Lantern Walk

This weekend we celebrated the annual Lantern Walk with our Waldorf playgroup. This festival celebrates the turning inward of the season and carrying our inner light through the approaching winter months. I look forward to this festival all year as it is my favorite of all of the seasonal festivals that we celebrate on the Waldorf school calendar. Last year's festival was very special and this year was just as beautiful.
We gathered together in the park, at dusk, around an old tree.


Each family brings lanterns that they have made at home and that the children have been working on in playgroup.
These are the lanterns that we made as a family.


In the growing darkness we begin to light our lanterns,






That is when the magic really begins. Every year I am whisked away to a fairy land as we gather together in a circle and sing songs as the children's faces glow in the soft lantern light.


Then we walk through the park as a group, until we reach a spot where the "fairies" have left a picnic of finger foods for us to feast on. The children eat treats and run around playing while the parents chat, and all of us are filled with the newness and thrill of being outside in the chilly darkness.


Afterwards, we walked home through the park, crunching leaves under foot, the children were tired but smiling. Frank and I feeling so blessed to be a part of this special group of friends.

10 comments:

mama bleu said...

I love...love .....love this idea. Thanks for sharing!!!

Lauren said...

This is so beautiful. I love that you gathered like that in the park. Your lanterns are gorgeous, of course... Thanks for sharing Faith... xo

Karla Tull Aron said...

Beautiful photos . . and I love the feeling of tradition and cycle that I pick up from your world.

Dyan said...

I love these rituals that connect us with the seasons and also sharing them with others. I think next year I'll make some lanterns too.

jacqueline said...

Dearest sweet faith, it's that time of the year again for your annual Lantern Walk {i still remember reading about last year :)}. These lanterns are gorgeous and i especially adore the ones with the jars. Gorgeous photos. Have a lovely merry happy day and love to you!

Sara said...

Spent the morning catching up on your blog - what lovely fall posts! These lanterns are wonderful! Making me wish I had some such ritual for lighting into fall time.
Love your new series - can't wait to see more. Best of luck as you get ready for your upcoming show!

aimee said...

oh, i am crazy about your lanterns! gorgeous, BEAUTIFUL color and full of light!

Kolleen said...

i love this...
i love all the beautiful images, the sweet lanterns you created.

what a wonderful time with family and friends.

oxoxox
k

Helen (Dixon Hill Girl) said...

Every time I read about the goings-on of a Waldorf School, I want to shrink to the size of a little person so that I can go to school all over again. Seriously.

Karla Tull Aron said...

You've been blogging long enough now, and I've been reading your blog long enough now, that I am getting a sense of the rhythm of your life. It's kind of cool how that is working here on my end of things {being the reader}.
All the little leg warmers are so sweet. : )

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.