day marked down the candle. On the first of December, the candle is lit and burnt down to the first line on the candle. The same is done every day and then the rest of the candle is burnt on Christmas day. Calendar Candles are especially popular in Denmark.
