Forget the usual stable, manger and figurines of humans and livestock, not to mention advent calendars. In this case, the festive season is marked more with symbols, with a road traffic sign theme.

Members of the Rakvere Kolmainu kirik placed the Christmas traffic signs out on Saturday, to be revealed to the public on the first evening in advent, which happens to be today, Sunday.

The idea for an advent-traffic sign mashup came from Rakvere pastor Tauno Toompuu. While he wanted a Christmas nativity scene outside the church, he wanted something a bit different from the usual stable, manger and figurines of humans and livestock one normally sees.

He called on artist Teet Suur, creator of the town's distinctive Christmas tree installations, for help.

"Really I offered many different options, and eventually we thought about what would be the most doable, yet also a little different. The sign design that we finally arrived at — we complemented each other in the same way, and for that aspect I mostly listened to the person who knew better," Suur said.

Symbology of the nativity and advent is also present on the signs themselves.

"The Christmas theme itself is actually a yard-area sign, showing the Three Wise Men and the small house where Jesus is born. Perhaps that yard area is the nativity itself. If you start from the beginning, you can gradually catch the Christmas event more or less via the symbols. The final part is already more abstract and philosophical, giving meaning to what the Christmas story signifies. In fact, everything ends in infinity," Toompuu explained.

While the installation forms a sermon of sorts, this needn't be in the form of patronizing or moralizing sermonizing, the pastor added. "Everyone forms their own thoughts here, and I think that's exactly how it should be," he said.

The advent traffic signs will remain in place outside the Rakvere Church, address Pikk 19, until Twelfth Night, January 5.

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