Keepers of Tradition

As mothers, we are keepers of the hearth, we set the mood and the tone for our household, so as it is within us, so without.

If we are confused and feeling turmoil within, it will spill into our day and our child's behavior, directly or indirectly.

When we are clear and feel confident, it comes across.

In doing our inner work, our striving, we can awaken to inner rhythm and bring some form and habits to our home lives.

It begins within. Within each one of us. And it is there. And it takes strengthening the will.

And that is the paradox of mothering, for we are supporting the development of our child(ren)'s will and in doing so we work on our own will forces to be able to do that. 

Celebrations and holidays give us the chance to create rituals and traditions that come around once a year. They needn’t be big or elaborate to be meaningful.

As we approach the end of the Christmas season, this feels like a ripe time to reflect on the past six weeks. 

Take some time this week to think about when it comes to the holidays and celebrations,  what is it that really matters, for you, what is it that you want the holidays to mean for your child(ren)?

What went well, what do you want to do again next year? Is there something you want to build on? Are there things you want to let go of? Jot down what comes to mind. 

In the Waldorf kindergarten teachers build up festivals over the years - many years! Within those years they have the opportunity to observe other teachers' ways. As homemakers we are finding our way one step at a time. Let's give ourselves a great big hug for all that we did accomplish this year to make the holidays merry and good, and let us carry into the future acceptance of our striving as good enough, and recognition that life is a process that is ongoing for us as well as our children. 

Warmly,

For a Season of Epiphany!

For a little perspective on the Epiphany and Three Kings Day within the rhythm of the Christian year.

Today, January 6th, is the Feast of the Epiphany also known as Three Kings Day. It follows Twelfth Night, the last of the Twelve days and Holy Nights of Christmas.

This celebration is of the Epiphany. The word "epiphany" mean "to reveal, to appear, to manifest" and from "above." It was the great star in the sky that was not a star at all that brought the three kings from afar in search of the new king, the child of light. It's also a reminder for us, of the manifestation of the divine light within each of us. For this reason, stars are a symbol of this celebration.

Twelfth Night is the culmination of the twelve days of Christmas as well as the Twelve Holy Nights.

While the Epiphany and Three Kings day marks the start of the season of Epiphany, in Europe it's celebrated as Carnival, which lasts until Mardi Gras, an occasion for great celebration with parades, music, dancing and another King’s Cake, this one with a bean or baby Jesus tucked inside. Baby Jesus you exclaim? Yes, the Kings were seeking the baby Jesus, thus a baby Jesus tucked inside for seeking. Some people use a trinket instead. In France the bean is a lava bean and known as "le feve."

Epiphany is seen by some to herald the end of the Christmas season. Yet others today and throughout history look to Candlemas on the 2nd of February and beyond to mark the end of Christmas. In Medieval times greens were kept in the house until Candlemas. Candlemas is the Celebration of the Light of the World, more here.

Epiphany may be embraced as a four week season balancing the season of Advent with the Twelve Days of Christmas in the center. Four weeks of anticipation, moving towards and four weeks of awakening, digesting and assimilating that which has come to us.

The celebration of Epiphany is a heavily loaded one for it encompasses the arrival of the Three Kings from the East bearing gold, frankincense and myrrh, each one coming from a different place, each one heralded on by the appearance of a star.

Mardi Gras, the last hurrah before Lent, is also about the Three Kings. The colors of Mardi Gras are gold, green and purple. In New Orleans, many floats are led by three kings on horseback showering gifts of purple, green and gold coins, beads and trinkets. The purple is for Myrrh, a reddish purplish brown resin, green for Frankincense, a light green resin from the Boswellia tree and gold, the gifts the Magi brought.

Rudolf Steiner who brought forth Waldorf education, stated "Festivals are not merely the commemoration of historical events or personalities. They are in and of themselves, each year, spiritual events carrying a significance that grows and deepens with the developing phases of human evolution."

More on celebrating Three Kings Day is available in the Celebrate the Rhythm of Life in January group here.

Quieting and Excitement

It's been a week of quieting and excitement. It began on Sunday with a wrapping up of four weeks of Inner Advent work with Lynn Jericho's group. We've been looking at truth, beauty and goodness in our thinking, feeling and willing and laying it out on a mandala for the year. So much swirling in the mysterious in this past year and so much constellating for the new year. I love doing this work. This year's Inner Advent work was better than last for the group work deepens with time.

Monday we went to the Advent Spiral at the school. It was so beautiful. When I watch my children walk, I always feel tears well in my eyes, every time over the years. It was outdoors, in the dark of night, in the cold, dark of night yet warmth permeated from within. One of the songs that we sang is Now I Walk in Beauty which has been with me all week. Click here to hear it.

The next day was the last day here for a dear little fellow who has been in my program for three years, nearly since he was born, and is now moving on to be with the big kids. I've watched him grow and shared in the joys each new development brings with his lovely and loving family. He's been the little brother to my children. I'm going to miss him. Alot. And his mom and dad.

Now, on vacation, yet working on my new project. Moving towards Christmas. I cannot find the book Mary's Little Donkey this year and we are missing it hugely. We'll  cut down our tree today and let it rest overnight before we start decorating it tomorrow. Tomorrow evening we'll go to a service.

I keep worrying about Christmas morning, have I done enough?  How do we make the Twelve Days of Christmas the focus rather then Christmas morning? What about the anticipation? Santa is pretty regular here,  in what he brings, striped jammies from the elves, matching ones for the children, slippers if needed, a book and a game or toy. He fills the stockings with little treats, a new toothbrush. I make something for each child for Christmas Day. Yet there is so much energy rising, especially for my little one.

We've been singing Christmas songs, our favorites this year seem to be Good King Wenceslas, People Look East, Children Go Where I Send Thee, here for a humorous recording of it, The Old Man in the Woods. We're learning The Boar's Head Carol, all from Mary Thienes~Schnumann's The Christmas Star, here. Her books have really helped me over the years to sing more and especially now when I am at home and not in a school community on a daily basis to sing with others.

We'll be moving on to more songs about the Three Kings and Epiphany. I'm working on a Babouschka Circle this year for she is beloved by our family ever since my children were given the Tomie de Paolo books.

This week we baked gingerbread men. We'll be baking for others for Christmas week and we have a knitting and sewing gift project going on. My second grader is making potholders for gifts this year. I'd love to host a cookie exchange if I can pull it together. And I'd love to go caroling.

I am looking forward to another year of The Inner Christmas with Lynn Jericho. Lynn sends out an e-mail message each day with an inspiration to contemplate each night. I need to dig out my Inner Christmas Guide. I think it's with Mary's Little Donkey. I put it in a red binder last year with Christmas things.

This Inner Christmas is Lynn's gift to the world. It's free. The guide too. Click here to sign up and enjoy. I find that work with Lynn is so satisfying in such a gentle way. It helps me expand my view of things and helps me digest events of my life in a very nourishing way. It also inspires me to do new things and take risks. I am so grateful for this gift. Thanks Lynn!

A Very Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate!

Lisa

The Meaningful in the Holy Days

Today I am delighted to share a guest piece from Danielle Epiphani on how she brings meaning to the season.

For us it's really a season from Michaelmas to Epiphany. Lot's of time that way.

I was not familiar with Advent before being introduced to Waldorf. Fortunately, that was when my son was 1 year old and early on was able to put into practice traditions that kept ours (and my life), sane. I love the anticipation of the season and having the time to build slowly, meditating each week. and adding elements to the home.

Christmas Eve is when we put up our tree and then Christmas lasts for 12 days. In this way we have time to make gifts, deliver them, see friends whom we couldn't see leading up to Christmas. Instead we get to take in special shows or events, read stories, sing and stay out of the loop of commercial madness.

Here in California one of my favorite shows is The Christmas Revels, and of course the Winter Spiral events.

Sometimes on the eve of St Nicholas we are his 'helper' and drive around or go to neighbors' homes. When the season is spread out this way, we have lots of time to enjoy it. It is bittersweet on the eve of the 12th night, to sing all of our last carols.

Sometimes too we prepare a big feast with prime rib and invite friends to do a 3 Kings Play. It is a joy to celebrate Epiphany in this way and has made Christmas a much richer Holiday than what I could've imagined.

During Advent I hunker down with wonderful books- my favorite is Christmas Roses- Legends for Advent by Selma Lagerlof. Probably best suited for children ages 6/7+, and so meaningful to me.

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Danielle is the mother of an eleven-year-old son, a Waldorf Early Childhood educator, and a parenting mentor. She is an Art Historian, antique dealer, and graduate from UC Berkeley. She is the Director of Margaret’s Garden, a mixed-age Waldorf, and Lifeways inspired home program in Berkeley, CA, and a graduate from the Bay Area Center For Waldorf Teacher Training in San Rafael, CA. Her work can be accessed on the web at Elemental Mother and on Facebook.