It's a dark December morning on a school day. My brother and I are still in our pajamas. He has just removed the tinfoil-wrapped chocolate Santa from the red felt Advent calendar hanging on the kitchen wall near the wood-burning stove in the home I lived in from the age of five to 13. Here's the rule: One cuts the chocolate in half, and the other gets a first choice between the two pieces. He's two years older than me, so he usually does the cutting. I focus earnestly as he slices, doing my very best to figure out which chunk of chocolate is a tad larger than the other. I leave him with his portion and pop my tiny bit of chocolatey goodness into my mouth before hurrying back to my bedroom to get dressed and get out the door for a long day of school, dance classes, and maybe a piano lesson.

Our home on Dupont Street is already decorated for the holidays. My attention gravitates to the Advent wreath and the small Nativity set with the Holy Family shepherds and animals made of olive wood. I love lighting the Advent candles, listening to the devotionals my mom reads, and seeing the larger Advent wreath at our church on Sunday mornings in the weeks leading up to Christmas. I love these bites of chocolate first thing in the morning. Even at a young age, I love the rituals leading up to Christmas. I love this active waiting.

My earliest December memories are full of Advent calendars, wreaths, candles, and my mother playing hymns at the piano in my family's previous house on Hunting Creek. Over the years, I have added to that file in my mind. Advent wreaths and candles with Tim and our children, who used to fight over who got to blow out the candles. Church gatherings and meals with friends.

Watching the light chase away the darkness year after year, again and again. I love the rituals leading up to Christmas. I love this active waiting.

When I decided to launch a line of candles a month or so ago, I wanted to start with three. Three is a good number. One, two, three. I moved forward with research and scent blends and testing and burning and tweaking and more testing and more burning for my first three candles. Then, I envisioned a fourth candle, an Advent candle. The sensory image that came to mind was a pot of mulled apple cider simmering on the stove and an Advent wreath nearby on the kitchen table. I told myself it could wait until next year, this fourth candle and the scent I wanted to capture for this season's entire rituals and waiting. I wish I had thought about it sooner. It could wait. But I couldn't let go of it. I couldn't wait.

Jordan with Village Apothecary Co. loved the idea and was thrilled to bring this vision to life in a scented candle sort of way. She was a bit worried about it being too sweet. I was, too. I hate when things are too sweet. I'm happy to announce she found the perfect balance between the apple, mulling spices (heavy on the clove!), cypress, and pine.

I love this candle so much. It smells like Advent.

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Here’s a bit more about the candle scent blend. (You’ll see why I chose this mix for the Advent candle.)

The very first Advent wreath didn’t include any greenery. Research by Prof. Haemig of Luther Seminary, St. Paul points to Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808–1881), a Lutheran pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor, as the inventor of the modern Advent wreath in the 19th century. During Advent, children at the mission school Rauhes Haus, founded by Wichern in Hamburg, would ask daily if Christmas had arrived. In 1839, he built a large wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 24 small red and 4 large white candles. A small candle was lit successively every weekday and Saturday during Advent. On Sundays, a large white candle was lit.

The custom of bringing evergreens home during the winter began in the 16th century among northern and eastern Europeans — with Germans commonly credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition. During this period, pruning the tree was a part of the preparation process. “Limbs were often cut off in an attempt to make the tree more uniform in shape or to fit into a room,” writes Ace Collins, author of Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas. Instead of throwing the pieces of greenery away, the Europeans wove the excess into wreaths.

Various versions of Advent calendars and wreaths exist now, and I’m here for all of them. I love a huge Advent wreath full of fresh greenery, but I also have a simple candelabra with the appropriate number of candle holders that I adore. The aroma of Advent greenery resides in the recesses of my mind, and I’m thrilled to feature cypress and pine in the Advent Candle.

Cypress has been shown in aromatherapy to clear airways and promote deep breathing while energizing the mood and grounding emotions. The Pine scent helps eliminate fatigue, enhances concentration, and promotes a positive outlook.

Cypress represents provision and protection because God told Noah to make his ark out of cypress wood. Another Scriptural reference with a heavy theme of provision is in Isaiah where God says, “I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together.”

*Claude Monet, Under the Pines, Evening. 1888*

Pine in an Advent wreath represents eternal life, as do most evergreens. I love the wintry contemplative vibes of the poem “Pine” by Chase Twichell. Goodness. That last bit: “The wind has dragged/its branches over their history.” Love it.

The other scents for the Advent candle come from my vision of a pot of mulled apple cider simmering on the stove. (Yes. Making mulled cider is officially on my to-do list for this week!)

Studies have shown that the scent of Apples can help reduce anxiety. Cinnamon is known to be a mood booster. This candle’s scent blend is heavy on Clove, which can manage anxious energy and enhance concentration.

I’m kind of obsessed with this still life with cider & apples by American artist John F Francis (1858).

And another apple + Advent connection is the Advent and Christmas hymn “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree” which I fell in love with when I first heard it 20 years ago. The 18th-century poem with the same title found its way into an American hymnal compiled by Joshua Smith in 1784. Here’s a lovely version by the American Boychoir if you’d like to listen to it. And this version by Lowland Hum is fantastic too.

Also, mulled apple cider is delicious and festive. It’s perfect for the Advent season. Here’s the recipe I’m going to try this week. But I’m going to add extra cloves.

I wish you many good smells and much memory making during the upcoming Advent season. I’d love for you to add my Advent candle to the mix. The four ounce tin ($15) has approximately 30 hours of burn time. The nine ounce glass jar ($30) has 70. Pre-orders are open now with the first batch of candles shipping to customers on 12/2/2023.

Check out the FAQ here for more details.

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