during x mas (particullarly in sweden) ppl put up these triangles with candles or lightbulbs in them, on the window ledge. does anyone know what they symbolize?
2006-12-09 03:25:24 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Christmas
the triangle represents the trinity
2006-12-09 04:02:18 · answer #1 · answered by gypsy 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As far as I can tell, they're a symbolic variant of the other kind of advents candle, where there are four in a row, and each week in december (usually on sunday, after lunch) we light one candle and let it burn a fourth of the way down. The second week, you light two candles and let them burn down, so by the end of the month you have a 'stairs' of candles.
If you look here:
http://clarks.org.uk/till%20heather/heather.html
There is one of the ones you describe in the first picture, and in the third one down, one of the 'four candles to count down the weeks of advent' ones (with one candle lit).
I'm not sure there is any specific symbolism to the 7 candles, I've wondered on and off for years, asked around, and researched it on the web many times, and never had anyone give up any reason other than "it's tradition" and "it looks nice in the windows when it's so dark in december". They also happen to often look rather like a menorah, especially if they candles aren't stepped up and down (they aren't always, sometimes they are level), but that's rather coincidental - swedish wikipedia mentions that seven armed candleabras are very common in churches here.
2006-12-09 17:46:29 · answer #2 · answered by Gullefjun 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
THE TRINITY ( THE DEITY ) would be my guess
2006-12-09 11:44:32 · answer #3 · answered by Marvin R 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋