Why We Walk the Advent Spiral
Winter Solstice and The Month of December, has always had a special place in my heart, filling the house with candles and home crafted incense, smoke wafting.. Celebrating the return of the Light, especially in the most recent of years, working the land and growing so much of our own food.. Our Living Yule Tree brought home, this year, we will bring it home on our Cargo Bike.. Together we craft a Wreath for the Door..
Out Foraging Evergreen and Holly , its roots in ancient story and Myth.. then Home as it gets dark.. Hot chocolate to warm up.. Chili Hot chocolate for the big kids… After a year like no other, with so much change.. Its a precious gift to share time in the presence of others, physically to be with them? What a year? This year we warmly welcomed into the Steiner Family and Community.. Heart led Education that is anchored in nurture and fostering skills for life…
The learning process is essentially threefold, engaging head, heart, and hands—or thinking, feeling, and doing. Education that nourishes an approach to live in the moment, free to explore nature and to go where their wide-eyed sense of wonder and imagination takes them. In our frenetic world, where pushing children to “hurry up or fall behind” has become the norm, So learning about the Advent Spiral this year was so beautiful…Advent is a time to seek out the light in a world of darkness. To search within for our own light and find ways to let it shine.
So here we have the Advent Spiral, predating the Advent Calendar, The Advent Spiral takes you on a journey towards the returning light.. Advent is not just one moment, it is a period of time. An important part of the Steiner calendar. We slowly move towards Winter Solstice a turning point, the days begin to lengthen again, the daylight increasing and nature will begin very slowly to reawaken. Each evening lighting a candle and moving it along the Spiral!! The 5th marks a special birthday within our family, so we had crafted a Golden Beeswax Candle for that Evening!! Simple yet beautiful Magic and traditions!!
Advent Spirals are often made to walk either inside or out and laid with Evergreen boughs (a symbol of life everlasting) are placed in a spiral form on the floor with a large candle in its centre. Making your way to the spiral’s centre. There we find the large lighted candle and from it light our own.
It is a special moment to walk the spiral as you make your way through the spiral’s path and find the universal light that they then we take take back to give to the world.
The experience of the Advent spiral reflects the human experience at this time of the year; entering a time of darkness, of shorter days and longer nights and going forward with hope to welcome the light of the sun after the winter solstice.