It's January first today, New Year's Day. Happy New Year!
Here we are at the turning point in the year, at the threshold or gateway to a new beginning, leaving the old year and moving into the new one.
We are standing on the threshold between the old year and the new year. The month of January is named for the Roman god Janus, god of passageways, gates, doors and transitions, of beginnings and of endings.
Janus' head is looking both forward to the future and back into the past.
Rudolf Steiner speaks of New Year's Eve:
“On New Year’s Eve it is always fitting to remember how past and future are linked together in life and in the existence of the world, how past and future are linked in the whole life of the Cosmos of which man is a part, how past and future are linked in every fraction of that life with which our own individual existence is connected, is interwoven through all that we were able to do and to think during the past year, and through all that we are able to plan for the coming year…”
~ Rudolf Steiner The Cosmic New Year, lecture 4, 31st December, 1919
An Exercise for the Turning Point in the Year
This is a reflective exercise for you to do at this threshold time of the year. This is one that can be done by you alone, by you and a partner, or as a family exercise, with children who are 8 or so and older.
Create a mood for this exercise by dedicating 20 or 30 minutes, make a pot of tea or cups of hot cocoa, with whipped cream if you like it that way, take out a journal or pencil and paper. Light a candle. Take a few calming deep breaths. This is an opportunity to rejoice in different aspects of your year.
Reflect on the significant events of the past twelve months.
What comes up?
Sometimes it feels like a big blank, and it helps to go through the months in your mind.
I like to leave a spaciousness for reflections to emerge freely rather than condense things too much.
Sometimes they do emerge, and sometimes a little prompting can be just the thing to get thoughts flowing.
Here are some questions to ask to get the juices flowing ~
What stands out for you from last year?
What new skill did you learn?
What did you learn about people?
What did you learn about yourself?
When did you laugh the hardest?
When did you cry the hardest?
What are you letting go of, saying goodbye to?
What was an unexpected joy?
What was an unexpected obstacle?
What did you learn about the obstacle? About obstacles in general?
What do you feel you should have been acknowledged for but weren’t?
If you could change one thing about last year, what would it be?
Now look forward and share what each of you are looking forward to in the year ahead.
Looking back and looking forward, a reconciliation of the past with the future.
Looking Forward
What are you tackling?
What qualities are you working on?
Choose one word that reflects a quality you want to cultivate in the coming year.
If you'd like this Exercise for the Turning Point in the Year in PDF, click through here
Wishing you days filled with Love and Warmth in 2017!
My thoughts have been with the water protectors in Standing Rock, standing strong to protect their sacred ground, their ancestors' burial sites, the water for their children, their land, their treaty rights, the water for everyone, the very well being of the earth. Watching the Native American people stand clear and strong. Standing for all of us. A time for healing and change. Urging the people and the leaders of the United States to find our identity as a nation, to clarify what this country stands for, and who it is about and act.
It's an unsettling time, and yet a time ripe with hope and potential. A little bit like transition when a woman is giving birth.
The first light of Advent is the light of stones, lights that live in seashells, in crystals and in bones.
Advent is a season in itself, a season of anticipation. The very word "Advent" has in its roots "ad" meaning towards + "venir" to come. Coming towards. Advent is a season of "coming towards." Of anticipation. Of quiet waiting.
It reminds me of my midwifery work in which the first trimester of pregnancy is known as The Period of Adjustment, the second trimester as The Period of Radiant Health and the third trimester as The Period of Watchful Waiting. These come from Helen Varney of Varney's Midwifery.
Advent is like the third trimester, we are in The Period of Watchful Waiting. A time of quiet anticipation. Waiting for what is to come. As the world is waiting, and praying, for what will come at Oceti Sakowin. Women and healing work at Otceti Sakowin here, scroll down.
We’re in slow motion this year, still lingering in the mood of sweet slowness that follows Thanksgiving. We’re stuffed with roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, spicy chickpeas, cranberries and all the goodness of the Thanksgiving table.
It’s warm inside and wet, cold and gray out of doors. I'm waiting for the snow.
We’ve unplugged from the busyness of the world, partly by choice, partly by force. My son was in an accident just before Thanksgiving and got quite bashed up. He is now on the mend, thanks to what must have been divine intervention, as well a very skilled surgeon, and a wonderfully kind hospital crew, for whom I feel enormously grateful.
With surgery and broken bones, there's lots of down time for convalescing. We canceled our travel plans and stayed put. It has been sweet.
As we move along in the season of Advent, I ask myself what matters most to me? The people I care about. My family and friends. My work. Cultivating community. Ample time. Being fully present in the moment.
How do I live these values as we approach the busy holiday time of year, with so many events and activities beckoning us to join?
I begin with a checking in on our family home rhythms. The pulse of our daily life can tell us a good deal about what’s going on.
Next I look around and begin right where I am. In the days of slow and simple. Right here. Right now. And I savor it.
Many moons ago, when I was a child, the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day was a stepping out of time: we visited family, had friends and family over to visit, played with cousins, sang Christmas songs and ate plenty of good food. We feasted and were festive. We made snowmen and went ice skating and toboganning. The routine of school and work stopped, and the focus was one of pulling in, of connection and companionship and community with family and friends. It was a time out of time, with a stillness to the air, and to the year, a threshold perhaps.
Now that I am the parent, I make sure that life continues to slow down here, even though the world remains busy outside our doors. We don't have so many aunts and uncles and cousins to visit as I did, as they are fewer in number and more spread out than we were. The buzz of the world does not seem so far away as it did when I was young, or perhaps it was not so loud. To hold that stillness is a challenge.
As I am in my own bubble of the Twelve Days of Christmas and the Holy Nights, I've been thinking about Epiphany and my relationship to this feast, the Feast of Epiphany, the awakening of the wise men from the east, awakening of the self, of consciousness.
Epiphany is said to have its origins in the Saturnalia of Rome. In the Church it is a liturgical season from Epiphany to Candlemas, a day also known as Brigid's Day, and for some associated with the churching of women.
For me, Christmas is a season that begins just after Thanksgiving with the first week of Advent and continues until Candelmas, or Brigid's Day. Over the years we have taken up activities that have become tradition, along with many of the traditions I grew up with.
It has not always been this way. As a child I read Marx and Engels' History of the Family and then rebelled against everything, church, tradition, rules. I was not an easy teenager, ahem - sorry mom and dad. As I grow older, I have such compassion for my mom and dad and what they put up with and I now find meaning in the traditions of my own childhood, not as habit or sentimentality but as something that makes meaning for me.
I now celebrate because I want to, it is important for me. I bring them to my children to take part in or not. I wonder if it is in the letting go of them, as I did when I was younger and rebellious, then the contemplation of them, and finally a conscious and hopefully living relationship to them and then inviting them as something meaningful that makes for transformation and a free relationship to celebration? Do you find that happens with you?
We are midway through the twelve days and holy nights of Christmas, the Child of Light and Love or the Sun of Light has triumphed over the darkness of the year and the three kings are following the star as we are moving towards Epiphany, the Festival of the Three Kings; the figures in our house move along with time. The mood of Epiphany carries us to Candelmas. Rudolf Steiner spoke of the mood of Christmas in The Christmas Festival in the Changing Course of Time here in case you are interested.
How do you find your way into festivals and celebrations?
Hello friends, it has been nearly two years now since I began to show up in this space and write a bit about my life, a bit about Waldorf education, a bit about parenting, striving to find my voice, to figure out what it is I am writing about. Is it our family life? Is it reflections on my children? Is it about Waldorf education? Is it as a teacher or as a mother? or both?
I'm not sure.
I've been trying to find my way through this blog world. I love visiting your blogs and connecting with you. It is fun to see where you live and how your children are growing. I love the recipes and craft ideas too. I love most knowing that other moms, like me, are striving to hold it all together, to be present with their children and to find themselves and their voice among adults at the same time.
I imagine we are having tea together around the crackling fire of the wood stove in the playroom, each of us seeking a place to rest our cup, out of the grasp of little hands. This is my picture of us. You give me comfort that I am not alone in my challenges, in my strivings. You inspire me to keep on keeping on. You help me see the beauty along the way as well. I am grateful for that.
I'm thrilled to make connections with you in person. It was delightful to meet Mary at the WECAN conference last weekend. I feel like I have known you for years. I look forward to meeting Megan this spring too. Hopefully we won't be buried under snow this time,or if we are, we'll have an alternative plan, like skiing, so we connect no matter what.
I am flattered and honored to hear that early childhood teachers and parents read my blog too and enjoy it but do not comment. I'd love to hear from you. It's a bit like putting oneself in the window of the pet store. "Ah, cute puppy" or "no, not that one." Tap on the window pane with your comment below. I like to know that you have passed by. And it gives me a path to you as well.
We had a sweet Valentine's day this year. It began with a spectacular rose red sunrise that went on and on and on for what seemed like a while but was only a brief few moments, sort of like childhood, I though as I was rousing my sixteen year old that morning...
Valentine's continued with some sweets and a stone in each child's Valentine dish set out by the bed. I received lovely hand made Valentines too, some hung on doors, one on the ironing board. Now isn't that a good reason to iron?
We had a visit from the secret Valentine too.
Because Valentine's is so much fun we are stretching it out over the week. Here's a sweet little ditty for you.
If apples were pears
And peaches were plums
And the rose had a different name.
If tigers were bears
And fingers were thumbs
I'd love you just the same.
Wishing you and yours all the love in the world and many moments of sweetness this week.
Happy Weekending!
Lisa
PS I'd love to know you were here. Leave a link to your blog and say hello.
I have been so busy with The Wonder of Childhood, trying to get the Easter articles up and on the site as well as post all of The First Grader articles there that I have spent little time here.
Today my parents are celebrating their sixty first wedding anniversary! Sixty one years of getting used to each other. I just have to share that. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!
Before we get to May and look at May Day, I am going to share with you links to some of my favorite places for Celebrating the Rhythm of Life this week:
To explore the inner year with Lynn Jericho with Inner Easter from the festival celebration of esoteric Christianity, click here: Inner Easter This is a free series of writings and audio talks on Inner Easter.
For beautiful, natural eggs with leaf impressions: Click here, Ithaca Handwork
For beautiful eggs from beets, onion skins and blueberries: Click here, Mother Earth News
Very simple and direct instructions for marblized eggs: Click here, DLTK Growing Together
We are celebrating Valentine's Day all week long with more Valentines making, some mischevious Valentine's deliveries, warm tea with fancy china, some baking and some sweet red beets in our greens. We were touched by the secret valentine, who leaves hearts on doors, this year:
Sweet heart scones, tea and fruity whipped cream recipes are over at the monthly guide pages. The cupcakes with fluffy frosting recipe is over there too and on Scrumptious Smidgeon...
Here's a little ditty for your nine year old friends,
it might be adapted, let's try this for a three year old:
The Year of the Rabbit began with the new moon nine hours ago and celebrations of Chinese New Year will continue for fifteen days until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day with parades and lanterns in communities that celebrate the new year.
I am inspired by my friend Denice to explore Chinese New Year this year as a family celebration.
Special deeds are done on certain days of Chinese New Year Celebrations.
To prepare for the new year, we begin with sweeping out the house (the old, the bad luck) to clear way for the New Year. This is a time for new clothes, new shoes (maybe we can repurpose that old red sweater into something new) and a new hair cut. A pretty bowl of tangerines, oranges and pomelos is set out for wealth and good luck. The house is decorated with Fook and Couplets.
Explanation of some of the symbols and images of Fook and Couplets for Chinese New Year here
For a Gung Hay Fat Choy (Happy New Year) song with gestures, via my friend Denice, here
We can draw couplets and hang them on our homes.
The most important aspect of the first day of Chinese New Year is the family, and that all the extended family spend time with the oldest members of the family.
I pass this gift of light to you Dear Jen at Ancient Hearth. Thank you for the light and warmth you bring to the world. I am grateful for your presence in my life.
Pass the gift of light to a cyber neighbor who lights your world until the world is aglow with a circle of light.
This verse can be used with children passing the light around a circle.
Pass the light on and let's see how broad a circle it can make.
Santa Lucia is another Festival of Light, in the Waldorf Calendar of Festivals, celebrated on December 13, which was, under the Julian calendar, the Winter Solstice. Hence, the saying:
Lucy light
The shortest day and
The longest night
I had a dream when I was in my twenties of being inside a large, boxy house with a large center staircase. The house was uncomfortably dark. I heard a voice say "Lucia." I was undertaking Jungian work at the time so I delved wholeheartedly into this mysterious Lucia and learned about the Saint who brought light in dark times, who nourished the hungry, who gave all she had and endured much torture for her faith. Her crown of candles lit the way through dark tunnels to bring food to the starving and she crossed a lake to bring food to the hungry who had none, according to lore. She is loved and celebrated by Italians, Scandinavians, Waldorfians and others. More here and here.
Many years later, on a remote island in the South Pacific, I had the good fortune to experience the celebration of Santa Lucia, thanks to a Swedish friend and her family. Later, upon returning to this country and joining a Waldorf community, I heard the children sing the Santa Lucia song. It resonated deeply within. I grew up Catholic and love to find images of the sacred in the feminine. I looked forward to the day when my children would experience Santa Lucia . My second grader is now homeschooling and we are celebrating at home in these ways:
1. Singing ~ The Santa Lucia song is sung here in Swedish, sheet music here.
The Neapolitan version is here sung by Enrico Caruso.
You can watch a Santa Lucia procession here.
Santa Lucia, Thy light is glowing
All through the darkest night, comfort bestowing
Dreams float on wings of night,
Comes then the morning light
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia
Through silent winter gloom, Thy song comes winging to
Waken the Earth anew, Glad carols bringing,
Come thou, oh Queen of Night,
Wearing thy crown so bright,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia
Santa Lucia, Christmas foretelling,
Fill hearts with hope and cheer, Dark fear dispelling,
Bring to the world's call,
Peace and goodwill to all,
Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia
2. Baking ~ This year, I am splurging on saffron to make Lussekattor or Lucy Buns, a sweet dough with cardamom. Here is a recipe. Other Santa Lucia baking includes Santa Lucia Ring and Swedish Ginger cookies that can be cut in any shape you like stars, bells, men, women, rounds (use a glass turned upside down) and topped with icing or not. For a chewy gingersnap, try this recipe.Here is a recipe for Lucy Buns or Lussekattor:
INGREDIENTS
Yield: 30 buns.
6 ounces butter, melted
2½ cups lukewarm milk
¾ teaspoon saffron
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 cup sugar
1.7 ounces fresh yeast
½ teaspoon salt
2 pounds flour, or as needed
Beaten egg, for brushing
Raisins decorating.
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
Place the butter and milk in a medium bowl. Using a mortar and pestle, grind the saffron with a pinch of the sugar, and stir into the mixture. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in a little of the lukewarm butter mixture, then add the remaining butter mixture, the remaining sugar, cardamom and the salt.
Step 2
Gradually add enough of the flour (almost all of it) to make a workable dough, kneading for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes in a mixer with a dough hook. Shape into a ball, sprinkle with a little flour and cover with a cloth. Allow to rise in a warm spot for 30 to 45 minutes.
Step 3
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface, and knead in additional flour if the dough is sticky. Shape as desired into buns, braids or lengths. Place on lined baking sheets, and allow to rise again for 30 to 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400.
Step 4
Brush the buns with beaten egg, and press raisins lightly into the dough. Bake until golden and risen, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a bun comes out dry. Smaller buns may take 8 to 10 minutes; larger lengths and braids, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the buns on a rack under a cloth.
3. Decorating ~ Since we are a family with boys, we are making Star boys caps and Star wands, go to this site and scroll down to see a picture of boys with Star boy caps and wands.
4. Story ~ This is a tough one, for the stories of Santa Lucia are gruesome, of torture, eye gouging and decapitation. She was a martyr, no doubt. So I wrote this simple story:
Once upon a time, over the mountains and sea in a far away land by a lake, there lived a young girl and her mother and father. They were well off and quite comfortable in their means. Lucia's days were filled with skipping and tree climbing and playing with her friends. Lucia helped her mother and was kind to all. One day she came upon a bully and saw that he was hungry. She gave him her warm wool cloak that her mother made for her and he stopped bullying. To the little girl that had holes in her shoes, she gave her own well made shoes. When ever she saw someone in need, she helped them, often giving of herself to do so.
Times were hard for some with not enough food to eat. Across the lake, there was a village full of hungry people. When Lucia heard of this she prayed for help. One night in her dreams a boat came to her which only she could see. She gathered food from her family's stores and loaded into the ship. The night was dark. She cast off from shore in her little boat and headed across the lake. The waters were rough as she sailed across and she took care to be sure the food was secured in the bottom of the boat.
Across the lake fishermen were casting their nets for fish. The children were asleep in their beds with growling hunger. The fishermen looked up and saw the sky clear and the stars begin to shine. In the center of the lake, they saw lights on the crown of Lucia.
Lucia arrived safely ashore and delivered the baskets of grain, oranges, dates, figs and almonds. The fishermen helped her and thanked her. She rested for a short while and sailed back to her bed where she slept soundly through the rest of the night.
5. Drawing ~ We are drawing Santa Lucia with her crown of candles and may foray into pictures of Star Boys as well. I am using the shapes of Saint Lucy Bun for form drawing.
6. The Curriculum ~ See Santa Lucia's day incorporated into homeschooling over at Tattooed Soccer Mom (formerly One Hook Wonder) here.
Nicole of Frontier Dreams has a special fondness for Santa Lucia and had blogged about it through the years, here's a link to one.
Bright Blessings on you and yours!
Eat :: Sleep :: Play :: Love
~ in the fresh air!
Celebrate the Rhythm of Life ~ a living curriculum program
Harmonious Rhythms :: Parenting with Soul :: Waldorf Homeschooling
I am so inspired by the lists that Brooke posted over at Brooke: confessions of an urban earth mama for the days of December, that I am going to start my own list. Have a look at Brooke's blog. The list ideas is meaningful, sane and fun.
Thank you Brooke.
This post is the first in a series on our seasonal or festival life that begins with Thanksgiving (in the United States) and ends with Epiphany or Three Kings Day in January, sort of...
Days we celebrate include:
Thanksgiving
Advent ~ began Sunday November 29
Saint Nicholas Day ~ December 6
Santa Lucia Day ~ December 13
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Epiphany or Three Kings Day
What a great number of days to celebrate. How do we keep it sane, meaningful and fun for the children and for ourselves? These are a few tips I have picked up over the years that have made our life more simple and meaningful at the holidays:
Stay Home
If you have children under the age of ten, stay home, let others come to you.
Gifts
Consider requesting or giving gifts that can make a difference and ease financial pressure on a family: a tank of heating oil, an insurance premium payment, a tuition payment
Consider gifts of service: babysitting, snow shovelling, errand running
Consider a gift of one big thing, is there something really special your child has been longing for, a season's ski pass? ski school? a kayak? a pair of play stands you want for your child?
Consider gift certificates for lunch, driving, chores, back rubs, walks, a list of books to enjoy with a trip to the library, cleaning up a room, re-organizing a closet
Serve Others
Consider volunteering at the local soup kitchen, volunteers and meals are usually welcomed
Consider Christmas carolling at a local home for the elderly
Consider helping at a Ronald McDonald house or Ronald McDonald room at the local hospital
Is there a mom with a newborn preemie who needs clothes for her tiny baby and has no support?
Create a time out of time
Make it a season that lasts forty days. Let this season be a time of spaciousness. Spread the festivities, activities and get togethers over forty days. Festival life has it origins in days where people took time to rest, gather together, sing songs, tell stories and prepare special foods.
Make two lists
First the " I should" list all things we heap on ourselves to do, to say, to be, then release them, tear them up, burn them, let go of them.
Then make the " I want" list. How do you envision the holidays? What makes meaning for you? What is realistic? One special moment together, truly present with our children is worth more than lots of hurried, harried events. How can you bring stillness, look inward and set the mood for your children?
Danielle Epiphany has a lovely piece sharing her insight on this topichere.
My next post will be on the Meaningful. What do you like about the holidays for children? What do you remember from the holidays and your childhood? What traditions do you wish to continue? What do you wish to create?
So I finally added photos to my last post on Martinmas here.
Here is the recipe for Weckmann.
Formed out of sweet yeast dough, this man goes by many names in Germany— Weckmann, Nikolaus, Stutenkerl, among others—and is a popular treat for either St. Martin’s Day on November 11, or St. Nicholas Day on December 6. For the traditional Weckmann, the dough is shaped by hand into the form of a man, and raisins and/or nuts are used for eyes and buttons. In Germany, a clay pipe is often added, but this detail is hard to find in the United States.
Males: 10
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sweet butter
3 tablespoon (1/6 cup) shortening
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons real vanilla extract
1 grated lemon peel
1 packet rapid yeast (1/4 ounce)
3 tablespoon warm water
4 whole eggs
6 2/3 cups flour
1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water for glazing
Preparation:
Mix yeast with warm water and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Combine milk, butter, shortening, and sugar, in a saucepan and heat gently then set aside to cool.
Place flour in a large bowl, make a well in the middle of the flour and pour yeast mixture into the well, cover and let rise for 20 minutes.
Add milk mixture to flour and mix all the ingredients together.
Knead into a ball, dust with flour and let rise for 45 minutes.
Roll dough and divide into 10 pieces to form into men.
Place the men on a large baking sheet covered with parchment or wax paper, making sure to leave enough room between each shape.
Let rise for a further 20 to 45 minutes
Brush with egg and water mixture, decorate with raisins and dried cranberries for the eyes and buttons
Tonight is our Martinmas celebration and it's snowing ~ the first real snow of the year.
We've been making balloon lanterns this week. Later this week, we'll gather with friends new and old, hear a story about a small boy who makes a lantern to hold Father Sun's spark and walk through the woods, share a meal and have a bonfire.
Most years we make Martinmas Lanterns from old canning jars, seen below. I posted directions for how to make them over on The Wonder of Childhood here. .
This year we're baking Martinmas pastry, either Volaerens (donkey droppings) or Weckmann (bunmen), the dough is the same, a sweet brioche, the form is different.
The donkey droppings come from a story that goes like this:
Many, many years ago, before your grandparents were born, a young boy who came to be known as Saint Martin was journeying in the dark of the night with his donkey. Neither moon nor star glowed that night. The forest was very dark. Saint Martin was walking alongside his donkey. His donkey was clomp, clomp, clomping along the leaves that covered the forest floor when suddenly he disappeared into the wood. Martin searched far and wide yet the donkey was not to be seen. Soon he came upon a village where the children were playing in the town center. The children were given lanterns to help find Martin's donkey. They quickly found the donkey and led him to the village square in a festive parade of children, lanterns and donkey. Martin was grateful to the children for their help and to thank them he turned the donkey droppings into sweet little pastries for the children to eat. They named them volaerens which means donkey droppings in the Flemish language and still bake them today in some villages while children all over the world celebrate this day with walks and songs and lanterns.
Our Favorite Lantern Songs
I'm walking with my lantern,
My lantern is walking with me
In heaven the stars are shining,
On earth are shining we
Oh lantern bright!
You shine tonight!
May all the Angels see,
May all the Angels see,
I'm walking with my lantern,
My lantern is shining on me,
In heaven the stars are shining
On earth are shining we
The cock doth crow,
The cat meows,
La bimmel, la bammel la boom!
The cock doth crow,
The cat meows,
La bimmel, la bammel, la boom!
and this song which is known as "the second grade song" for the children learn it in second grade:
Saint Martin, Saint Martin, Saint Martin rode through wind and snow
On his strong horse, his heart aglow,
He rode so boldly through the storm
His great cloak kept him well and warm
By the roadside, by the roadside, by the roadside a poor man arose,
Out of the snow in tattered clothes
He said please help me with my plight
Or I shall die of cold tonight
Saint Martin, Saint Martin, Saint Martin stopped his horse and drew
his sword and cut his cloak in two
One half to the beggar man he gave
And by this deed a life did save
Saint Martin, Saint Martin, Saint Martin rode through wind and snow
On his strong horse, his heart aglow,
He rode so boldly through the storm
His great cloak kept him well and warm
The music for this song is here although the words in this version are a different translation.
Maybe a post with snapshots and recipes tomorrow.....
