Let There Be Light

 

Yesterday (between turns to the laundry room) I collected my electric candlesticks and window stars from my storage room down in the basement; and today I set them all up in their usual places - one candlestick on each of my window sills, and in the kitchen and in my study also a hanging star. It's a tradition here in Sweden to put up these window lights for the first Advent Weekend. Back in my childhood we only had one electric candlestick (in the living room) and one paper star (in the kitchen). In my first own home(s) I too had only one of each; but have added to the "collection" over the years... The orange paper star in my kitchen is still of the same simple type as the one mum always put up back in my childhood, though. (The one in my study is a paper star too, but white with golden details.)

It felt like it took "half the day" for me to get this sorted today (including cleaning window sills, moving things around, unpacking the candlesticks, sorting out cords and timers, and checking/changing some lightbulbs etc). But in the afternoon I also managed to fit in a walk (before dark) to get my "overseas" (out-of-Europe) postcards posted. 

Outdoors it's been very novemberish this week - grey and "dark" even in the daytime, and quite a lot of rain too. None while I was out this afternoon, though. But it does feel like the right time to get some extra lights and candles up indoors now...

December 22 - 4th Advent Sunday

Seven-branched candlestick in Lund Cathedral.  

The seven-branched candlestick is to remind of the Menorah in the Temple in Jerusalem. The one in Lund Cathedral is from the 15th century and made of bronze. It was made in Hamburg and was transported to Lund in three parts.

The four figures at the bottom are the traditional symbols of the four evangelists in the New Testament: Angel (Matthew), Lion (Mark), Ox (Luke) and Eagle (John).

In the Old Testament, the prophet Ezekiel describes a vision of four living creatures, each of which had four faces (and wings): "Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle." (Ez 1:10)

A similar scene is described in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament: "In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures ... The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle." (Revelation 4:6-8)


Very early on in Christian tradition, these creatures became symbols of the authors of the four gospels in the New Testament.