05 December, 2008

advent...

advent is a very special time of year. a time of moving through the darkness toward the yearly rebirth of light, when the days begin to grow longer. a festival celebrating the returning of the light...



artwork by j.d. habegger

we celebrate advent as a four week festival - the four weeks leading up to christmas and solstice. and during this time, we deepen our relationship to the world around us by recognizing and celebrating the strength and beauty of all four of the kingdoms of the natural world. during this first week, we pay tribute to the mineral world. during the second week, we focus on the plant kingdom. in the third week, we celebrate the kingdom of animals. and the fourth week speaks to the human being. and as we pass through these weeks, this time moves us toward a deeper understanding of our place in the universe, of all that supports us, and all that we aspire to. as well as all that needs our care and protection.

yours in celebration of advent,

shelley

6 comments:

earthmama said...

We celebrate Advent with the same spirit. It is magical, this time of year. Each day building on the next in anticipation and discovery. Such a beautiful watercolor! I'm headed off to find just the right one myself!

Unknown said...

very beautiful and totally inspiring once again...thank you..:)

Lizz said...

Very nice Shelley.

Anonymous said...

So how exactly do you integrate these themes? Crafts, stories? I really want to move over to this way of celebrating this time of year and we have been homeschooling using waldorf pedagogy for 3 years now but having never been attendees to a Waldorf school some of these traditions seem so hard to pin down and solidify the logistics of them all. Thank you for the inspiration.

TheSingingBird said...

this way of embracing the world is still new to me, and i love the guidance you give through your examples, thank you shelley♥

Grace said...

advent is nearly my favorite time of year. or maybe it is my most favorite. i truly love it. it makes me feel sorry that in our culture, this is perceived as "christmastime" instead of advent-time ... so little opportunity to relish the true nature of anticipation and introspection that is inherant in a true celebration of advent.