Advent

Sunday, gives way to Advent.

Advent is a time of anticipation and waiting in the Christian tradition.  In the tradition of the Waldorf schools, however, Advent is accessible to all faiths as a season of hope and waiting; a season of lightness in the dark. – Carrie Dentler

Advent essentially means that which is coming; with a two fold meaning for Christians – the coming of Jesus born in Bethlehem and Jesus coming again at a time we do not know of.

Advent can be celebrated in many ways. It can have the advent calendar, a crib which starts bare or with a simple cloth and every week things are added. you can have Mary and Joseph travelling towards their cave through Advent.  One can simply have a wreath to mark the four Sundays before Christmas.

For us, Advent is increasingly becoming a spiritual experience.  The week before Advent we gather our supplies to make a wreath. Pine cones and pine needles are gathered from the floor of our woodlands and formed into a wreath.  Our calendar normally has the story of Jesus rather than gifts or chocolate inside and our crib is built throughout the whole of Advent in the Waldorf style. Most days we have small activities to do together which are brought to the children magically inspired by the advent stories of Martin & Sylvia series from Sparkle Stories.  We also complement this with stories, lots of Christmas stories that inspire love, waiting, beauty, caring and joy.

You are invited to join us this Advent to peek at our family celebrations through weekly posts of this very important festival.

Do you celebrate Advent? What do you do?