Festivals

Back in November, that seems a long time ago now, I shared some of the festivals we had learned about and observed in the Autumn.  As the Winter draws to a close and Spring is slowly beckoning us with its bloom it is time to share those we have learned about, celebrated or observed over the Winter.  I shared a list at the end of my post about Autumn Festivals which seemed very long at the time, I didn't think we would have time for them all but we did and added some more!

Advent

I was a bit late with my planning of how we would observe/celebrate Advent, only doing my research a few days before it started.  In the end it didn't matter as the research I did will now stand us in good stead for future years.  My hesitation, I am sure, was down to the fact that I was unsure of how Advent should fit into our family.  I read as much as I could, mostly on blogs, about how others observe and celebrate this time of year, finally settling on a lovely festival attributed to Rudolph Steiner although there seems to be some dispute as to whether he did create it or not.  Anyway each week of Advent has a theme, a festival, which we used as the focus of our learning each week.  We created a star path as a visible sign of time passing.  A large star for each of the Sundays and a smaller star for the other days.  We kept these in a small bowl on our seasonal table laying out a new one each morning when we also lit a candle.  The path wove its way from the bowl round the candle to our wee tree.  We read about Advent and learnt a song which we added a verse to each week.

Week One - Festival of Stones

During the week we read stories nine and ten from The Festival of Stones.  We placed rocks and minerals from our own collections on our seasonal table and identified them during the week (or tried to) we also learnt about how they were formed.  We live in a mineral rich part of our country so we look at some geology maps of our county, including what was mined and where.  We visited a local museum which has an excellent exhibition of local rocks and minerals which includes a time line.

Week Two - Festival of Plants

We read stories 11 and 12 from The Festival of Stones.  I decided to focus our learning on trees for the weeks as this would enable us to take out learning outside.   We read a few pages from the Earth section of this beautiful book learning about what the Earth Kingdom has meant to our ancient ancestors.  We read the Norse myth about Yggdrassil.  We learnt about the Holly Tree, writing up facts about the tree to share at Forest School.  We went for a walk in a local wood to learn to identify trees in Winter.  We added plant finds to our seasonal table, replacing the rocks.

Week Three - Festival of Animals

We read stories 13 - 16 from The Festival of Stones during the week.  We changed our seasonal table replacing the plant finds with animals (not real ones!) and some of the things we get from animals such as wool, silk and honey.  We leant about animals that hibernate and why they do it.  We made bird food which we hung out for the birds and went birdwatching at a local nature reserve.

Week Four - Festival of Humankind

Over the course of the week we read stories 16 - 28 from The Festival of Stones.  The rest of the week was slightly different to previous weeks as we were away from home.  Our festival was about being with family, sharing food together and enjoying their company.  In the years that we spend Christmas at home I will think about how to embrace this.

During the four week of Advent we also learnt about and observed some other festivals:

St Nicholas Day - 06 December

St Nicholas was a gift giver and is celebrated in many forms around the world so we discovered when  we read about who and how this day is celebrated.  We found a story to share and made some spicy biscuits which we shared with friends.

St Lucia Day - 13 December 

St Lucia is the patron saint of Light.  This Swedish festival which I remember celebrating as a child.  We read about how Children celebrate this day, a story behind the celebrations and made some Lussekatt using the recipe from this book.

Hanukah - 18 December

This is a Jewish Festival of Lights that is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kisler.  We read a story about why this is an important time for Jewish people.  We learnt a simple song and made potato latkes.

Winter Solstice - 21 December 

The shortest day of the year, a day worthy of celebrating in my book as the days get longer thereafter!  For the past few years we have celebrated this at a friends house but she was not well enough to host this year we missed the lovely party.  We put up our Christmas decorations on this day, we watched the sun rise and set and we burnt our worries on a fire we had in the garden.

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Mawlid an Nabi - 03 January

The birth day of the Prophet Muhammad which is an important day for Muslims.  We read and found about the Prophet and Islam, which was new religion to the children.  We read some lovely stories which promoted some interesting discussion.  We also learnt a traditional prayer, sung to the Prophet on this day.

Twelfth Night - 06 January  

The twelfth night after Christmas Day, we talked about the Story of the Three Kings and read the Baboushka story and a delightful short story in this book.  I made a Gallette de Rois, a delicious pie which is traditionally made in many countries on this day.  My recipe was a Nigella Lawson one from   this book.

Plough Monday - 12 January

This is an old tradition which I discovered when I was researching the next festival.  In many ways the two traditions are interlinked and I can't help thinking that they are really one and the same but took place in different parts of the country depending on the nature of the agriculture.  On Plough Monday farm labourers would tour their local villages raising money and work, often in disguise as they could be mischievous in their endeavours.  If you would like to know more you can read about it here and here.

Wassailing - 17 January

There are, it seems, two versions of wassailing.  One that involves singing to raise money when work was scarce and has evolved into our tradition of carol singing, this took place prior to Christmas.  The other involved the blessing of the apple trees to ensure a good harvest.  We had a small ceremony to bless the apple trees in the the small wood were we meet for Forest School.  We sang a song, blessed the tree and shared some hot apple punch together.

Imbolc - 01 February

Our Imbolc celebrations were a little subdued this year as we were all feeling rather sick.  I made a seed cake using the recipe here (scroll down it is at the bottom of the page) which was lovely.  We also made some Brigid crosses using reeds, not our usual jolly celebration.

Candlemas - 02 February

A day for blessing candles, for noticing that candles are needed less as the days are lengthening.  We read a story about the slow return of the warmth and light.  I would like to make candles in future years but I need to make sure I order the bits in time.......

Valentines Day - 14 February

I have never looked into the history of day and was unsurpassed to learn that there is much conflicting information as to its origins.  I made a few lavender hearts which I gave to friends along with sachets of Love tea.  I have year to divide fi this is a festival/tradition for our family, it has always been one that has long lost its true meaning and seems to have been taken over by commercialism.

Shrove Tuesday - 17 February

This is another festival that has lost its meaning to many, taken over and renamed, in the UK anyway, as Pancake Day.  However in discussing its origins it sparked off an interesting discussion about the food we eat..........we did make and enjoy eating pancakes!  Next year I am tempted to make these as suggested by Camilla.

Chinese New Year - 19 February

A very important time of year for Chinese people as we discovered when we read about this festival.  The festivities last for two weeks ending with a Lantern Festival.  It is a time for family and sharing of food.  We read a fun story about how the animals came to each be given a year, 2015 is the year of the sheep.  We had a stir fry for tea and made some almond biscuits which are traditionally made at New Year.

I know that Lent started this week but it has been too busy to fit it in.  We are going to learn about this next week, when there are no other festivals, this will complete our Winter Festivals.

I acquired some wonderful books to help us celebrate these festivals, some this year and others in previous years:

The Winter Book by Rotraut Susanne Berner (I didn't pay that much for my copy!)

While the Bear Sleeps by Caitlin Matthews

The Festival of Stones by Reg Down

The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson

Spring

As Spring approaches we will be considering the following festivals that take place in the season:

St David's Day - 01 March

Hina Maturi - 03 March

Purim - 04 March

Chinese Lantern Festival - 05 March

Holi/Hola Mahalla - 06 March

Mothering Sunday - 15 March

Spring Equinox - 20 March (along with an solar eclipse)

Palm Sunday - 22 March

April Fools Day - 01 April

Easter Sunday - 05 April

Passover - 06 April

Songkran Baisaki - 13 April

St George's Day - 23 April

Beltain - 01 May

Wesak - 04 May

St Michael's Day - 08 May

Rogation Sunday - 10 May
Whitsun - 24 May
Oak Apple Day - 29 May

As always seems like rather a lot, we will fit what we can or what takes our interest.........

Autumn

At this time of year I buy myself a new diary.  I am a paper diary girl, I have tried using electronic diaries but they don't work for me. It is not about being able to touch the diary it is about how it is laid out and what you can see at a glance.  At the beginning of this year I researched the dates of many festivals and celebrations writing them into my diary.  I was not organised enough, for much of the year, to observe or celebrate any of them until the Autumn and a new rhythm.  Autumn in many ways was a good time to start this, there are many festivals in the autumn and they are have sent us all on an interesting journey one which I hope we will continue for a good while.

Autumn Equinox - 23 September

We celebrated this at home on our own and with our friends at Forest School the following day.  The children already know a little about the tilting of the world in relation to the sun but we talked about what happens on the Equinox, that the days and nights are the same length in the northern and southern hemispheres.

During our music session we came up with a rhythm to clap and drum.  At this equinox the dragon, an ancient energy symbol representing Earth energy, dynamism, Fire, will and courage was invoked to carry the Fire energy in to the inner realms, to activate the Fire within.  The dragon goes underground for the Winter and our rhythm was a dance to send the dragon to sleep.  We wrote out our achievements for the year and any hopes and dreams for the coming year.  At Forest School we planted tree seeds in pots and shared food together round the fire.

Rosh Hashanah - 25 September

This is the Jewish Festival of New Year.  This was a new festival and new religion for the children.  I found two books in our local library one about Judaism and one that had a page on this festival.  We read the books together.  At lunchtime I made some apples and honey traditionally eaten for a sweet New Year.  We also watched a short video.

Michaelmas - 29 September

This is the feast of St Michael.  We celebrated this with friends for the first time last year.  We reminded ourselves of what this festival is about and why it is celebrated.  Having just celebrate the Equinox we talked about the similarities.  The symbolism of the Dragon in both festivals,  St Michael subduing the dragon.  We read a Michaelmas story, The Most Beautiful Dragon in the Whole World (under the third heading, eight from the bottom) and a poem.  We joined our singing group to continue our celebrations, singing songs, making dragon bread and sharing a meal together.

Dussehra - 3 October

This is a Hindu festival which is celebrated for nine days, culminating with Dussehra on the tenth day.  It focuses on the harvest, the end of the monsoon and the triumph of good over evil.  For us is was an introduction to another religion.  We read about Hinduism and about how this festival is celebrated.  We watched a short video.

Sukkot 8 - 15 October

This is the Jewish Harvest Festival, when the homes ancestors make in the desert during the flight to the promised land are remembered.  Shelters are built, the Sukkot, and decorated and all meals are eaten there for the seven days of the festival.  We read about this festival and watched this video.

Diwali - 23 October

This is a festival celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs, some celebrate it as a five day festival.  It is a celebration of the end of the harvest and the victory of light over darkness.  We lit candles and shared food, we read about the festival and a story that goes with it.  We made Besan Ladoo a sweet treat that is often eaten at Hindu festivals.

Samhein - 31 October

We were away for this festival so we had a small celebration with Forest School when we returned.  We shared food around the fire, burnt our worries, made a mandala with leaves, berries and branches in which we placed our hopes for the new year.  At home we remembered our loved ones and the those that are no longer with us.  The children and I had a long talk about their Grandfather who passed away last year, we talked about our happy memories of spending time with him.

Bonfire Night - 5 November

We always attend a local bonfire and firework display, but my children knew nothing about the history of why we light bonfires and fireworks.  We read several books about Guy Fawkes and the history behind this day.

Guru Nanak - 6 November

This is a Sikh Festival to celebrate the birth of the founder of the Sikh religion.  I introduced the Sikh religion to them, we watched a short video and we talked about our own celebrations at Christmas.

Martinmas - 11 November

This is another festival that we has previously celebrated with friends.  We reminded ourselves of what this festival is about and why it is celebrated.  We learnt some simple lantern songs in the morning as part of our music at home and read a story St Martin's Light.  Later on we joined our singing group to continue our celebrations, singing more songs around a fire, taking our lanterns for a walk and sharing food together.

Kathina - 13 November

This is a buddhist festival.  It marks the end of the rainy season and period of retreat for monks.  The monks are given an offering of material to make into robes.  We talked about the monsoon and the weather in Asia compared to that which we have here at this time of year.  We read about the festival itself and what it means to buddhists.

All of these have been a gentle introduction to many topics, to religion, to festivals, to cultures, to countries.  As we find more about each of these I hope that as the years go by we can develop our own knowledge and build these into our rhythm to find what fits and works for us.  We spend as little as half and hour to most of the day devoted to learning depending on what else we were doing and how interested we all were to learn more.  It is by no means and exhaustive list.  We will be finding out about St Andrew for the end of this month to complete our list of Autumn Festivals.

We have a small collection of books that we use these include:

What I Believe by Alan Brown
A Calendar Of Festivals by Cherry Gilchrist
Children Just Like ME: Celebrations by Anabel Kindersley
Sacred Celebrations by Glennie Kindred
All Year Round by Ann Druitt, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marije Rowling
Festivals, Family and Food by Diana Carey and Judy Large
Festivals Together by Sue Fitzjohn, Minda Weston and Judy Large

The library is our greatest resource.  We have used many books for each of these festivals.

Winter

As Winter approaches we will be considering the following festivals that take place in that season:

Advent - Starts 30 November
St Nicholas Day - 6 December
Hanukkah - Starts 16 December
Winter Solstice - 21 December
Malid al Nabi - 3 January
Twelfth Night - 5 January
Wassailing - 17 January
Candlemas - 2 February
Valentines - 14 February
Imbolc - 16 February
Shrove Tuesday - 17 February
Lent - Starts 18 February
Chinese New Year - 19 February

Rather a lot and we may leave some this season and observe them next time round......

Imbolc

On Sunday it was a new moon, so our Tuesday friends organised a day for us all to celebrate Imbolc.  We started the day making some food to share, in our case gingerbread stars.  We use the recipe from Baking Bread with Children and they are always delicious.

On our journey to meet up with friends we met a serious accident that had closed the road.  We had to turn around and travel almost back to our house for an alternative route, it felt like an auspicious start.  Luckily we were not too late and we joined everyone making Brigid Crosses, these are a representation of the all seeing eye of Brigid watching over you for the year.  I had one of these as a child that an uncle bought back from South America, it is wonderful how traditions are so similar around the world.  We all sat round the table creating our crosses and sharing the food that everyone had bought.

With our crosses complete we went outside and lit a fire for us to celebrate the awakening of the earth, as spring approaches.  It has felt in the last week or so that spring is not far away despite the cold and snow there is a freshness in the air and little green shoots are starting to show.  We danced, sang and beat our drums to awaken the snake, or the earth ready for the spring.  We burnt our winter greens that had been in our houses since the solstice.  It was a lovely celebration with friends.

Joining in with Friday's Nature Table a sharing of all things nature related.

Gratitudes

I am joining in with Taryn for her heartfelt Sunday tradition.

A time to reflect, to slow down and be grateful.

This week I have been grateful for...

...the wonderful company of friends to welcome in the New Year.

...spending New Years day on the beach.

...the wonderful gifts we received from the friends we spent New Year with and the joy and appreciation of the gifts we gave them.

...sharing good home cooked food with friends.

...our lovely friends who welcome us into their house every New Year.

...a fun afternoon at a swimming pool with slides and 'beaches' on a cold wet windy day.

...a walk in the woods during a break in the rain, watching the children run wild in the mud, enjoying hot chocolate and cake under the trees it was great to feel the wind on our faces.

...my lovely husband driving us safely for so many miles to see friends and family over Christmas and New Year.

...a day outside with friends enjoying a fun play area and an interesting walk.

...time to stop and take in my surroundings wherever I am without the feeling or pressure that I should be rushing to be somewhere else.