The Calendar Candles project began with five motley candles (scented, unscented, used, and new) that my (Lucas) family cobbled together as our version of an Advent wreath. It began, too, with two lines of text that my children had come to know by heart: “Why do we light one (/two/three/four) candle?” “This light reminds us to watch and wait for signs of hope (/peace/joy/love) in the darkness.”
It was a simple thing—the cumulative lighting of candles in the four-week lead-up to Christmas and the lighting of the Christ candle on Christmas day—but carried enormous force. Amid a parent’s anxiety about how consumerism and busyness were overwhelming our sense of the world, here was a small practice, drawn from tradition, that captured my children’s imagination and restored meaning and story to the passage of time.
What would it look like to extend this practice beyond this one season?
And so, in 2016, a notion of a new business was formed, with a first product: a set of stackable, configurable candle holders and an accompanying booklet of practices and poems (a “Littlegy,” i.e., a little liturgy) that could be used throughout the rest of the year to draw us into deeper themes, based on the seasons of the Church calendar.
Thomas, a friend and carpenter based in East Vancouver, agreed to be our first maker. Conversations became sketches and sketches became prototypes; friends and family offered feedback; we adjusted and improved our product, which we named “Calendar Candles.”
An early prototype for Pentecost. 
An early prototype for the cross formation. 
Thomas experiments with yakisugi.
For this first edition of the kit, we chose poplar, the hardwood of tulip trees native to eastern North America. The darker-coloured pieces, with their accentuated grain, were finished using yakisugi, a Japanese charring technique traditionally used to naturally protect the wooden exterior of buildings. All the components were hand-rubbed with linseed/flax oil and then buffed with an all-natural, beeswax-based polishing compound.
Interested in designing and producing your own edition of Calendar Candles? Read our invitation to join our Makers’ Collective!
For the accompanying guide, we invoked the physical elements from familiar stories to engage the senses — the lighting litanies, exercises, and poetry encourage one to see, hear, smell, and touch and enter the themes in tangible ways. Our “Littlegy” would be small and accessible but would open new pathways for rich exploration. The guide that resulted from our efforts, A Littlegy for Reshaping Time, comprises 10 themes, 10 candle maps, 10 litanies, 8 poems, 2 prose passages, and 40 exercises, plus recommended resources.
In the fall of 2018, we launched Calendar Candles at the annual All-Handmade Sale of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church. The response was enthusiastic and encouraging. A wonderful beginning for our enterprise: Gradient Goods.
Head to our store to purchase your Calendar Candles kit, or contact us to find out more.