Autumn Festivals and Celebrations

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The observation of the rhythm of the year with celebration and festival life is universal among humans everywhere and of every age. Since the beginning of time, there is evidence that all peoples have celebrated the rhythm of life, returning to ritual and routine year after year, marking time, showing reverence and connecting with each other and the world around us through the cycle of the year.

Universal Quality

Many cultures share common roots in the origins of celebration. Foods used in celebration often reflect the local harvest, or what has been put up from the harvest. Spices are often associated with seasons and celebration. Think of warming allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon in the fall. Sometimes foods are related symbolically to the celebration, by color, shape or quality. Song and dance often accompany celebrations along with performances of varied sorts.

Why have Festivals and Celebrations?

Festival life is an important and meaningful element of Waldorf education and parenting communities. Celebrations help carry children, families, teachers and communities through the year with preparation and anticipation of what is to come, through song, story, movement, gathering and use of seasonal materials for practical and decorative use, and of course, specific foods.

Festivals and celebrations provide homeschooling families regular moments in the year to come together and celebrate. Sometimes festivals are celebrated through a playgroup and can be a means for fostering community for its members. Schools often open their doors to welcome the broader community for festival celebrations. Online bloggers offer pictures of celebrations and descriptions of how to pull it together.

How Many Festivals to Celebrate? 

The number of days for possible celebration is limitless and may seem overwhelming. In trying to decide which festivals to take up consider the mood of the season, what is the essential element? What speaks to you? What are your family’s beliefs and traditions? What traditions would you like to create or deepen that resonate deep within for you? What is celebrated in your community? What Festivals feel like social ones to you? Which ones feel more private or family oriented? How can you bring them about?

Mood of Autumn

Let’s begin with the mood of the season. In autumn, we continue with the harvest that began in summer, preserving food for winter through canning, drying and freezing. 

Autumn festivals begin as sustenance building, strength and courage making, and then move us through the dying and dropping of the leaves, with seeds dispersing. The veils between the worlds grows thin, we remember the ancestors, offering them sustenance and celebrating life and death with All Hallows Eve, All Saints and All Souls Days, the Day of the Dead. 

We then move through the darkness of the year towards festivals of light, festivals of finding the light within and carrying it out into the world, in the cold dark night of winter, fanning our flames to create and sustain warmth for all the world. 

One morning we awaken to find the world covered in crystals and note that Jack Frost has made his fist visit. We are in the season of Autumn.

September :: October :: November

Celebrations and festivals of autumn with some  favorite resources for building, deepening and nourishing a festival life at home or in community:

Autumn Equinox :: varies with movement of the cosmos
Michaelmas ~ the Feast Day of St. Michael, the archangel :: Sept 29th
Feast Day of St. Francis ~ patron saint of animals :: Oct 4th
Canadian Thanksgiving :: the 2nd Monday in October
All Hallows Eve ~ Halloween ::  Oct 31st
Día de los Muertos ~ Days of the Dead :: Oct 31st- Nov 2nd
All Saints Day :: Nov 1st
All Souls Day :: Nov 2nd
Martinmas :: Nov 11th  ~ the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, often celebrated with lantern making and lantern walks.
U.S. Thanksgiving :: the 4th Thursday of November
Advent :: begins on the 4th Sunday before Christmas
Saint Nicholas :: Dec 6th
Santa Lucia Day :: Dec 13th
The Spiral Garden during Advent

Christmas is rapidly approaching and the Winter Solstice brings the end to fall.

Some Favorite Resources for Autumn

All Year Round by Ann Druitt, Christine Frynes-Clinton and Marije Rowling

The Children’s Year by Stephanie Cooper, Christine Frynes-Clinton and Marje Rowling

Festivals, Family and Food by Diana Carey

Calendar of the Soul by Rudolf Steiner

In the Light of a Child by Michael Hedley Burton

The Harvest Craft Book by Thomas Berger 

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life Autumn Curriculum: September, October, November

Planning Helps You Cultivate the Life You Want

Are You Seeking More?
Many of us are drawn to Waldorf ways because we are seeking more. 
More warmth.
More beauty in our daily lives.
More time for what is meaningful.

We long for deeper connections, to the natural world and to each other.

Perhaps you’ve always wanted to organize a Michaelmas gathering or celebrate the four weeks of Advent…yet you feel like you need to catch up before you can begin.

You don't need to catch up.
You can begin right where you are. 

And you don’t need to do more ~ you need to do less, with care. 

Some years ago, I created a summer class for planning. because I needed it. I had sketched out my own year for homemaking and homeschooling, season by season and it helped me stay grounded.

It grew out of my Morning Garden days, where I learned again and again - that rhythm brings freedom… and that less really is more ~ especially when it’s shaped with clarity and intention. 

Planning with the seasons allows you to cultivate the life you long to live, in small, steady steps.

It may look like:
• A nature walk on a crisp morning
• A pretty table set with candlelight
• An ongoing handwork project that echoes the mood of the season
• A birthday celebration, a lantern walk
• Teaching Main Lessons in sync with the rhythm of the year

All of this is possible ~ with that first step - a plan. 

These things don’t happen by accident in our noisy, fast-paced world.
They must be tended, slowly, surely and deliberately.
They are built up over time, with care. 

Planning is a Gift to Yourself

A gift of spaciousness.
A gift to live intentionally aligned with your values.

Join me!

Over the next six weeks in Get Organized :: Sketch It Out! we'll craft a plan for the coming homemaking and homeschooling year.

Give yourself the gift of time and presence by being organized before it happens! 

You deserve that much and more!

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life with Harmonious Rhythms + Soulful Parenting that is Conscious, Connected + Creative

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Seasonal Curriculum + eCourses

Homeschool Mentoring + Parent Coaching

Peace on Earth begins at Home

Favorite Picture Books for Spring

In the Waldorf kindergarten, there are no books, it's all spoken word, shared heart to heart, with storytelling and puppetry. At home, the act of snuggling up with our child to read a story can be a very sweet and comforting ritual. I have fond memories of my mom reading to me, as well as warm memories of reading to my own children. I bet you do too. 

Stories, especially stories about daily life, are a cherished part of family life.

As we settle into vibrant, lush, greenness of Spring, taking a moment during the day to settle in with a warm cup of tea and a good story can be just the refreshment needed ~ a peaceful in-breath amid the busyness of the day. 

It’s always hard to choose just a few favorites as there are so many wonderful books to choose from, and each family has its own special favorites. All of these books have beautiful illustrations. Here are a few of our family favorites to cosy up and read aloud in the Spring: 

Dibble and Dabble  by Dave and Julie Saunders

Dibble and Dabble mistake a cat's tail for a furry snake and set out to warn their friends. With playful language and suspense, we join their quest. 

Miss Rumphius  by Barbara Cooney

A timeless favorite, this book offers inspiration, life wisdom and guidance from grandfather to granddaughter in the simplest yet most profound and timeless way. 

Pelle's New Suit  by Else Beskow

The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers

A beautiful picture, through story, of the rhythm of the year, with sweet illustrations and a dreamlike mood, it brings the rhythm of nature to life  through the lens of Mother Nature's Root children. A sweet celebration for young children.

Spring  by Gerda Muller

A simple, lovely board book, with rich, detailed illustrations, depicting the springtime activities of daily life for children, with baby animals, blossoms and play. It has no text. 

Make way for Ducklings  by Robert McCloskey

"Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for her and her eight ducklings to live. But when the busy streets of Boston become too risky for her and her family to navigate, the local police step in to make sure Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings—Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack—make it to their new home safely. A beautiful portrayal of one duck family’s devotion and perseverance, this picture book is a wonderful representation of how families overcome hard times together and a compassionate reminder to trust in the goodness of humanity." ~  from Barnes & Noble

What are your favorite books to read in the Springtime?

Leave your favorite titles in the comments below.  👇

Celebrate the Rhythm of Life with Harmonious Rhythms + Soulful Parenting that is Conscious, Connected + Creative

::

Seasonal  Curriculum + eCourses

Homeschool Mentoring + Parent Coaching

Peace on Earth begins at Home