Since we are now honoring more yearly rhythms in our family, (and really, who needs an excuse to celebrate?) we celebrated Candlemas/Imbolc/Groundhog Day yesterday.  Even though our celebration borrows a bit from many traditions, I have chosen to simply call it Candlemas.  Candlemas is a cross-quarter holiday, which means it falls at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.  In a nutshell, it’s about welcoming the return of the sun after the darkness of winter.

The ancient Celts began celebrating this holiday in honor of their goddess Brigid.  Goddess of fire, healing, poetry, home, and fertility, she is the keeper of the eternal sacred flame, and ushers in the arrival of Spring.  Any remaining yule greens would be removed from the home and burned, thus sending winter on its way.  It is a time for a cleansing of the home, both literally and figuratively.  The Celts called their celebration Imbolc, which means “in the belly” referring to the pregnancy of the ewes.  Imbolc is still celebrated by pagans today.

When Christianity swept the globe, the church realized that they could not prevent the people from celebrating their goddess, so they sainted her and renamed her Brigit.  Thus it became that Candlemas is a day that candles are made, or brought to the church to be blessed.  It is considered the day that Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem.

From Candlemas, the holiday became Groundhog Day in the US and Canada.  Long ago, it was believed that hibernating animals began awakening on this day.  If the groundhog fails to see his own shadow (due to overcast weather) the worst of winter is over, and spring is on its way.  Spring doesn’t arrive officially until March 20th, however I’m happy to report that our “groundhog” did not see his shadow yesterday.

It used to be believed that due to the lengthening daylight hours that occur around Candlemas, housewives of long ago would no longer need to work by candlelight in the morning.  Hence the saying, “candlemas, candle-less.” And indeed, in our little home, we noticed just a few days ago that we are now eating our evening meal while the sun is still out.  Spring is coming!

While I shared simplified versions of these traditions with my children in the morning, I’ll admit that most of this research has been for my own benefit.

In preparation for the changing of the nature table, The Daddy Monkey and I made the figures above.  Brigid, lamb and ewe.  I designed and drew them on the oak board, The Daddy cut them out, and I sanded and painted them.  I am so in love with them.  I cleared away the winter nature table, and replaced it with a white silk, our figures, the freesia we planted, and the beeswax candles I made.

I made our favorite pancakes for breakfast, a round symbol of the sun.  We ate breakfast by candlelight, which the kids thought was a novel idea.

I was originally planning on making candles with the kids, but once I thought about it, I realized that me + 2 hyper kids + hot wax = a trip to the emergency room.  So I made beeswax candles by myself.  The whole project took less than an hour, and I have to admit that I am now completely head over heels for beeswax candles.  I cannot get enough of that fragrance.

I made two Brigit’s crosses out of wheat, with The Boy’s help.

We planted a basket of wheat grass for the nature table.

We read poems (Shel Silverstein) in honor of Brigid. Bedtime stories were The Happy Day and A Little Bit of Winter, both from our own collection and both perfect for Candlemas. (I’m so sad to see that A Little Bit of Winter is out of print.)

I know most families don’t celebrate Candlemas, but for us, I think it was a perfect fit.  Living in Florida, it’s about this time of year that we start seeing longer days and warming temperatures.   All in all, I’m glad I did all the work leading up to this, and I know that next year’s celebration will be much easier, now that I know all of the stories and traditions.  It was a special, fun day, but I think next year, I will stretch out the activities over a week or so, rather than making it all happen on one day.  It seemed like a bit too much for me. I also look forward to including the kids a little more in our celebration next year.

Special thanks to all the links I’ve included above, the book “All Year Round,” and the countless bloggers over in my blogroll who have written about their Candlemas celebrations of years past. I’ve tried to link to information that I read online, but I’ll admit it all started to blur together after a while.

Since we’re about to clear out our winter nature table to make space for Candlemas, I thought I would share it here.  This is the first “official” nature table I have set up for the kids, and they loved it!  That’s the freesia we planted a few weeks ago.  I’m always amazed at how quickly forced bulbs grow.

I will really miss this little guy!  Scene from The Tomten and the Fox, by Astrid Lindgren.

My uncle gave me this crystal many years ago, but I never thought to pull it out for the kids until now.  The Boy loved this thing, and the crystal was involved in many of his games.  Seriously, one of the best playthings we’ve seen in a while.  This thing got way more action than half of the toys he received for Christmas.

Shells and pine cones found on our solstice nature walk.

Spring, here we come!

I think one of the most important traits that a parent can have is humility.  For me, that means being able to admit to my mistakes and see opportunities to do things better in the future.  To parent organically; always evolving to the needs of my ever-changing children.

Lately, my mothering instincts have been leading me more towards the Waldorf philosophy.  I read a lot about Waldorf when The Boy was a wee babe, and while I was inspired by most of it, a lot of it did not work for us.  Since I was in the early stages of my mothering, I saw it as an all-or-nothing kind of deal.  I thought that I could never possibly live up to the ideals of some Waldorfers, and that I may as well not even try.  Now that I’ve found a little more balance, I am able to see that I can simply use what works for me and my children, and leave the rest.

I am by no means an expert, and if someone asked me if we were Waldorf parents, I would say no, but some of it really appeals to me, and works for my children:

• the importance of rhythms (daily, weekly, yearly) to create a sense of security and tranquility
• the importance of play and lack of emphasis on early academics and over-scheduling
• the belief that fantasy and imagination are absolutely vital for young children
• an emphasis on natural and handmade playthings
• the belief that children learn best through imitation and participation
• encouraging a connection with nature, and spending time outdoors
• the importance of movement for young children (this one is especially vital for The Boy)
• the importance of working with the hands (modeling, painting, knitting, sewing)
• the need for “down-time” and a quiet home that can be thought of as a refuge from the busy world

Since I’ve learned that parenting is not an all-or-nothing deal, I have been able to relax a bit more and welcome this philosophy back into our home.  It feels so good to me and so right for where we are right now. I’m happy and delighted to discover new ideas and  traditions, and and I am excited about the promise of what is yet to come.  And now that I know that I do not have to hold myself to the standards of anyone else, and that I can simply do what works best for us, I feel like I’ve just graduated as a mother. Like I’ve just discovered some secret door that I didn’t even know existed.

When we took down the Christmas tree this year, I bought some flower bulbs to plant to welcome the oncoming spring.  I prepared all my supplies ahead of time, and invited the kids to come in the backyard for a project.  I’m now learning that the key to keeping them happy and involved is to have everything ready ahead of time.

I showed The Girl only once, to place the bulbs in the soil, pointed side up.  You would have thought she had been doing it her whole life, the way she placed each one in the pot, with such great deliberateness, getting it right every time.

The Boy was more interested in the dirt and the watering.

We placed the pot on our winter nature table, in anticipation of spring.

Here’s some more crafty goodness from The Girl’s birthday.

The spring bunting became happy birthday bunting with the addition of a few new letters.

The bendy dolls I made for The Girl’s new dollhouse.  These took So. Long. To. Make.

Beautiful thrifted oak caddy for her art supplies.  When she wants to use it she says, “can I paint my heart?”  So sweet.

I never really liked making new years resolutions.  Something about the whole idea just never really rang true with me.  Inspired By The Bird’s tradition of choosing a word for the year, I have chosen rhythm to be my word this year.
Last year, I made balance my word of the year, and it was in [...]

The Girl just turned two!  I will dispense with the “oh my how did this ever happen” and “they grow up so fast.”  But really.  Two? All signs of babyness are gone.  She is smart, strong, and sweet, and most definitely two.
Last year we had a very sweet and simple party.  Being the inveterate party-planner [...]

Whew!  I try not to be one of those people that gets carried away with the hectic-ness of the holidays, and I think I did really well with setting limits and not taking on too much, but I feel like I haven’t stopped moving since I started sewing Halloween costumes in September!  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, [...]

Wishing you and yours a very wonderful holiday!!
(See the Monkey Family cards of past here.)

Happy Winter Solstice to you!