Torches are Christian symbols, they’ve been adopted as a Christian symbol and that’s the part that gets people confused,” Snider said. ... Hand pointing down: Sudden death.

Both Christian symbols are bookends to the Easter story. ... “From a Christian perspective, there’s nothing to fear because even death has been conquered,” Hamalis says.

According to Christian teaching, Jesus died on a Friday, and his death redeemed a sinful world. People have written of fasting on Friday to commemorate this sacrifice as early as the first century.