Reclaiming Advent With Nature

The word “Advent” means “coming” or “arrival.” It is used in the Christian tradition to refer to the four Sundays before Christmas, when people prepare for the birth of the Christ child. However, this seasonal observance has been kept by people around the world from all paths and beliefs; as autumn gives way to winter, we prepare for the return of the sun, the lengthening of days, and for the insights that we can gain from reflection on the year that has been and what we hope to manifest for the future.  -Sarah Logan- City of Lakes Waldorf School

When I was a child we celebrated advent in the traditional Catholic way. My mother brought out the nativity, which seconded as my favorite childhood dollhouse. Next to the nativity went the handmade wreath made from evergreen branches in our backyard. We nestled four candles into the wreath meant to represent the 4 weeks before Christ’s birth. I always found this alter space to be a magic place. It was placed in a darker corner of the living room and was often lit by the Christmas tree lights.

My mother would hide the baby Jesus who would not be placed into his manger until the night of Christmas Eve. Each night of advent we would light one candle per week until all the candles would be lit by the 4^th week. My mother would read us a prayer and that was that. It was a lovely, simple ritual that brought meaning and painted a vivid picture for me of the celebration of darkness turning into light. 

As an adult my views have changed some, I don’t follow the same Catholic path I was raised with and now celebrate the advent season in a different way. I claimed the Winter Solstice as my neutral religious holiday.  I have found the basis beyond most winter holidays, no matter the religion, is the celebration of sunlight coming back to our cold, dark wintery earth. Our family has created our own ritual around Solstice and has also adopted Christmas as our gift giving and family holiday as well as Hanukkah, which we celebrate with Jewish friends. With so much celebration you would think that would be enough, but I continued to experience nostalgia for the simple beauty of the ritual of Advent. 

As an educator with a particular interest in alternative education models, I came across Waldorf Schools (early childhood through high school) and was very intrigued. “Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy. Its pedagogy strives to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skills in an integrated and holistic manner. The cultivation of pupils' imagination and creativity is a central focus” (www. Wikipedia/waldorf.com).   

I have had many close friends graduate from Waldorf schools and have learned some about their experiences and philosophies. I got my biggest dose of information on this kind of schooling and movement by working in a Waldorf early childhood (Life Way’s) program. I did online courses while working there and immersed myself in the knowledge of mentors who had chosen the Waldorf path. In my studies I learned more about the rituals and celebrations of the school. I love the connection to nature , the four seasons and the focus on making our daily life work magical and important. I also love the Waldorf focus on seasonal celebrations and making each season important, beautiful and full of meaning.

One winter Solstice my family attended a winter celebration at the Waldorf schoolhouse where I worked. We walked through a spiral made of Evergreen branches ending with a burning candle in the middle of the spiral. On the path were objects of significance including bones, seashells, crystals, plants, animals made of clay and other beautiful objects. We were meant to walk the spiral quietly, one at a time with a candle. When we got to the middle of the spiral we were supposed to light our candle from the flame and then walk out of the spiral with our candles lit. It was a wondrous evening, full of warmth and meaning and left me with questions about all that I saw and did.  We went to the space without a guide so the whole thing felt mysterious and new. 

A year or so later, after leaving my position at the Waldorf school, I decided to research the way Solstice was celebrated in the Waldorf tradition. This led to my discovery of how advent was celebrated. “In Waldorf schools, for many years, children of all backgrounds have participated in the month-long observance of the rebirth of the light through songs, stories, craft activities, and the Winter Spiral festival. It is a way for children to experience quiet beauty in a season of busyness.”-Sarah Hogan. There was my childhood holiday steeped in Catholic tradition and belief laid out in a nature based fashion that included all the love of ritual my raised Catholic heart craved. Yes!

This is the prayer of advent in the Waldorf tradition:

 

“The first Light of Advent It is the Light of stones:
The Light that shines in seashells In crystals and our bones.
The second Light of Advent It is the Light of plants:
Plants that reach up to the sun And in the breezes dance.
The third Light of Advent, It is the light of beasts:
The Light of faith that we may see In greatest and in least.
The fourth Light of Advent It is the Light of humankind:
The Light of hope, of thoughts and deeds,
The Light of hand, heart and mind.” -Rudolph Steiner

“It is no accident that so many festivals are planned for these dark days. Celebrations of light, community, and sharing remind us to carry the gifts of summer with us into the quiet of winter. At the time of the longest night, we find joyful celebrations of returning light. The Jewish celebration of Hannukah, the remembrance of the rededication of the Temple and of the miracle of lamps whose oil should have lasted one day and lasted for eight, falls at this time of year. The Hindu festival of lights, Divali, has just passed. Many earth-based traditions honor the winter Solstice with special joy, lighting fires and candles and exchanging gifts.”

 -Sarah Logan- City of Lakes Waldorf School

We have been celebrating Advent this year the Waldorf way. I started in November making watercolor backgrounds and writing out the verses from the prayer above for each night of Advent. My daughter and I collected cedar boughs from a local park and decorated around our candelabra that always lives in the middle of our table.  We put out our good beeswax candle tapers. On the first week of advent I assembled shells from our past travels. I also displayed crystals and dried starfish for bones. Before dinner each night, we lit the candle and said the verse. During dinner we spend some time discussing our favorite mineral or plant or animal, dependent on what week we are on and then spend the rest of dinner chatting as we normally do. Our family altar has been focused on Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucia, two other holidays we like to celebrate*, but will also soon have our nativity scene. Baby Jesus will again be hidden until Christmas Day. Some rituals still live on. J It makes me happy to see my daughters play with the nativity characters with as much enthusiasm as I did.

I am still learning the whole significance of Advent and will have to read more as my new family tradition unfolds, but that is just what it is, an unfolding. I have relieved myself of the pressure of creating the perfect, most researched ritual that mimics exactly what I think a Waldorf celebration should look like. I am taking the things I do know and adding my own twist. I use my children’s input and love of story, ritual and celebration to infuse the way we do Advent and make it truly our own. 

I love to reclaim holidays and pass on the traditions to my dear children. How do you like to bring home the magic of celebrations in your life?  

 * Saint Lucia Day is a holiday celebrated most commonly in Sweden marking the beginning of the Christmas Season celebrated on December 13^th with a procession of girls with candle wreaths on their heads and boys with star crowns. My family celebrates by having a party where the children serve cookies and coffee and make wreaths and crowns, hear the legend of Saint Lucia and process around the backyard.

 * Saint Nicolas Day is the Czech Christmas on December 6^th. We celebrate by telling the story of Saint Nicolas, his life and good deeds and having something special in the children’s stockings as well as eating apples and fish, traditional Czech food. 

Buona Pasqua! Easter in Italia part 1

--> As he jostled the key into the lock on the slick, green painted, wood of our doorway Josepy said "Don't miss the Luminaire procession tomorrow night in honor of Good Friday. "It was Good Friday, the streets were open and empty." The lyrics of a Coco Rosie song mumble through my head. Luminaire, the words spark memories of hand crafted lanterns in the shape of fish and other animals lit from within and marched down the walk ways of young, Olympia streets to ultimately surround the small lake over looking the capital. I was giddy with the news. What would a luminaire procession be like in Italy? How lucky we were to find ourselves in a pretty seaside small town on this momentous night.

Half way through dinner at a small fish restaurant I heard the whispers of chanting on the wind. It was pouring rain, we asked the waiter if the luminaire would still happen in the rain? He assured us it would. The owner of the eatery kept coming in and out as excited as a puppy waiting for the sun to go down and the procession to start. Finally we heard the clang of a bell. We wiped our plates clean and headed out down this village's one main street. We were greeted by the shiny backs of Italian villagers, huddled under raincoats and umbrellas in small groupings all with their eyes locked on the thin pathway through the middle of the road. It was dark, wet and magic. Suddenly the man next to us broke out into a choral song in thick Italian, five women surrounding him joined in, we mumbled along as if we knew the song. As we hummed a small procession could be seen at the top of the hill. A ghostly looking gathering of white paper covered candles held by most of the town’s people slowly processing down the hill singing along in the strong and beautiful Catholic hymnal music. They would move forward a few steps then stop and sing, a new verse each time. Then stop and repeat. It seemed that the verses corresponded to Jesus journey to the cross or being taken back to the cave where he had his ultimate resurrection.

As the procession got closer we could see village boys dressed in white hoods and robes, I saw them as symbolizing the Holy Ghost. They walked in front of a small entourage of young girls dressed in white carrying a casket holding a crucifix. Jesus’s body was exposed to the chill and rain of the night. Looking down at his body in the rain stirred a sad emotion within me. To be present with the pain he experienced was eye opening and sorrowful.

We made our way to their tiny church right on the water. Compared to the Gothic Renaissance churches of the rest of Italy, it was simple and almost barren. Being rebuilt from a terrible storm a few years earlier they had only been able to rebuild the pews and alter in front. We gathered into the damp and frankincense scented church and sat on the hard, familiar, wooden pews. The service was short, consisting of many calls and response we could not translate but hum along with as we had in the street. We sang a little and then it was time to go.

 The town folks gathered in a line down the middle to give their blessings to the recently processed crucifix of their church. I walked with them, making my way to Jesus. I did not know what to expect, just that it made sense to give my blessings to this holy man on this day. When it was my turn I went up with an older women. She put her hands on his head, she cradled him like a newborn baby, kissing his forehead and holding his hand. Watching her comfortable and sentimental gestures with this statue made my heart melt. I put my hand in his thin, glossy, statue hand and stroked his cheek like I would my daughter. Tears welled in my eyes, I remembered how much I had once loved Jesus, and I forgave him in that moment. I forgave a hard childhood, my anger at the Catholic Church, the concept of original sin. I forgave all the shit people put on him and do in his name. I just filled my heart with love. I kissed his cheek and left that church feeling more alive, like I had turned a leaf in my adult life. Making peace with Jesus.