What is Advent and why it’s celebrated.
Advent is a Christian tradition.
Advent means ‘Coming’ in Latin (the coming of Jesus into the world). Advent is the period of four Sundays and weeks before Christmas.
Christians use the four Sundays and weeks of Advent to prepare and remember the real meaning of Christmas.
In old days Advent was a thoughtful and serious occasion. These days it tends to be a time for celebration and anticipation of the Christmas Eve for many.
Scandinavian Christmas celebrations in general have become more nonspiritual events during recent years. And by doing so it opened up this festive time of year for everyone to enjoy and be a part of, regardless of faith, nationality, or background.
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Advent always starts on the Sunday closest to November 30.
The most common way to count down the Advent is by an Advent Wreaths with 4 candles.
The idea of an Advent wreath seems to come from pre-Christian Germany. There is evidence of people using wreaths with candles in the long, dark days of December as a sign of hope for the future warm days of light in spring.
In Scandinavia, people have 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.
Advent Wreaths
The wreath is often made up of evergreens that symbolize everlasting life and has four candles. 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.
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A calendar candle
A calendar candle is 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.
In Denmark Calendar Candles are especially popular.
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FabGoose ideas to easy but stylish Advent decorations Scandinavian style.
Scandinavians knows best how to brighten the darkest time of the year.
Whether you want to create a simple Advent decoration with four candles, or just add a Calendar candle to your own holiday count down, we are sure that these images will inspire you.
Here are several ideas for how you can use and group our Christmas paper decorations and create a beautiful composition.
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You can find all the colors and sizes of our Christmas paper decorations trees here in the shop.
Pictures credit @j_e_m