The cycle of the year

Final post of reflections from Sunbridge, Fall 2012

The above is a photo of my page of notes from our week of talking about the Cycle of the Year pertaining to the Festivals in Waldorf Early Childhood. What an exciting topic for in depth discussion! Hopefully you can sort of make out my handwriting...

The Season of Winter....

This is where our inner light shines....

We take with us the warmth of the Summer sun into these cold and dark months; "a spark of the Summer sun's light" is represented during our Martinmas Lantern Walk. It is all we have. Yet, this is the time where the Earth is truly awake! 

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!

Above is a sketch representing the Advent Spiral....

One walked into the darkness, finding that the eternal light was always there to enkindle every human being.

Spring is a time of rebirth and life (Easter, candlemas)....the light is ever more present....
Yet, there is a time of decay during this lively time of year as the flowering trees and bushes drop their silky flowers to the ground....

 

High Summer is depicted above...the world is asleep after a surge of new life....we fall into a Summer consciousness; almost like a warm dream. Oh, this is my most favorite time of year.

Fall brings about a "moving back down/in"....think of fruit hanging from the branches and falling towards the Earth, flowers wilting and drooping, leaves finding their final resting places on the Earth...

"Look around thee..."

 

Meditative Thoughts for Autumn
(R. Steiner)
“It is true that spring is fair, and it is a fine capacity of the human soul to perceive the beauty of the spring, the growing, sprouting, burgeoning life. But to be able to perceive also when the leaves fade and take on their fall coloring, when the animals creep away — to be able to feel how in the sensible which is dying away, the gleaming, shining, soul-spiritual element arises — to be able to perceive how with the yellowing of the leaves there is a descent of the springing and sprouting life, but how the sensible becomes yellow in order that the spiritual can live in the yellowing as such — to be able to perceive how in the falling of the leaves the ascent of the spirit takes place, how the spiritual is the counter-manifestation of the fading sense-perceptible; this should as a perceptive feeling for the spirit — ensoul the human being in autumn! Then he would prepare himself in the right way precisely for Christmastide.”

I hope some of you may have found this helpful!

 

Let the Christmas Crafting continue!

Angels in the Materialistic World

A late Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
I hope all of you had a day filled with joy and family....ok, and food. :) We enjoyed an evening at my grandmother's house and some Christmas decorating during the day...

 

W plucking the candles from my 31st Birthday cake!

Now that I am settled in back home from this past session of teacher training, this is the time where I start to "live into" everything that we had discussed. Every day life situations bring me back to discussions and through my own experiences, I begin to make the information my own. A teacher told us last Summer, "go home and forget everything...".....I take that to mean, "you'll remember (and use it!) when you need to most."

One of the experiences that stood out most for me last week was an optional evening lecture held at The Christian Community (movement for religious renewal) within the town. (please follow this link to find out more....it is fascinating.) In short, The Christian Community is a worldwide movement for religious renewal that seeks to open the path to the living, healing presence of Christ in the age of the free individual. This life is at work most potently in its renewed Seven Sacraments, where the thoughtful, heartfelt devotion of the congregation and the words and gestures of the celebrating priest work together to form the vessel that can receive the grace of God.

The lecture I attended was entitled Angels in the Materialistic World, presented by Rev. Julia Polter.  I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but I felt imediately drawn in and excited upon walking into the space...

"Welcome to the Waldorf Church", a man said as he held open the door for us. I had to kind of snicker, but really, I had never before been in a church with violet lazured walls and a lack of right angles. It was very pleasing to the eye.

The lecture was about the siginificance of angels in our contemporaru mainstream culture. Rev. Polter began by bringing to mind the need for the angel today, still......statistics of Hallmark stores and their plethora of angel trinkets, the Victoria's Secret Angel Ad campaign...they are still all around us. It is, however, a matter of if we call upon them to assist or guide us that they will remain with us. 

She went on to assert that everyone experiences a miracle every single day. Whether it is something we recognize outright or not, that's another question....

Angel renderings by the Seminary students..

She also spoke of how we can call upon the spiritual world (i.e., angels) to assist us; even calling upon people who have crossed the threshold to guide us in our lives. Part of my practice as a teacher is to call upon the guardian angels of the children I care for in the evening before sleep. (i.e., "taking the children into sleep with you"..) Much of what I may need guidance with is too big for me....this is where I call for help. I do find that this experience often changes my path of thinking and truly does help.

In our waking state, we can work in such a way that our relationships to the spiritual world are strengthened, both to the angels and to the human souls who have died and are living in the world of the spirit. This relationship can manifest in our daily life in various ways. For example, in the German language, when one receives a sudden idea one says it has eingefallen–-”fallen in.” But what has fallen in and from where has it fallen? This can be the work of the angels, pouring their thoughts into mankind, or it can be the help of those human souls who are now in the spiritual world that wish to help us and work with us.

.......We need to realize that every child, every colleague, every parent is more than just a physical being. Every one contains a spiritual being as well, which brings something with it from previous earth lives. Recognizing the spiritual nature of other human beings is a prerequisite for finding our connection to the spiritual hierarchies.

Helmut Von Kugelgen

The following is an articles/essay which speaks of Working with the Spiritual World:

Working with the Angels

The article below is somewhat unrelated to the post, but very poignant and imporant. Entitled "Drowning in Dialogue"....one of the best I have read in some time.

Drowning in Dialogue

In conclusion, we will today take one feeling, one conception, which may be of great help to our souls. Unfortunately many people in our modern materialistic age find it very difficult to feel what I might call the holiness of sleep. (The materialistic life is being somewhat softened by this period of trial, and not only ought it to remain softened thereby — which can hardly be hoped if materialism remains at its present strength — but it ought even to be enormously and increasingly softened.) It is indeed a curious phenomenon of man's intelligence today that he is entirely devoid of respect for the holiness of sleep. We need only consider how many people who spend the evening hours in purely materialistic ways, go to sleep without developing the realisation — which indeed can never become a living thing in a materialistic mind — that sleep unites us with the Spiritual world, that sleep sends us across into the Spiritual world. (These things are not mentioned by way of blame, nor intended to drive people to asceticism: we must live with the world, but we must at the same time have our eyes open, for only thus can we wrench our bodily nature away from the lower and lift it higher.) People should at least become gradually able to develop a feeling which can be expressed somewhat as follows: ‘I am going to sleep; until I wake, my soul will be in the Spiritual world. There it will meet with the guiding-power of my earth-life, who lives in the Spiritual world, and who soars round and surrounds my head. My soul will have the meeting with my genius. The wings of my genius will come in contact with my soul.’ 

~Rudolph Steiner

Lecture, The Human Soul and the Universe 

 

The Simple Knot Doll

It's so great to be home after a week away at school....

This was the absolute longest I have ever been away from home since W was born and it was difficult. Each day at Sunbridge was filled with inspiration and friendship....Eurythmy, sculpture, handwork, Anthroposohpy, in depth work and reflections on the Festivals and the cycle of the year (more reflections on these later)...but when class was over for the day (8:15-5:30!) I felt myself so longing to be home. Homesick doesn't even begin to describe how I felt before going to bed.

 

my dorm room....felt a little bit like being back in college. 

Anyhow, I'll use the next few posts here to reflect upon my studies for the week. There is certainly a lot to think over!

One of my most favorite parts of the week was our handwork block where we crafted first aid kits and simple knot dolls. We worked with soft flannel and wool roving and batting for stuffing. What a difference it makes to fill a doll with warm, fragrant wool. You really can feel the warmth upon cradling it in your arms!

We used the doll pattern from Beyond The Rainbow Bridge, one of my most favorite early parenting books. I also learned 2 new stitches, including the french stitch, perfect for continuous seaming. I have really been loving hand stitching the past few weeks...I find it so relaxing. 

 

our first aid kits, which include holders for small scissors, bandages and a thermometer

 

Our handwork block was held in one of the nursery classrooms at Green Meadow Waldorf School. Beautiful. I also found out that they host the largest amount of Waldorf kindergarten students in the country! (4 kindergartens; 80 children!!)

 

 

I am loving my time at Sunbridge--so much I learning about being a guide to young children, being a friend, a student of life, and a mother. 

I finished my knot doll on the last day; crafting also a small pillow and sleep sack to keep her warm. W seemed to really enjoy meeting dolly for the first time. She now sleeps on the sheepskin next to his bed and he's taken to kissing her good night.

 

 I returned home Friday evening to find a bunch of balloons and a beautiful card waiting for me. I hugged and hugged W and Jay and they both felt so warm and smelled so good. It was a wonderful moment.

May our feeling penetrateInto the center of our heart
And seek, in love to unite itself
With the human beings seeking
The same goal,.
With the spirit beings who,
Bearing Grace,
Strengthening us from realms of light
And illuminating our love
Are gazing down upon
Our earnest heartfelt striving

~Rudolph Steiner's "The Verse for America"

(morning Eurythmy verse) 

More about Sunbridge and The Threefold Community here. 

The Young Child..

....continuing with another excerpt from a paper I have written for school...the topic is the essential needs of the child in the 3 phases of early childhood, with an emphasis on how we as adult caregivers and educators can best meet these needs...

The “young” child (age 3-5)

       It is during this phase of development where we begin to see fantasy and even spontaneous play helping to build the body! At this time, we can support this essential need of play by offering unfinished play materials which will allow the child to “fill in the details” by way of their own unique life experiences. Children need a caregiver who models joy in work; taking the time to assist during clean up, washing the dishes with care and spirit. Children need to see care and love enter into all that we do.

     The adult is a sort of “assistant” to the child from this point on. We lovingly help with personal care, carrying the rhythm, and providing nutrition, but we model through actions and thought ideally, not words or direct instruction. The child needs to feel safe and good in the presence of the adult. We can foster this by continuing on the path of self exploration and soul development; by truly believing that the world is good and loving our role as a student of life!

     Another essential need for this (and each!)  phase of early childhood is the need for rhythm. We can support this need by creating a flowing and predictable course of the day for the children, coupled by a sense of “there is always enough time”.  Focusing on the tasks of the day; the curriculum of “life” guides us through the time spent together, rather than a rigid schedule and/or a planned activity filled morning.

    Children also need us to respect the “hermit like” nature of their play by giving them the space, time, and the quieting of our adult fixated minds, wills, opinions, moods, and goals. We can begin to respect and support this by bringing them out of play slowly and gently when the time arises.

 Striving to understand that all play is truly the work of the young child is integral for an educator. Ideally, ample time is allotted for all aspects of the day..dressing, undressing, washing, brushing. This is a time for mistakes, “corrections”, triumph, and even frustration. All aspects prove to be of great importance. The children at this age need us to be rhythm. They need an adult with strong life forces; someone who is active, healthy, well rested, and artistic. This is how we  help them into the body which they have been given.

An exercise

3,462 miles,

15 days,

Two 90 minutes traffic jams,

one eye infection,

 two first bee stings,

one day of extreme hormonal homesickness,

and...a lot of other details later..

I'm home for good! (or at least until November for the next training date!)

It feels wonderful to return to normalcy as I know it.

I have much sorting and organizing to do what with all of the material I have been fed for the past 3 weeks.

Much of it will live in me whether I know it or not..

In fact, we've been urged to "forget everything" and "just" let it..become.

I have a lot to sift through and I'll reflect in this space over the next few weeks.

Most, if not all, of the coursework is revolved around the inner work and growth of the teacher, so much reflection is needed!

During one of our classes, we were presented with a large table full of art postcards. We were to each chose two. One to represent where we are in this journey to becoming a Waldorf teacher right now...and the other to represent where we hope to be by the end. This was hard!

I chose the above photo to represent where I find/see myself at this time. I saw the woman in this photo as somewhat charmed by the children who are flanking her; hovering so close to her....looking for her attention, touching her...she is sentimental, and somewhat overwhelmed. She is the focus of this photo.

None of these attributes are negative, but I'm looking for change. I'm looking to be in the foreground, to be more quiet and "inside", to know the children truly as incarnating beings who are coming into their physical bodies....to see their actions, gestures, reactions, emotions as truly "true", purposeful and telling...I think I am on my way, but this takes work.

I chose the above photo as where I'd hope to be in 3 years at the conclusion of the training (but not really the end at all, as a teacher's path to self discovery is never ceasing!!)

The woman in this photo is so much more present. She is with the children. Her gaze is still, silent, and confident. Her touch is firm and real and just enough. She's not looking for hugs, kisses, and assurance that the children are loving who she is and what she is doing. She just is.

This exercise gave me a lot to think about as far as my personal development and everything that I bring with me to this program as a student....

The following poem read at commencement for the class preceding us made such pure and good sense to me...

Messenger

My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.


~ Mary Oliver ~

 My last day of class was just right, I think.

A new friend and I stayed after and sat down by the creek and spoke about ourselves, our time, our lives and loves. It was a good ending.

I returned home for good to see my favorite boys hard at work, as always..

It is most surely Summer. The air is heavy and full. Air conditioners blast cold in my face. Flowers bloom and our pumpkins are making their way out of the garden and across our lawn. Every lawn is dotted white with clover and bees are lulling about dutifully.

more later..

Second Sunbridge Week

...Mostly photos, a few explanations:)

From the Fiber Craft Studio...

 

...I've taken up the drop spindle this past week by way of a creative friend and a supportive environment....

Roving has now taken on another trait in my book!!!

A variety of flowers, peels, and other plant life for plant dyeing..

pictured here: onion peels, cosmos, chestnuts, and madder.

I bought .5 lbs. of madder to experiment with red/dark salmon tones..

 

During our practical class block, we wet felted some Fall apples together:)

 

Kindergarten Classroom,

 Green Meadow Waldorf School

 

Parent-Child Classroom, 

This space is specifically designed for ages birth-2

(can you tell why?)

Green Meadow Waldorf School

 

A great set up of "Pikler" furnishings; developmentally appropriate for babies and young toddlers.

Notice the cube in the background...this is a great piece of equipment for the stage of emerging crawling on the hands and knees, as well as when the child is an accomplished crawler:) I am sure they also love to crawl through it, too:) Imagine the delight and interest!

 

Again, design and simplicity in play materials and gross motor equipment based upon the developmental progresses though the early months and years of life..

Two of my newest friends...  :)

It's incredible to be around so many like minded people, day in and day out.

more later!