Santa Lucia Day ~ December 13

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

for ongoing support with parenting and homeschooling

Rudolf Steiner on Christmas

An excerpt from Rudolf Steiner's Lecture in the Rudolf Steiner Archives

The Christmas Festival: A Token of the Victory of the Sun

Berlin, 24th December, 1905

"Christmas is not a Festival of Christendom only. In ancient Egypt, in the regions we ourselves inhabit, and in Asia thousands and thousands of years before the Christian era we find that a Festival was celebrated on the days now dedicated to the celebration of the birth of Christ.

Now what was the character of this Festival which since time immemorial has been celebrated all over the world on the same days of the year? Wonderful Fire Festivals in the northern and central regions of Europe in ancient times were celebrated among the Celts in Scandinavia, Scotland and England by their priests, the Druids. What were they celebrating? They were celebrating the time when winter draws to its close and spring begins. It is quite true that Christmas falls while it is still winter, but Nature is already heralding a victory which can be a token of hope in anticipation of the victory that will come in spring — a token of confidence, of hope, of faith — to use words which are connected in nearly every language with the Festival of Christmas. There is confidence that the Sun, again in the ascendant, will be victorious over the opposing powers of Nature. The days draw in and draw in, and this shortening of the days seems to us to be an expression of the dying, or rather of the falling asleep of the Nature-forces. The days grow shorter and shorter up to the time when we celebrate the Christmas Festival and when our forefathers also celebrated it, in another form. Then the days begin to draw out again and the light of the Sun celebrates its victory over the darkness. In our age of materialistic thinking this is an event to which we no longer give much consideration.

In olden times it seemed to men in whom living feeling was united with wisdom, to be an expression of an experience of the Godhead Himself, the Godhead by Whom their lives were guided. The solstice was a personal experience of a higher being — as personal an experience as when some momentous event forces a man to come to a vital decision. And it was even more than this. The waxing and waning of the days was not only an expression of an event in the life of a higher Being, but a token of something greater still, of something momentous and unique.

This brings us to the true meaning of Christmas as a Festival of the very highest order in cosmic and human life. In the days when genuine occult teaching was not disowned as it is today by materialistic thought but was the very wellspring of the life of the peoples, the Christmas Festival was a kind of memorial, a token of remembrance of a great happening on the Earth. At the hour of midnight the priests gathered around them their truest disciples, those who were the teachers of the people, and spoke to them of a great Mystery. (I am not telling you anything that has been cleverly thought out or discovered by a process of abstract deduction but was actually experienced in the Mysteries, in the secret Sanctuaries of those remote times). This Mystery was connected with the victory of the Sun over the darkness. There was a time on the Earth when the light triumphed over the darkness. And it happened thus: in that epoch, all physical, all bodily life on Earth had reached the stage of animality only. The highest kingdom upon the Earth had only reached a stage at which it was preparing to receive something higher. And then there came that great moment in evolution when the immortal, imperishable soul of man descended. Life had so far developed that the human body was able to receive into itself the imperishable soul. These ancestors of the human race stood higher in the scale of evolution than modern scientists believe, but the higher part of their being, the divine ‘spark’ was not yet within them. The divine spark descended from a higher planetary sphere to our Earth which was now to become the scene of its activity, the dwelling-place of the soul which henceforward can never be lost to us......"

The Little Pine Tree

~ Adapted from a German Legend

Once upon a time, in the deep forest, there grew a little pine tree, and its leaves were long, slender, green needles. But the little tree did not like its needles.

"I wish that I had beautiful leaves," it thought. "I wish that I might have leaves different from any of the other trees. If I could have my wish, I would have leaves all of shining gold."

After a while it came night, and the little tree went to sleep, and the Angel of the trees walked through the woods. In the morning the little tree had leaves of shining gold.

"How very beautiful I am!" it thought. "How my leaves sparkle in the sun! Now I shall always be happy!

In the night a man came to the woods with a bag. He picked off all the gold leaves, and took them home with him. Then the poor little tree had no leaves. "What shall I do?" it cried. "I will not wish for gold leaves again."

"How pretty crystal leaves would look! They would sparkle in the sun, but the man would not take them. I wish that I could have leaves of gleaming crystal."

That night Jack Frost appeared in the woods with his crystal wand and touched the tree. In the morning, when the sun peeped over the hill it looked at the little pine tree. All the other trees looked at it, too.

How beautiful it was! It had crystal leaves now, and they sparkled in the bright sunshine. The little tree was happy all the morning. But in the afternoon black clouds hid the sun, and the rain came down. The tree shivered in the wind.

When the shower was over, there were no crystal leaves to sparkle in the sunshine. The sun had melted every one, and the drops lay on the ground under the bare branches.

"I will not wish again to be better than my neighbors," cried the pine tree.

"If I had big green leaves like them I should be happy." Then the tree went to sleep, and once more the Angel of the trees walked through the woods. When it was morning the pine looked just like the other trees, for it had fine, large green leaves.

But the big leaves looked so good and juicy that an old goat came along, and he ate every one for his dinner.

"Alas!" cried the little tree. "A man took my leaves of gold. The wind broke my leaves of glass. A goat ate my large green leaves.

"I wish that I had my long, green needles again!"

The Angel of the trees was listening to all that the little pine tree said. The next day the birds flew to the little tree, and they were happy to see that it was covered again with long needles.

"Now, we may build our nests here," they said.

"Yes," said the tree. "I will hide your nests with my needles, and in the winter I will keep you safe and warm.

"Gold leaves, crystal leaves, and large green leaves were very fine; but nothing is so good for a little pine tree as its own long needles."

Enjoy!

Days of December, Meaningful List

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.

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.

::

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.

Keeping the Holidays Sane, Meaningful and Fun!

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 gifts made in the name of the recipient to a charity: Heifer International, Oxfam, Knitting 
• 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 topic here.

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?

Until then, Bright Blessings!

Trader Joe Came to Visit

Today I am grateful to Sally over at Fairy Dust Teaching for the inspiration of Trader Joe.

He arrived in the Morning Garden this week with a chest of treasures from Mother Earth's bounty to trade for Mother Earth Treasures.

Trader Joe was so tired he traded treasures for a hot bath, a bed and a warm meal.

The children loved it. Some children, upon hearing the news of Trader Joe, sailed across the seas bearing beautiful, magestic, shells from the sea, to trade with Trader Joe.

The next day they wanted to know if Trader Joe might come back.....

Hmmmnnn......... I wonder.....

Martinmas Photos and Weckmann Recipe

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:

1. Mix yeast with warm water and 1 tablespoon of sugar. 
2. Combine milk, butter, shortening, and sugar, in a saucepan and heat gently then set aside to cool. 
3. 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. 
4. Add milk mixture to flour and mix all the ingredients together. 
5. Knead into a ball, dust with flour and let rise for 45 minutes.
6. Roll dough and divide into 10 pieces to form into men. 
7. Place the men on a large baking sheet covered with parchment or wax paper, making sure to leave enough room between each shape.
8.  Let rise for a further 20 to 45 minutes
9. Brush with egg and water mixture, decorate with raisins and dried cranberries for the eyes and buttons

Bake at 325 to 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy! 

Martinmas Lantern Walk

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.....

The next day.....

Martinmas Blessings upon you and yours!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A few photos- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

A game of Poohsticks. 

Me too says Moe... I want in on this one.

Along with SouleMama

Waldorf Homeschool Network

Announcing the Waldorf Homeschool Network!

I've just created this blog as a place to come together and share and connect around the work we are doing with our children at home in Waldorf education.

Come join this blog, you can be an author and post on the blog or link to your own blog. It's a place to connect, share resources and trials and tribulations for those who are doing Waldorf education in the home, of the grades, or early childhood, and for those with early childhood groups in their home too..

Won't you come along?

It's right here:

http://waldorfhomeschoolnetwork.blogspot.com/

Warmly,

Lisa

Verse to Start the Day

It seems fitting to share this verse today, during the feast or festival of Saint Martin, known as Martinmas, a time of remembering to kindle our flame, to acknowledge by seeing, hearing and feeling that flame of the other, even when it is masked and vulnerable.

This is the verse I say to begin my day of homeschooling: 

A Teacher's Thought for his Children 

You who out of heaven's bringhtness.

Now descend to earthly darkness.

Thus through life's resisting forces,

Spirit radiance to unfold

Spirit warmness to enkindle

Spirit forces to call forth

Be you warmed through by my love

Radiant thinking

Tranquil feeling

Healing willing.

That in Spirit's heights well- rooted

And in earth's foundation's working

You may servants of the Word become

Spirit illumining

Love evoking

Being strengthening.

Rudolf Steiner

May we all warm and be warmed through by love.