On Sunday night we had the wonderful fortune of being invited to a Lantern Walk that was being held through the German Church in town. There were quite a few families present, and lots of children holding many different types of lanterns. We had a small service, the priest read a story from Leo Tolstoy from the book “Stories For Telling” (here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Telling-William-R-White/dp/0806621923) and then we saw a dramatization of Saint Martin and the beggar. This included a live horse, which thrilled the children as we got to walk behind St. Martin and his horse and a procession of trumpets. Very lovely!
Here is a round-up of the songs we sang (in German, of course):
Ich geh mit meiner Laterne
Laterne, Laterne
Sankt Martin ritt durch Schnee und Wind
I wanted to post You Tube links to these songs, but I kept coming up with these odd techno-versions of these songs that were not really what I wanted…Perhaps my German-speaking readers can help with links so those unfamiliar with these can hear the songs?
Here are some ways other blogging families celebrated Martinmas:
http://maymomvt.blogspot.com/search/label/martinmas
http://mommyerin.blogspot.com/2010/11/celebrating-feast-of-st-martin-of-tours.html
http://thewheelandthedisk.blogspot.com/2010/11/martinmas.html
Over at Untrodden Paths: http://untroddenpaths.blogspot.com/2010/11/recent-picture-books-and-st-martin.html
If you celebrated Martinmas and wrote a blog post, please leave your link below so others can find you!
Many blessings,
Carrie
great post!
martinmas is my favorite festival!
http://bendingbirches2010.blogspot.com/2010/11/loving-light-and-cold.html
we celebrated for the first time ever. it was so so lovely. thank you for being one of main inspirations to move towards waldorf without worrying about getting it all perfectly perfect.
http://woowoomama.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/martinmas-belated/
Thanks for the link. I find myself challenged to reflect more deeply on these festivals as my girls grow beyond the childhood Waldorf stories and crafts. We lit all our old favorite lanterns this year and sang through our old favorite songs, but then also did some community service. Still, I felt like an important moment in my year was lost when we skipped walking with our lanterns.
Sarah, Is there any kind of a German Community in your area that holds Lantern Walks? The thing that is interesting to me is that many Waldorf schools stop the Lantern Walks for children who are older, but obviously within a cultural context adults and children walk. I agree with you that community service, collecting coats or food, etc is a logical progression of the older children, but I am an adult and I still enjoy the Lantern Walks. …:)
Blessings,
Carrie
We celebrated with a Lantern Walk at the WSA. It was our 1st (and 2nd) Lantern Walk & it was beautiful!!
Nice to have a local reader, Lindsey. Welcome to this space.
Many blessings,
Carrie
Oooops!! I forgot my link… http://thelingenfelters.blogspot.com/2010/11/lantern-walks.html
Hi Carrie,
I just put this together on my blog:
http://celebratetherhythmoflife.blogspot.com/2010/11/martinmas.html
Tomorrow, I may post some snapshots and recipes too.
It is snowing! The first of the year, snow, snow, snow!
Warmly,
Lisa
Thanks for the links!
Here’s our celebration:
http://www.thelaughingmonkey.com/blog/2010/11/17/martinmas/
Thanks for the link! I have really been enjoying reading all about how different families celebrate. I’m going to see if any groups in Portland Oregon do a lantern walk for next year. What a great idea!
Your celebration sounds wonderful! Here’s a link to a little bit about our first :http://www.localgrain.org/fieldsandfire/2010/11/11/martinmas/
We had our first real celebration of Martinmas this year. It is already deeply rooted in my heart as one of my favourite celebrations. Here is a link to my blog post:
http://barnraising.typepad.com/barn_raising/2010/11/the-tradition-of-martinmas.html
Just some photos of our lanterns (and lantern making):
http://catherine-et-les-fees.blogspot.com/2010/11/je-porte-ma-lanterne-jolie.html
http://catherine-et-les-fees.blogspot.com/2010/11/la-lumiere.html
Hello Carrie,
I had some similar problems in finding Martinmas songs online. Here is “Ich gehe mit meiner Laterne,” the last verse:
I’ll keep looking for more.
Here is a version of “Laterne, Laterne:”
Here is part of “Sankt Martin, Sankt Martin:”
Here’s another little Martinmas post. Blessed Martinmas and happy Winter!
http://thewheelandthedisk.blogspot.com/2011/11/nurturing-warmth-at-martinmas.html