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||| Every year our community celebrates the approaching winter holidays with a school-wide celebration, the Enchanted Winter Wander. An encahnting event honoring traditions from around the world. This year was especially magical as we were able to transform our new campus into a wonderland of glowing fairy lights, music, story, laughter and joy. Thank you to our amazing parents who helped us create the magic (and then helped us tuck it all away for next year). Please read on and let yourself be carried away….
Enchanted Winter Wander
Berkeley Rose’s Winter Wander evolved out of many years of hosting our Winter Faire on the first Saturday of December. COVID required us to be innovative – did you know that our school remained open and in-person for all of the 20-21 school year? We did not want to be without one of our most cherished festivals which has always brought together the neighboring community, parents with can-do attitudes, and for the children, all the joy and exuberance of an old fashioned carnival. So we redesigned our festival – inspired by East Bay Waldorf’s Wanderer’s Way, creating a multicultural outdoor winter celebration. It represents many different ways of marking the long days of winter and our eternal, spiritual light, no matter our origin or religion. We hoped to touch each participant with its simplicity, the values shared by so many cultures, and by the feeling of being a part of a universal human joy. Here we share a little bit about each celebration that we depict and some fun suggestions for holiday family traditions and practices you can try.
Visit with the Snow Queen
The Snow Queen is one of the keepers of our planet, caring for the coldest parts of our Earth. Guardian of the snowy distant lands, she reminds us that we are all one – interconnected through starlight and snow dust – and that our planet is counting on us to cherish and protect it. She unites the whole evening in this way and reminds us adults that which children instinctively know: we are all one people.
We recommend reading The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice by Caroly McVickar Edwards and Ritual: Magical Celebrations of Nature and Community from Around the World by Nikki Van De Car.
Dongzhi
In a largely agricultural Chinese society, the Solstice marks a time of idleness in what is likely a long, cold winter. Families gather to honor and worship ancestors, and for a last party of the year before the Lunar New Year comes. A Wintery household becomes engaged in tangyuen making – round rice flour ‘dumplings’ eaten in a sweet syrup or a savory soup, or both (in the north, traditional dumplings are consumed). Children roll the rice dough into small balls which are boiled and added to the soup. Families gather, including married daughters who return to their birth families for the holiday.
Consider creating a day to cook the favorite foods of your ancestors who have passed or who do not live nearby, or from ancestral countries. Children can come to know their extended families through special family dishes which bring back reminiscences for their parents, too. Bring the Dongzhi celebration home with fresh ginger tea sweetened with brown sugar (for the grownups), traditional for this holiday. Find a good ginger syrup recipe to serve with store-bought tangyuen at www.maryshappybelly.com.
Las Posadas
Las Posadas, a festival largely celebrated in Mexico, is the reenactment of the holy couple seeking refuge for a pregnant Mary. Players dressed as angels, Mary and Joseph, and often a live donkey, go from house to house singing the extended prayer that is La Posada. The night concludes with a feast at the designated home for that evening, and the children crack a star shaped pinata filled with candy, toys and money. Caroling from house to house is a joyful way to come together with your community to celebrate the holidays. Try hosting a caroling party or a meal that might include music with family or friends, or courses at different people’s homes.
The Moon Rabbit
Our puppet show this year is about generosity. The Moon Rabbit is a Japanese tale of self sacrifice in the service of elevating one’s soul in the next life. The rabbit has nothing to offer the Great Spirit except his life and for his selfless act he is rewarded by being taken from the fire and ensconced in the Moon forever. Puppet shows at BRWS are calming and teach our students the art of focused and attentive listening. After hearing a simple story a few times, young children may want to act it out, which is a means of digesting what they have heard.
Next time you’re in the woods, try pretending to be characters from We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury or a story that takes place in nature, such as Sally’s Secret by Shirley Hughes, Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey, also Forest Bath Right Down this Path by Lisa Robinson, Dear Little One by Nina Laden, or Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer.
Shaba Yalda or Yalda Night
Shab-e Yalda, a Persian holiday, is also held on the longest night of the year, and feasting with dear ones on the last juicy fruits and nuts of the harvest season is enjoyed, as is music and the reading of Hafez or Shahnameh poetry. A ‘birth of the sun’ (from dark days to lighter ones), the long night spent in the company of good friends, talking, dancing, eating, reading poetry and are all pastimes to fill the long night spent warding off evil by staying up very late. It is said that you can divine your future from the Hafez poetry selection your finger chooses at random.
To bring this conviviality into your home, consider serving a Solstice meal entirely by candlelight to mark the darkest night, and the beginning of the move towards Spring. Telling stories after dinner is an adaptable part of this holiday, wonderful for young families. You can also allow the dictionary to help you – choose a word for the day by sticking a finger in the book, giving bibliomancy a secular approach.
Diwali
Diwali is India’s biggest and most important holiday of the year and celebrated slightly differently by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddists. It marks the triumph of good over evil and presents a chance for a fresh start with housecleaning, new clothes, gathering with loved ones, and feasting. Celebrate in the spirit of Diwali – welcoming in prosperity and luck, by making a nature mandala with your child near your front door or out in the neighborhood. Gather things that are already on the ground – pinecones, flowers, leaves, stones, whatever you find on your nature walk. Work together to create a simple or elaborate pattern depending on the age of your child. Consider it a gift for the people who come to that spot after you or for your guests as they arrive to your home.
Hanukkah and Christmas
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated around the world over 8 days and nights. Each of 8 night a candle is lit, the culmination of which is celebrated with special food, singing, games and gathering with family.
Christmas, a religious and cultural festival celebrated in many societies around the world, is a time to gather with friends and family, to eat, sing and give gifts. Acts of generosity and acts of service highlight the giving spirit of this season.
Suffice it to say that giving away usable toys before the holidays come makes life better for everyone. Sharing a story of a child who will be happy to receive your child’s toys and who may have very few things to play with can make parting with unused toys easier (for you too, if you’re nostalgic). Goodwill is accepting toy, book and puzzle donations again. As for children’s involvement in the holidays, allowing children to help decorate your tree or light Menorah candles may take a bit more patience than if you were to do it yourself, but the feeling of being included and of making a contribution to the event is invaluable. That spirit propels children through life. “I want to do it myself.”
Our Sleeping Bear
Much beloved by our students and families, the bear scene invites children to draw on their courage and bravery as they walk through the darkened forest and encounter the bear preparing for a long winter’s sleep. A hibernation story is told by Mother Nature which connects us to the cycles and the signs that the seasons are ever-changing. It also provides a lighthearted moment upon meeting the bear that will have your child in giggles. You might be surprised to learn that many of the children assume the bear is real! Going for a walk at dusk with your child is magically calming, especially before bed.