My lantern

The sunlight fast is dwindling,
My little lamp needs kindling,
Its beam shines far in darkest night
Dear lantern guard me with your light 


Soon it will be The Festival of St Martin


This is celebrated in our Steiner School with a mini procession of parents and children holding a lantern; it is a lovely festival and its atmosphere rather magical.


This story gives us the knowledge and background of this powerful celebration...

The Story of Martin and the Poor Man

Long ago, there lived a good young man named Martin.  Even as a boy, he knew that one day he would be expected to serve in the military.  His father was an important military officer.  And, though he desired a peaceful life outside of the military, he knew that it would be his duty to follow the life of his father. So, Martin joined the military, became an officer, and was eventually assigned to garrison duty in the town of Amiens.

One bitterly cold winter evening, the young Martin rode through the gates of Amiens

on his fine proud horse.  He was dressed in the regalia of his military unit: gleaming armor, a bright helmet, and a beautiful white cloak, lined with lambs wool.  It was nearly freezing outside, but his thick cloak kept him warm.  He was hardly aware of the cold.

But then, as he approached the gates of the town, he saw a poor man, a beggar, dressed with clothes so ragged that he was practically bare.  The man was shaking and blue with cold, but no one reached out to help him.  People would pass through the gates, looking straight ahead, so their eyes would not meet with those of the poor, desperate man.

Martin, seeing this, was overcome with compassion.  He rode straight to the poor man and took off his white cloak.  And with one stroke of his sword he tore the lovely mantle in two.  He wrapped half of the cloak around the freezing man and the other half around his own shoulders.

The people nearby watched in amazement.  To see a fine military officer do such a lowly thing was a ridiculous sight to many, but others were touched by the goodness that Martin showed.

That night, as Martin slept, he had a dream.  A man appeared to him who looked so familiar, and he was wearing the half of the cloak Martin had given to the poor beggar.  And then, Martin saw in the eyes of this man, and the light of the Divine which we carry within us.

From that day on, Martin’s life was changed forever.  He knew that he could no longer be part of the military, for his true desire was to live a life of goodness.

Golden light is turning grey,

Mists begin to rule the day.

Bare the trees, their branches lift;

Clouds of dead leaves earthward drift.

Through the field the farmer goes,

Seeds of ripened corn he sows’

Trusts the earth will hold it warm,

Shelter it from cold and harm.

For he knows that warmth and light

Live there, hidden from our sight;

And beneath a sheltering wing,

Deep below, new life will spring!

Deep below, deep below, new life will spring!

Food ideas

Apple pie, apple cake, apple dumplings, ANYTHING with apples!  They are everywhere! 

Potatoes are everywhere, too.  Make use of such wonderful inexpensive foods. 

Gingerbread

Carrot cake

Nutty cooked grains or nuts

Different rices and lentils

The options for eating in this season are near endless; take advantage of what we have readily available in the gardens or in our storage.

Craft ideas

Collect acorn caps for fairy hats

Take pinecones and make little gnomes from them

Do leaf or tree rubbings

See how many different leaves you can collect from a park near your home

Classify those leaves and press them so you can enjoy them later

  

The Lantern

There was once a boy called George who had been outside in the garden all through the Summer running after the butterflies, jumping like a grasshopper, singing like a bird, and trying to catch the sunlight.  One day when he was lying on his back in the meadow gazing up into the sun-filled sky, he said, “Dear Brother Sun, soon the Autumn winds will blow and wail, and Jack Frost will come and make us all freeze, and the nights will be long and cold.” 

Brother Sun pushed the clouds aside and said, “Yes, it will be dark and cold.  In the deep midwinter, warmth and light live deep within, hidden from sight.  In the time of dark and cold, you will tend the Light Within.”

“But,” said George, “How will I tend this Light when it’s dark everywhere around me?”

“I will give you a spark of my last Autumn rays once you have made a  little house for it, for this spark must be guarded well.  It will light the way for you to tend the Light Within throughout the time of dark and cold.”

And then Brother Sun once hid again behind a cloud.

George went home and wondered how best he could make a little house for the spark of the sun.  He took a thick piece of paper and painted a beautiful blue and yellow watercolor upon it.  When it was dry, he cut windows into his painting.  Then he placed colored tissue paper on the back of his watercolor - and - he formed it into a lantern.  He took a candle and put it into the middle of his lantern.  And, as it was growing dark, he went outside with it.

George held the lantern up above him and said, “Brother Sun, I have made a little home for one of your golden sparks.  Please may I have one?  I will guard it well.”

Then Brother Sun looked out from behind a cloud and said, “You have made a beautiful home.  I shall give you one of my golden sparks.”

And suddenly, George saw how the windows of his lantern were lit up, and as he looked into the lantern, he saw a spark happily dancing on top of the candle.  Oh, how happy the light was in his lovely lantern!  It shone and shone so brightly.

“Thank you, Brother Sun,” George called out, “Thank you.”  And he took his lantern and carried it carefully home singing:

The sunlight fast is dwindling,

My little lamp needs kindling.

Its beam shines far in darkest night,

Dear Lantern, guard me with your light.

~ from Autumn, Wynstones Press, originally by M Meyerkort and revised by L Sutter.




More about Lantern festival from an extract (http://joyfultoddlers.blogspot.com/2011/11/fall-celebrations-martinmas.html) 

Fall Celebrations: Martinmas

          Martinmas (November 11th) is not commonly celebrated, but it's such a lovely festival that I wanted to tell you all about it.  I love celebrating these 'smaller' festivals because they have not been taken over by commercial interests, and you can really shape them to be special events for your family or your school/program.

What Is Martinmas?

          Well, there are two parts of Martinmas.  The first is that it's the Saint Day of St. Martin, and the other part is that Martinmas "adopted" the very old tradition of the the Lantern Walk.  Most of us, depending on where we live, are starting to really notice that the days are getting shorter, and the nights are getting longer.  As nature starts falling asleep, and the world is getting darker, it is up to us to light the world, with our own inner lights.  We must look inside ourselves, and to one another, to light up our world.  This light can be seen through warmth, and through kindness, and through doing what we know to be right.  Saint Martin was one such man, who shared his red cloak with a beggar, then had a dream where Christ said to him, "What you do to others, you do to me."  Martin stepped down from his post in the Roman Legion to become a holy man.  We, like St. Martin, can do things that are warm and friendly for one another, and this help to keep the world alight in these cold times.

          We can also make external representations of our inner light, to light the world around us.  One way to do that is by making lanterns.  I loved making lanterns as a child!  Over the years I made many different kinds of lanterns.  These are some examples of the types of lanterns I made:

These lanterns are made from a tin can with holes pounded through with a hammer and nail.  These can be very fancy, or quite plain, but when lit they look like little stars shining through (fill the can with water and put it in the freezer before hammering, so you don't crush the can):

Other years, we made "stained glass" lanterns with tissue paper behind cut-outs from stiff paper painted with water color paints.  If we wanted to be very fancy, we'd put waxed-paper into the cutouts, with leaves and crayon-shavings ironed between.

Then again, paper mache lanterns are some of the easiest to make, and most colorful of lanterns.  They glow all over when lit!

And finally, one of my favorite (although by far the most complex) were the lanterns carved from a turnip:

Whatever the method, we would sing and sing as we made our lanterns.  Then, when Martinmas finally came, it was time for our Lantern Walk.  Parents and children would gather at dusk, and we would light our lanterns.  Together, with our lights shining, we would walk through the land and sing our songs.  Now, different groups do the lantern walk differently.  Some walk through the woods, where it is very dark.  Some walk through the neighborhood, to bring light and goodwill to the neighbors, like caroling.  Some structure the whole experience to be soft and quiet and reverent, asking parents to keep the chit-chat to the minimum, so that it's a truly reflective experience.  Other groups troop around gaily, and end the whole thing around a huge bonfire, with songs and hot cider and camaraderie all around.

Get Ready

          If you have a home-program and are excited to host an early-evening activity, by all means get busy!  Likewise, if you are a parent at home and would like to invite other parents and children over to do a lantern walk, how lovely!  But it may be that you can't host an evening activity, or you don't have a group of children.  No matter what your situation, you can still make lanterns and celebrate the kindling of our own inner lights.  Here's what you might do:

Make Your Lanterns

First off, start leaving the lights off a little more, so that you and your children can really notice that it's getting darker.  Where you can, use small lamps or light candles to add more light.  Then, start making your lanterns.  One of the biggest-bang-for-your-buck lanterns is the paper mache, and there is a lovely description (with photos) of how to make that type of lantern here:http://www.waldorffamilynetwork.com/saints.html .  Toddlers can help make this type of lantern quite easily.  Or, if you have big boys who love to use tools, make a tin-can lantern.  Take a used can and fill it with water, then put it in the freezer.  Once it is frozen, you can put it in a plastic tub with a towel in the bottom, and make holes with a hammer and nail.  If you get a nail started, a child can "help" hammer it in.

Sing and Tell Stories

While you make your lanterns, sing songs!  A song that many people know is "This little light of mine (I'm gonna let it shine)."  That's a good one.  I can't find the songs I used to sing online, but here are a couple more that are sung on a YouTube video that you could use, sung by David Darcy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKgUFAytb2k&feature=related.  You can sing one or two songs over and over again.  Children love repetition!  And between the songs, you might tell a story like this:

( It is similar to the story above about the boy called George but a bit more simplified for the little ones)

A Story of Autumn LightOnce upon a time there was a little boy who lived with his mother and his father and his baby sister.  He played all summer long in his shorts and bare-feet, feeling the hot sun on his face.  Then, one day, the ground started to get cold, and he had to put on shoes.  Then the wind started to blow!  He was chilly!  He had to put on a sweater to keep warm.  The leaves started to turn colors and fall off of the trees.  "What's happening?" he asked his mother.  "Autumn is here," said his mother, "and soon Winter will be on its way.  Do you see how the squirrels are collecting nuts for the winter?  And the mice are collecting seeds.  And our dog is growing a nice, thick coat to keep himself warm."  The little boy thought about this for a few days, and he did notice the squirrel collecting nuts.  And when he petted his dog, he noticed that his coat was getting thick and bushy.  A few more days went by, and the boy said, "Mother, it seems like the world used to be full of sunshine, but now it is getting dark.  Will it keep getting darker and darker?"  And he mother replied, "Yes, it will get darker earlier and earlier until the deep winter.  The world is getting ready to sleep."  The boy thought about this for a few more days, and he said, "Mother, will we be dark and cold, too?"  "No," said his mother, "We will stay warm, but it won't be the sun that warms us as much.  During these dark, cold months, we will have to find our own lights!"  "How can we do that?" the boy asked.  "We can do that by lighting fires in the fireplace, by lighting candles all around, by wearing warm clothes and even by making lanterns to take our light with us outside in the dark!  And we can keep ourselves and others warm by doing acts of kindness, to warm our hearts."  That little boy and his mother and father made lanterns to bring their lights outside, and when they were done, they took their lanterns out and sang sweet songs, and knocked on their neighbors door to take them some fresh-baked banana bread, to keep them warm as well.  And the boy and his family kept their lights lit and their hearts warm all through the Autumn, and through the Winter as well.