Four lighted candles, standing precariously upright on a wreath, hung from ribbons, swinging from the roof beam.
Not a typical holiday sight but normal for me since earliest childhood.
Behold a family Christmas picture, circa 1958. That’s me, kneeling.
In the cradle is my new baby sister, a newborn from mid-November. The German Shepherd’s name is Lumpy. He is still a big puppy, acquired recently to get me used to the idea of sharing my parent’s attention with another being.
Above my father’s head is a wreath, hanging from four, red ribbons and holding 4 candles.
It is an Advent Wreath and I took these for granted growing up.
So much so that I drew one in one of my earliest knock off stories, a version of Rumplestiltskin.
Trust me, that is an Advent Wreath.
A drawing from 1962 It looks a lot like this one , but ours never had 24 candles on it!
Wichern Adventskranz originated from Germany.jpg
And my parents were not religious either. This was a custom that my dad had grown up with that he brought with him when he emigrated. Our candles were red, like most Protestants use.
Catholic wreath with 3 purple candles and one rose candle
When I grew up and made my own home, I took the advent wreath custom with me. Here, my friend Denise lights a candle for the second Sunday in Advent. 
She wears the ceremonial Chinese Santa Hat to do it.
I did not grow up with Swedish Lucia Day, but the similarities to the Advent Wreath are striking, so I include her in this round up of Wreathes, lit with Candles.
One of the prettiest images is this one by Carl Larsson, called Lucia 1908
Lucia traditionally bears a tray with sweet, saffron-flavoured buns (lussekatter) shaped like curled-up cats and with raisin eyes. You eat them with glögg or coffee.
Look how sweet these contemporary Lucias are–with their LED candles!
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