www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Trikery and dikery (spelling?)

I know that the trikery and dikery (are these their proper names?) are three candle and two candle candleholders used in the Eastern churches, but what is the significance of their useage and why do the candleholders angle together so that the tips of the candles touch ?

And why, pray tell, do I also add "dock" when I see "trikery and dikery" mentioned together ?

God Bless,

Sam

It is usually said that the trikirion, with three candles, signifies the Holy Trinity, and the dikirion, with two candles, signifies the divine and human natures of Jesus Christ.

There are many variations with how the candles are placed in the trikirion and dikirion. The practice you mention, of having the candles either melted together, braided together, or the tips burning together as one, is common among some Russians, who say it represents the unity of the Trinity and the unity of the two natures of Christ, respectively. At least, that what a subdeacon told me once.

Now, some traditions just have the candles straight in the trikiri and dikiri, or at a slight angle, or simply crossed, or crossed with the ends bent straight... sometimes it just depends on the preference of the bishop or the subdeacon who puts them together. Maybe Diak could confirm that one.

Dave

The actual name for the pair of them is dikerotrikera - sometimes in English abbreviated to "tricky-dicky".
Symbolism I won't go into at this immediate moment.
As to the arrangement of the candles, my personal preference is the Greek style: long candles, crossed about half-way up (or down), held together (these days one often uses cellotape to hold them together), perhaps with ribbons and certainly with MANY flowers - they not only look pretty but the flowers catch the hot wax so that the bishop's hands do not get both burned and waxed.
Since I cannot tell a lie, I shall mention that on one unforgettable occasion I accompanied a bishop who was blessing a certain newly-built church, where the pastor had new carpeting. The pastor had arranged, believe it or not, dikero-trikera (in this instance, tricky-dicky might be a better name) with GAS-POWERED "candles", in order to keep wax on the rug. I stood there hoping against hope that the bishop would drop the tricky-dicky on the floor, where the gas flames would have burned a lovely hole in the polyeter carpeting. No such luck.

Incognitus

Sam, Dave has given a very good synopsis of the liturgical significance of the trikerion and dikerion, which are sometimes called "dikery" and "trikery" in Slavonic parlance.

I would only add to Dave's explanation that the "living light" of the lit candles being held by the bishop is also symbolic as he is the icon of the living Light of the World to his local Church. The intertwining of the candles is also itself significant of the united natures of Christ in the case of the dikery (God and Man) and of the One God present in Three Persons in the case of the trikery.

The Bishop uses these to bless at various parts of all the hierarchal services, not just at the Divine Liturgy but also the Hours.

I told my dikerotrikery nightmare story in the "Most Embarassing" post recently, and will repeat it here. I had fixed the very long beeswax tapers (over two feet long) in the trikery and dikery, tied them in the traditional way with ribbons so they were angled and intertwined, and trimmed them with roses, etc. all according to Hoyle.

This parish has ceiling fans with the pull-cords to turn the fans on/off hanging down. The Bishop was blessing in the four directions when he caught one on fire which he did not notice as he had already turned 90 degrees and was blessing another direction.

As I was standing in front of him facing him holding his Archieraticon (book of episcopal services) up for him to read, and seeing behind him, I saw the entire episode. The pastor was behind us flailing the cord to get the flame out which was quickly advancing. The Bishop must have wondered why I had such a look on my face as I did.

The Bishop never noticed and didn't know what had happened until after the Liturgy when I said, "Vladyka, you certainly set the house on fire when you come". The pastor jumped in on the inside joke and added "Yes, Vladyka, it's as if tongues of fire descend when you serve". We both burst out laughing and then told him what had happened.

I do so love the richness of symbolism in the Byzantine Churches and the reverent majesty of the Divine Liturgy!

But on the other hand, stories like yours, Diak, appeal my rather slapstick sense of humor!

Thanks for the clarification and the laughs.

God Bless,

Sam

I've been searching for a text giving the history and origin of the dikiri and trikiri.

Why would a bishop bless using candles? did the Emperors do something similar? etc.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I was told by a priest a couple of years ago that the Emperors in Constantinople would bless with the candles since they could not bless with their hands. Later, the bishops used the candles...I am not sure at what point this happened, before or after the fall in 1453.

Sbdn John

I was told by my bishop that gesture of blessing with the candle-holders, when the bishop joint both, is to represent the Holy Spirit's wings.

In the Arabic Byzantine churches, they are called "zikari" (dikirion) and "trikari" (trikirion).