Solstice celebration

Since Winter Solstice fell on a Monday this year, we decided to have our Waldorf co-op celebration on Sunday night. This was particularly great for my family since the Winter Faery visits our house on Winter Solstice Eve and leaves gifts. Having friends over for a potluck and spiral walk made bedtime much easier. They were so tired by nightfall that it took about five minutes for everyone to fall asleep!

Tim and Willow made the spiral with evergreen boughs and pampas grass. The pampas grass is so hard to see in a picture, but on the actual spiral it is so beautiful - it looks like big white feathers! Clover, Indigo, and Nova helped me inside with cleaning and food preparation.



When friends arrived, we had a wonderful potluck. There was (as always) so much wonderful food! Everyone ate, had warm drinks, and ran around outside playing in the dark. Tim lit a big fire outside, and brought the hammer dulcimer out to be played while the kids walked the spiral. We went on a lantern walk through the woods.



The kids lined up with their lanterns at the beginning of the spiral. Clover said the spiral verse from the Festival of Stones by Reg Down, and Tim played on the dulcimer while everyone walked. It was a beautiful but much more excitable walk than usual. The kids were just so excited to be outside by a roaring fire walking around with little glass jars of fire, that there was a little wildness! When everyone was done walking, the lanterns looked so incredibly beautiful glowing on the spiral.





As I walked around the spiral holding Nova who was holding his lantern, I gave a silent thanks for the winding inward that Winter so generously offers, I thanked the Sun for the return of his Light, I thanked the Universe in all of its beautiful glory for my family, my friends, my home. I wished for peace during this amazing holiday season, for unity with all of our brothers and sisters, for continued good health. Blessings on all families everywhere!!