Experiencing the nourishing gifts of a seasonal festival: The Lantern Walk at Hundred Hills School
As human beings living this earthside experience, it is a great fortune for us to cultivate a festival for and within our community. Our spiritual senses need the elements of the seasonal breathing cycle. As quoted from Steiner’s, The Festivals and Their Meaning, festivals create “a mighty breathing of the earth in relation to the cosmos.” The Lantern Walk is a festival celebrating light around the Autumn Equinox. As our ancestors came together in days past, when the dwindling light of the Summer faded, they shared stories to endure through the long Winter nights ahead.
In the first week that Daylight Saving Time ended, parents and teachers alike gathered in preparation for our school’s first-ever Lantern Walk Festival. Joining together under the full moon, we ate, sang, and created our lanterns. We shared stories and prepared our hearts for the importance of taking time for ourselves to find gratitude and reverence, and for what the Lantern Walk Festival is. When we allow ourselves time to be grateful and slow down, we can sometimes find stillness in our busy lives. We may allow ourselves to take in the beauty of the present moment. My curiosity turns to what might be happening to us inwardly in these moments, in times we slow down and become aware of ourselves and each other. Does this moment allow us to set aside our own thoughts and find gratitude for the abundance we have around us? Delicious food, good company, and time together. It is in these times of inner reflection that we create space for ourselves and our children to cultivate kindness in meaningful ways.
We began our lantern walk under the stars by the garden where we have our Early Childhood classes. It was at that moment, I realized how much there was to be grateful for. For the gardens that welcome us daily, the mountains surrounding us, the river behind us, the bounty of nature, and all that she provides. The burgeoning community of families and folks alike who are creating a new Waldorf initiative in the Santa Ynez Valley. Where childhood is protected, each child is honored, and families are held in loving respect. A Waldorf school initiative is a wonderful thing and a worthy endeavor. I am grateful for those who have believed in us and who are cultivating our new community.
I watched the sweet little children in my class walking behind me as I sang.
“I go outside with my lantern, my lantern goes with me. Above me shine the stars so bright, Down here on Earth shines me.”
The children held their lanterns with pride, which they had so lovingly made in the garden in the days prior. The flame inside their lantern flickered, reflecting the stars above, uniting our hearts and spirits as together we forge into the coming winter days and nights ahead. This experience deepens our connection to the present moment. It calls on us to reflect respectfully on the past; to remember where we come from; to be grateful for the present; to live consciously in the moment and to live in wonder for the future; creating new possibilities. We remain open-hearted towards what is and what can be.
By Ms. Lauren Wheeler
Preschool Lead