Celebrating Advent at Home

Seasonal festivals serve to connect humanity with the rhythms of nature. For children, these festivals mark the seasons with joy and anticipation for preparing for these celebrations.
 
No matter what your faith, this is a guide to celebrating Advent.
 
Advent takes place on the four Sundays that lead up to Christmas. Many people celebrate Advent and do not celebrate Christmas at all. The two need not be linked. 

What is Advent?

Advent is about the spirit of peace, warmth, light, and gentle preparation. Although associated with Christianity, Advent was celebrated initially by Pagan communities to honour the weeks leading up to the Winter Solstice. The winter holiday season, in most of the major religions, shares the theme of bringing light and warmth into the dark, and this is expressed by physically lighting up the darkness with candles and holiday lights, as well as by sharing the light of company, family, food, and traditions of giving. In what can often be a stressful time of year for families, Advent offers a slower, kinder rhythm and an inwardly richer view.​
 
​In your family, you can use the traditions of Advent, whether its meaning is bringing light and warmth or also in anticipation of Christmas

How can you celebrate Advent at home?

In Waldorf education, each week of Advent is assigned a "theme" and is a time for reflection and gratitude for the four natural kingdoms on Earth. 
Week 1: stones & minerals
Week 2: plants
Week 3: animal kingdom
Week 4: humankind
 
A simple first step to bringing Advent to your family could be to light a candle each night (or once a week on the four Sundays leading up to Christmas), say the verse lines for that week and read stories that focus on that week's theme. You could also bring rocks to place around your candle in the first week, followed by something to represent the rest of the themes during those weeks.
 
Waldorf/Steiner Verse for Advent: (Beginning the first week, you speak the first two lines, then the second week, you build upon the first by saying the first two lines and adding the next two, etc. By the fourth week, you are saying all eight lines of the verse).
 
The first light of Advent is the light of stones.
Stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones.
 
The second light of Advent is the light of plants.
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.
 
The third light of Advent is the light of beasts.
The light of hope that we see, in the greatest and the least.
 
The fourth light of Advent is the human light.
The light of hope and of thought, to know and do what's right.​

St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas Day is December 6th, after the first week of Advent. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, encourages generosity, kindness and the idea that it is better to give than receive. Please read more about it HERE if you wish to bring this part of Advent to your family.

Santa Lucia

After the second week of Advent, the Celebration of Santa Lucia, also known as the festival of lights, happens. Traditionally, a young woman would represent Santa Lucia, and on the morning of December 13th, wearing a white dress with a red sash and a wreath on her head with seven candles upon it, she would go from house to house bringing baked goods. The candles of her headpiece brought a welcoming light to the darkest time of year. You can read more about it HERE

Advent Spiral

The gift of the light
We shall thankfully take
But it shall not be alone for our sake.
The more we give light,
The one to the other,
It grows and gives light,
And shines even farther.
Until every heart,
By love set aflame
In every place
Great joy shall proclaim.
Not long shall continue the darkness of year.
The light draws near.

The Advent Spiral happens on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. Cedar boughs (a symbol of life everlasting) are placed in a spiral forming a path in a darkened room. In the centre of the spiral, there is a large lit candle. With an unlit candle in hand, children and parents take turns walking the path in silence to the centre, where they light their candle and then place it with care along the path as they slowly exit the spiral. As more and more candles are lit, their gentle light begins to glow with the warmth of your family. The reverence of children and parents makes this traditional event one of inspiration and harmony. We are nearing the end of our journey through the darkness, internally and externally, and the light will soon return. This light will bring the promise of a new year that we will approach with a renewed sense of self and emerge from the darkness transformed.

There are so many ways to celebrate Advent and count down to Christmas. Here are a few we found, but you could easily do some more research and find something that would work for your family.

• Here is a beautiful idea for a handmade felted spiral.
• You could order an Advent Calendar from Art Makes Sense. 
• You could read The Parenting Passageway for lots of great ideas and a more in-depth history of Advent.
• You could read this blog post from the Online Waldorf Library.
• Or this post from The Magic Onions.
• And of course, Pinterest is always an excellent resource for, well, everything!
• You could make this simple advent calendar:

"I carry a light within me
A brightly burning flame.
Though dark may try to win me
It ever shines the same.
It guides me through uncertainty
It warms the wintry weather.
And brings to every burden
The lightness of a feather."