Daily Archives: February 18, 2010

Lent In The Waldorf Home

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I love this quote from “Waldorf Education:  A Family Guide” as edited by Pamela Johnson Fenner and Karen L. Rivers:

“As Steiner writes in “Spiritual Bells of Easter, I”:

Festivals are meant to link the human soul with all that lives and weaves in the great universe.  We feel our souls expanding in a new way during these days at the beginning of spring…It is at this time of year, the time of Passover and Easter, that human souls can find that there lives…in the innermost core of their being, a fount of eternal, divine existence.

If we can begin to penetrate the cosmic significance of the mystery of this season, the rebirth of nature, the freeing of the Israelites, and the death and resurrection of Christ, we begin to understand that Easter is as A.P. Shepherd writes.”…the Festival of the spiritual future of humanity, the Festival of Hope and the Festival of Warning.”

Shrove Tuesday was this week.  This day grew from the practice of obtaining absolution –to be “shriven” or “shrove” before the forty-day fasting of Lent.  Years ago, this was a very strict dietary fast and meat and eggs and milk were used up before Lent started.  Pancake-making and tossing was often tradition on this special day, and I am sure many of you are familiar with the custom of Carnival (Karneval in Germany) leading up to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. 

Ash Wednesday began with the practice of wearing a sackcloth for Lent and covering one’s head with ashes. 

“All Year Round” has this to say:”Lent has been kept as a time of penance, of strict self-denial, and for contemplating the sufferings and temptations of Jesus Christ as he fasted forty days in the wilderness.  Nowadays, the imposed strictness of Lent has been largely relaxed, and more emphasis placed on using the time to strengthen the inner life through spiritual education or appropriate self-discipline.  The long fasts of Lent and Advent were once used to make pilgrimages or “progresses” to holy places.  The word “progress implies not only the outer journey, but also the inner journey of the pilgrim – his progress in self-development.”

So, without further ado, here are some traditional ways to celebrate Lent:

  • Fasting and eating cleansing foods such as dandelion, nettles, leeks, chevril.  In anthroposophic terms, we talk about doing this as an example for children for this season.
  • Spring Cleaning!
  • Spending time away from outer stimulation and more time with an inward focus.
  • For a young child, “All Year Round” recommends spending time with your child each day doing one small thing to develop a Lenten mood.  This could include sitting together and listening to the birds sing in the morning in silence, taking time to look for the moon each night.
  • Decor:   a small unlit candle, bare twigs on the Nature Table, a bowl of dry earth or ashes on the Nature Table (you could plant seeds there on Palm Sunday so something grows during Holy Week).
  • Celebrate “Mothering Sunday” –the fourth Sunday in Lent was traditionally  when young people working away from home were given the day off to visit their mothers.  Traditional gifts include Sinnel Cake (like a fruit cake) and violets. 

Some of the traditions we have include eating pancakes on Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday), setting up our Nature Table as above, eating cleansing food and reducing certain components of our diet, participating in a Bible study for Lent (this year I am studying a part of the book of Psalms), reducing computer time and spending more time together as a family.

One craft to consider for yourself this time of year is wet- on- wet watercolor painting.  I painted the other night for an hour or so, making purple from red and blue.  It is very meditative and calming to do this, and the pictures you paint can then be cut into crosses for your Nature Table, or you can make a transparent part in your paintings with tissue paper of different colors. 

I will be writing a separate post regarding the celebration of  Palm Sunday and the Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday.

Many blessings,

Carrie

Children, Media and More Wise Words From Marsha Johnson

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(SORRY!  I originally had the WRONG link in this post!  It is corrected now!)

This is about media for the child under age 12!  Great thoughts you can take and tailor to your own family!  Mrs. Johnson is a veteran Waldorf teacher and has a wonderful Yahoo!Group for issues solely related to Waldorf homeschooling.  Please see this link to join:  www.waldorfhomeeducators @yahoogroups.com

Mrs. Johnson writes:

“I myself am nearly 100 % convinced that the most dangerous item in the home for children age 12 and younger is the television (including video games and computers). I believe we can trace use of this device to hyperactivity disorders, certain types of autism, and as well, a general reduction of the intelligence level of modern humans. Poor vocabulary (televisions are geared for a very low level of academic level), poor reading, poor spelling, a training for a short-bite experience in every single part of life, unrealistic life expectations built on fantasy pre-scripted television or dramatic episodes which are choreographed and pre-dictated, loss of interest in social or community interaction, loss of confidence building in experiencing ‘real-life’ interactions with physical substances or encountering mother nature (let’s go camping on the WII!), loss of physical development that is associated with moving all four limbs and using your brain to ride bikes, ice skate, row a boat, actually go fishing or driving or whatever.
The worst of all is the ads that show ridiculous situations such as the road -trip family with a beautiful southwest vista, i.e., Grand Canyon, and the kids are happy because there is a VIDEO player in the ceiling of the dang car.
I would if I could, take away all access to children 12 and younger. Yes go to the movies. Yes, go as a family, say three to four times per year and pick carefully and make it a big deal and go and sit together and enjoy it as a family. Go out for a meal afterwards and talk about it. Use it as an infrequent family outing, balanced with other family outings. You do not have to miss Avatar or Star Trek or the Dinosaur Walk thingy. Go as a family and make it a family activity, participating in a ritualistic group event that is rationale and rare.
Children are born with a natural capacity to imagine so many beautiful worlds and spirits. To see spirit beings and talk with them, to connect for a few breath taking years directly with the spiritual world…..it passes away so fast! Each moment your child under the age of 7, in my opinion, sits in front of a tv or a video land, you are literally draining that capacity like a hose will drain a swimming pool. Yes, just stealing it away.
It is impossible for our children to ignore this beast, in the vast majority of cases. Why don’t we keep a bowl of white sugar on the counter with a spoon, nearby? Or cans of plain soda pop, full of chemicals and caffeine and colorings? Most of you would not dream of allowing your children to eat Twinkies and Sugar Daddies for supper, but would and do accept the drug of the screen, those flashing icy blue brain-wave changing ‘eyes’ to totally overtake your children on a regular basis.
After 12, it is quite different I think, and certainly after 14. But it is not only age, it is also type of being: the highly awake nerve sense child (quick, brilliant, but like a literal sponge) will be sucked much more easily than the will-dominant child (have to MOVE) or the heart-feeling child (who will have to act it out, color at the same time, rush off to dress up, talk about the event at the same time, etc etc). The nerve-sense child has only to hear a ditty ONE TIME and they can sing if flawlessly, forever! :L
Yes, there is plenty of research out there. Check it out yourself. We forget how to think (or never learn), forget how to just be (never without stimulation) and forget how to dream (it has all been sucked out of us….the soil is dried and hardened…).
The solution? If your family is tv-addicted or screen-addicted, don’t just toss it out, replace it with fun and interesting activities at first, go join a folk dance team, go to church, have a family board game night, go camping, and ‘forget’ batteries. Slowly reduce and remove screen time and be sure your spouse is completely on board (haha this will fail is papa still needs to watch football add day Sat and Sun).
Keep a tv if you must have one, and lock it up like you would guns or alcohol. Use it as an adult choice. Figure out how to secure your computer with a password and do not tell the kids what it is. Refuse to buy games or systems and if your children visit other people’s homes, call first and ask the mama or daddy, please avoid the use of xyz when Sally visits, we are allergic to nintendo, playstation, blah blah blah and I would like to ask that they not use that while in your home having a nice play date.
Refuse to buy cable or machines that bring in more channels, etc. If you do keep a tv, set it with a parent-control to boring programs like news on the public radio channel. Use your computer at night after the kids are in bed (7 pm) and you can spend a little time catching up. Avoid texting or using your cell phone when you are with your children. Spend TIME with your children, set aside a time for cell phone use and tell your friends and family, call me at xyz time, please. Otherwise I will be with my kids.
Set examples and form neighborhood bike rallies, bake holiday treats as a group, set up a tree house or back yard fort, build a bbq pit and make bonfires, be the neighborhood active parent whose home is filled with kids and laughter..put on a spring play for the neighborhood and invite others to a bowling party or whatever.
Make it a priority and you may be able to positively affect your child, in this day and age when we are voluntarily allowing ourselves to be literally devoured by the giant materialistic machine of commericalism. Worse than the gingerbread house witch by far, the dependence and consumption of the screens on our waking hours is by far the greatest danger to the human race at this point in time.
Mrs M”

(Carrie here:  I spoke about this in my talk the other night on “The Waldorf Connection”; that there really isn’t any “no” in Waldorf, just the question of  “when”  and how there are some ages to bring things in more than others.  One must always ask oneself when supplying information and activities, is this necessary NOW?  What age would this be good or necessary?  If we do this NOW or my child knows all this NOW, what will my child be doing when they are 10 or 14 or 20?  Things should be different at different ages, not everything should be handed to one’s child on a platter when they are four years of age!  Protect your child’s innocence and childhood, it is more important than ever as they are going to grow up into a world that moves even faster and has more technology  than we do at this moment!)

Many blessings for today,

Carrie