Christingle Ceramic Tree Decoration

A Christingle. A Christingle is a symbolic object, related to the pomander, used in advent services. A Christingle consists of an orange representing the world, a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Christ, dried fruits or fruit flavoued sweets, skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons and finally a lit candle representing Jesus Christ as the light of the world. The word "Christingle" comes from the German Christkindl, and Christingle is originally a German custom. It has its origins in the Moravian Church, although the representation of the four seasons was a later addition. At Christmas 1747 in Germany, Bishop Johannes de Watteville in Marienborn thought about how he could explain the love of the Jesus the Christ child (Christkindl in German) and what Christmas really means to the children in the church. He decided to make a simple symbol to express the message of Christmas in a fresh and lively way. Pastor Johannes de Watteville gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a prayer that said "Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children's hearts".