A woman has opened up about being left petrified after she was woken up by a flight attendant and handed a candle mid-way through a recent flight.
Traveling can be one of life's biggest luxuries, having the ability to explore far-flung corners of the planet just by hopping on a plane.
Most flights are pretty routine, so anything that crops up that's out of the ordinary can be pretty terrifying - such as being woken up and having a candle thrust into your hand without explanation shortly before turbulence hits.
Jula Vadini, from Poland, feared that the plane she was on might be crashing after experiencing just that - before finding out what it was really for.
She had been on a 50-minute flight between Bogotá to San José Del Guaviare, in Colombia, on Saturday, December 7, when a flight attendant woke her up and handed her a white electronic tealight.
Jula shared the experience on social media, revealing that the candles were wordlessly handed out to everybody on board, telling her followers: "I was very confused so I started to pray."
The 27-year-old began jokingly filming the occurrence before turbulence hit and everyone was made to put their seatbelt on and listen to further announcements - which were made in Spanish, a language Jula couldn't understand.
She was seen asking: "Are we dying?", adding that she began to "panic" and told news.com.au that she was "over-analyzing all the noises”.
Jula added: "I thought that the candle was given to us for good luck and to pray as we would probably crash. I started to pray!"
The plane eventually touched down safely in San José Del Guaviare, after a bumpy landing.
She finished her video believing that they were handed out as a "Christmas gift from the plane company" - before people in the comments filled her in on what the candles were actually for.
"I later realised that I was the only one on the flight who didn’t know about this candle tradition that happens on December 7," she told the outlet.
"The candle wasn’t for us to pray before the crash but for us to make a wish. Obviously, I was completely unaware of this."
December 7 in Colombia marks Little Candles Day or Immaculate Conception Eve, a religious holiday that commemorates the Virgin Mary's immaculate conception of Jesus Christ the following day.
It is customary for colorful candles and lanterns to be lit and placed outside homes and on streets to represent a wish for the wellbeing of loved ones.
Jula added on Instagram: "Turns out this is a Colombian tradition on December 7. One candle = one wish! How wholesome."
People flooded her comments after her post, writing: "I would've guessed it's a way of saying bye bye world with the turbulence following the candle gift, so funny."
Others added: "Fun fact: The candle is for your soul to pass into the afterlife," and: "I thought it was for finding each other in case the plane crashed because of loss of power etc."
One commenter wrote: "Candles used for lighting should the entire cabin get super dark."
Thankfully, it wasn't as sinister as she was expecting - and everyone made it out safely.
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