I got so inspired that I went to my treasured trunk of favorite things and I searched through allowing the inspiration of the moment to guide me.

Suddenly, I saw him….

Sweet baby blue…

One of the lovely Kathe Kruse doll/puppets that were popular, oh, around 15 years ago when this belonged to Zachary.

Some of you may remember, way back when, that I had a catalog of waldorf toys.

Remember?

It was called Hedgehog Farms, and I stocked hundreds of such dolls for Waldorf Inspired families all over the world…  (I wanted to link to the site, as just about 6 months ago I ordered some lovely beeswax crayons from them, but the url had no site.

I did find them on facebook however, with only 15 “likes” (If you are feeling like sharing some love right now, go there and like their page!)

But no matter how many lovely dolls came to visit our home, it was each child’s first doll that remained their playmate.

For Zachary is was his “Pippi Longstocking” made by Truth’s Dolls in Sebastopol, California.

I remember going to Truth’s house and he was so drawn to Pippi. She was small, 12″ and I had intended for him to get a boy – but I appreciated his choice and care in picking out her petticoat and dress…  Wow… writing this just transported me into the land of memories, and joyful tears.

My baby is now 20.

Pippi still lives in his room. https://www.bustercreative.com

She sits high on his shelf and longingly stares at him hours at a time as he sits and writes his programs and presentations for his coaching and trainings.  A lot of bigger girls come visit now, too, and they all remark how cute she is. I cannot decide if she likes the attention or dislikes “those” girls.

But I know a secret….

I know that she is and remains his first love.

Aside from his amazing mom, that is.  

At least that is how it is in my mind.

But, as I was saying….

We had many dolls around and some were just too cute to part with and they have lived in a precious trunk ever since.

This baby boy blue is one of them and for whatever reason, he wanted OUT of the trunk and into the hands of a lively child who will kiss and snuggle and love, love, love to play with him.

So here it is… he is the latest “PRIZE” for another contest I have decided to have in honor of summer sun, family fun and waldorf creativity.

Welcome to the official page for my WALDORF CHALK ART CONTEST .

There are 3 rules to enter.

1. Must be chalk art.
2. Must include your wee one (or your pet – if you can get him/her to pose long enough) or your mom….
3. Must upload to flicker group page or email images to me. Just get creative with your interpretation of waldorf chalk art and include a live being.

The contest will end August 12th and I will personally pick the winner based on – well, the same type of intuitive inspirational spark that made me choose this Baby Boy Blue and book for this contest. (*Creativity, originality, true to waldorf, positioning of people and/or pets, etc will also be consider.) …and incidentally, I will be posting and sharing your creative entries.

FIRST PRIZE winner will receive our precious Baby Blue Boy doll, and for mom, my copy of Expresso For Your Spirit Hope and Humor for Pooped Out Parents by Pam Vredevelt.

SECOND CHANCE CONTEST entrants merely need to share a comment answering the question in short essay form (one paragraph will do)  “Why I Love Waldorf Style Art”. Winner of 2nd Prize will be drawn on 8-12-2012 at random from a hat and will win a set of lovely Waldorf Cards from Wynstone’s Press in England.

*By entering this contest you acknowledge and agree to have your image and first name posted on this website. Send your image to theageofattraction @ gmail.com with the subject heading WALDORF CHALK ART CONTEST.  You may enter as many times as you wish – however just ONCE A DAY and each day a UNIQUE CHALK ART.

*Help page for adding to the flicker group page.

Good Luck!

THE ENTRIES….

Our very first contest entry to consider comes from Jill who writes:  “You have to know that all three of those boys got heavily involved in this project. They were all very colored when all was said and done. I have never really tried Waldorf chalk art before, just water painting. This was fun. Our Homeschool name is Acorns ‘Round the Table and so this was supposed to be a table that they were sitting at, and they are my acorns, and there are some on the table too.”

So beautiful Jill – I love the personality in each of the boys. Awesome… that laugh is precious. Thank you for being first!

******************************************************************************

Ok, this is all the same art work, my oldest son that is pictured here came up with it. He wanted to do a rainbow across the whole street but I didn’t think we had enough chalk! LOL

Do you have any idea how hard it is to color on that stuff??

Entering to win this gnome home is easy…

Simply use the comment form below and write at least 3 sentences about why you think wooden toys are better than plastic toys.

Winner will be drawn from names of people who leave comments, randomly on August 1, 2012 and notified via email.

Good Luck!

UPDATE  –

Thank you to everyone who participated in leaving a comment and sharing with the world why wooden toys are so much better for young children! For parents looking for a reason to choose wooden over plastic, please just read some of the comments below.

AND THE WINNER IS…..

[youtube width=”600″ height=”344″]http://youtu.be/w85Zekst2I8[/youtube]

If you cannot see the video, the winner is Jesse Kitt.

]]> http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/gnome-home-give-away/feed 49 http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/resources-from-video-workshop Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:31:44 +0000 http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/?p=2394 Hello! I really hope you will take the time to watch the two hour special video that I’ve prepared for you. As I mention in the video, here is a list of resources as well as some other titles I recommend. But first, here is a really cool little video that explains how people learn and the most important ways children learn….

Born to Learn from Born to Learn on Vimeo.

Born to Learn is the first animation in a fascinating series aimed to provide easy-access to the exciting new discoveries constantly being made about how humans learn!

Miracles Happen All of The Time, Marianne Williamson – Everyday Grace

Jean Liedloff was an American author, born in New York, and best known for her 1975 book The Continuum Concept. During a diamond-hunting expedition to Venezuela, she came into contact with an indigenous people named the Yequana. Over time she became fascinated with the Yequana, and made a decision to return to Venezuela to live with them. She wrote her book The Continuum Concept in an attempt to document the Yequana way of life, in particular their style of child-rearing. The Continuum Concept: In Search Of Happiness Lost (Classics in Human Development)

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s famous investigations of “optimal experience” have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this positive state can be controlled, not just left to chance. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience teaches how, by ordering the information that enters our consciousness, we can discover true happiness and greatly improve the quality of our lives. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Sarah, Plain & Tall Collection

John Taylor Gatto, has authored numerous books on education and has nearly 30 years experience in the classroom. If you have not heard of him, you should… He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, he was also named New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled “I Quit, I Think” to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, saying that he no longer wished to “hurt kids to make a living.” He then began a public speaking and writing career, and has received several awards including the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Excellence in Advancement of Educational Freedom in 1997.
The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling and Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

John Caldwell Holt was an American author and educator, a proponent of homeschooling, and a pioneer in youth rights theory. After many years of working within the school system, Holt became disillusioned with it. He became convinced that reform of the school system was not possible because it was fundamentally flawed and began to advocate homeschooling. However, it would be pointless to simply remove children from the school environment if parents simply recreated that environment at home. He believed that “children who were provided with a rich and stimulating learning environment would learn what they are ready to learn, when they are ready to learn it”.[7] Holt believed that children did not need to be coerced into learning; they would do so naturally if given the freedom to follow their own interests and a rich assortment of resources. This line of thought came to be called unschooling.

<A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fwaldorfhomesc-20%2F8010%2F4624d9d5-c012-42dc-8ba9-c28f69745c96&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>Alfie Kohn is an American author and lecturer who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior. He is considered a leading figure in progressive education and has also offered critiques of many traditional aspects of parenting, managing, and American society more generally, drawing in each case from social science research. Kohn’s challenges to widely accepted theories and practices have made him a controversial figure, particularly with behaviorists, conservatives, and those who defend the specific practices he calls into question, such as the use of competition, incentive programs, conventional discipline, standardized testing, grades, homework, and traditional schooling.

<A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fwaldorfhomesc-20%2F8010%2Ff2fcda5f-dc33-4ae0-96cf-1234d639de74&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>Joseph Chilton Pearce is an American author of a number of books on child development. He presents the idea of the heart – or compassionate mind – as a category of brain function equal in stature to the thalamus, prefrontal cortex and lower brain. He believes that active, imaginative play is the most important of all childhood activities because it cultivates mastery of one’s environment, which he terms “creative competence”. Children denied that form of play develop feelings of isolation and anxiety. He also believes that child-parent bonding is crucial, and sees modern clinical childbirth and lack of breast feeding as obstructions to that bonding.

Once again, these resources are only some of what I discuss in the two hour video where we share over 20 years of experience and what we have learned, studied and researched in the realm of parenting and educating, the waldorf inspired way.

If You Want To Re-Ignite Your Child’s Natural Learning Drive & Reconnect Through Exploration

Then this video is a MUST!

Some of the things we cover include:

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A play tent that has been designed to fit over the dining table so the children can play underneath, with flaps for windows and doors.

Playstands – the perfect idea. If you would find the usual curving type ones too difficult, could you build or buy second hand a couple of shelving units, and connect them with wooden arches or some other idea, maybe also put door-flaps at one end – a bit of nailing and hot-gluing but not too much major building this way.

Dress-up clothes – one year for Christmas I made my children a whole lot of fairy dress-ups using some very basic ideas. For example, I sewed sparkly chiffon onto an old pink tank top and added ribbons, I made basic aprons (a flap of material sewn onto a waistband) and they became cloaks and aprons and flags and all kinds of things.

Outdoor play area – by using big chunks of wood for seats and a table, and then some coloured paving stones in a circle, maybe a tiny feature like a water-fountain or something, or a stick pyramid decorated with shiny beads and flowers as a fairy hut, plus some old tires filled with sand and a wooden swing.

Unpainted wooden window box – trough and some paints and seeds so they could decorate it themselves then plant seeds.

Crafting Box – I filled a beautiful box with things she could use in crafting : feathers, beads, cardboard squares, etc. I got everything from a discount store and it cost about $20 for all the contents. She loved it!

Complete Room Transformation – I don’t know how your children feel about opening gifts, but perhaps something you could do is gather everything together and then, on Christmas, their Birthday (or whatever occasion you choose) create a brand new amazing playroom for them, and when they awaken in the morning – look what the fairies have done! They’ve transformed the dining room! An older sibling could help you set it up and be a part of the *magic*.

Then they could spend the morning discovering everything. That way, you could do a lot of little things, like hand-made paper dolls (with fabric clothes they can cut out into clothes and glue on) and baskets of painted stones, and knitted animals, and second-hand books, and little gifts wrapped up and labelled for individual children just tucked away in places.

These are just come basic ideas to start a discussion… What are YOUR choices for BEST TOYS?  Please share your comments….

Home and unschooled children do this because they feel valuable, innovative, creative and have something intrinsic and of value to contribute –  something that is not learned but rather formed from their own will, so it is uniquely their own.

Schooling, on the other hand, is the imposition of intellectual content and facts upon the child – filling them with OUR outside info, entering all of our data. Children are not data banks….

Learning is ongoing, spontaneous and relevant to the surrounding, the situation,  one is in at the current time. Learning should be an exciting and engaging voyage of discovery of the world, and of one self. So the primary difference I see – is that un or homeschooling is an invitation to awaken and ennoble capabilities that exist within the child. The difference between this and what we know as traditional schooling is profound.

Learning is not something we need to go somewhere to get… Learning is happening all of the time. ~ Kytka

In one  way we see that child as this container that is assumed to be empty – where the objective is to fill it. The other way is where see the child as a container that is assumed to be full – where the objective is to draw from deep within.

That difference is significant and we need to understand how we view our child,  because education and parenting decisions will be made on this view. Much like the optimist sees the glass as half full and the pessimist sees it as half empty – take a moment to really ask yourself and think about how you see your child.

Does your child need to be filled, or is your child already full and we just need to draw and pull forth from the child?

The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. ~ Albert Einstein

This may seem a simple exercise, but if you really go deep into this belief – you will see that many of your parenting decisions you are making come down to this core belief about your child.

Now my belief, being an optimist is that the child comes to us perfect and complete. In truth, we really do not know the true essence of wisdom and where that forms. One’s soul has so much to do with it and yet in society in general the more popular view is that we tend treat children like they are empty containers to be filled in rather than step aside and allowing their inherent wisdom to pour forth. Yes, there are cultures and religions that have a different view – but they do not make up the mainstream majority.

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. ~ Galileo

It is already there. It is a part of the package. The child is already full and complete. And we have continued to ignore this, thinking that we can somehow improve what is already a perfect system.

I recently did an interview on a telesummit entitled “What The Experts Know” and if you are interested in a replay of that, simply click on the link.  Additionally, I did a 2+ hour webinar on the subject as well where I went even more in depth.

This powerful webinar shares so many reasons why you should re-think what lies behind the school or homeschool decision and truly come to understand HOW CHILDREN (how all humans) LEARN.  To learn more about the webinar, please click the banner below.

]]> http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/puppetry Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:34:16 +0000 http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/?p=2308 “We must do everything in our power to help the children to develop fantasy.” ~ Rudolf Steiner.

Puppetry (finger puppets, small puppets and marionettes) are common within Waldorf schools because they are a living play imbued with inner imagination and fantasy. Puppet shows draw the child into a story, watching it unfold step by step, grow and change, and these pictures are taken right into the stream of life forces, without creating hard and fixed impressions. The draw forth from children their imagination and allow the story to take them where they need to do as far as the inner life working pictures.

Puppets and puppet shows are not only beautiful, but provide many advantages. Rahima Baldwin Dancy, a Waldorf early childhood educator, notes that “when stories and fairy tales are translated into cartoons or movies, they lose their evocative quality and are often too powerful…for young children. But when stories are acted out in front of the children using stand-up puppets or marionettes, the experiences have a very calming and healing effect on the children.”

Because of its value, puppetry has fast become one of the most popular forms of educational instruction in traditional elementary schools. The California State Curriculum Guide states that puppetry is an ideal instrument for aiding in language development. According to Frisch (2004), at their most basic, puppets are an exceptional means of conveying a message. However, the value goes much, much further. Puppetry integrates more art forms, disciplines and subject matter than any other creative or dramatic medium. Exploring the puppet theater arts opens the door to history, music, math, science, creative writing and language arts, painting, sculpting, acting, dance and many other disciplines that have their roots in a multitude of cultures, some of which have puppetry traditions that extend back for thousands of years.

Through puppetry children can learn new ways to express themselves while learning new skills, leading the child on a path of self-discovery and expression that help instill confidence and boost self-esteem. The cooperative effort needed to create a puppet show develops a child’s ability to work with others, share ideas and solve problems.

Storytelling is felt by some to be one of the arts that are diminishing in importance in our culture. Yet our curriculum places strong emphasis on this experience for children. Each day in the Seaside Playgarden, children sit in the circle to watch and listen as their teacher tells from memory a simple folk tale or a fairy tale. Visual images are created within the active minds of each child. The stories change with the cycles of the year and much has been written about which stories are important and why. On special occasions a more complex story may be told with the support of simple felt table top puppets or silk marionettes the teacher and parents have made.

Storytelling imbues the imagination and fantasy, and is a loving way of communicating values, principles, and challenges, among others. Oral stories may be curative (Dancy, 1989, pg 184) where a made-up story may be told to a child or group of children who are exhibiting a particular problem or behavior that you hope will change. In our school, curative stories in kindergarten are about unruly horses or chatty squirrels.

While stories can reflect life’s challenges, the oral storytelling provides a strong basis for the development of “picture consciousness” (Meyer 1981), or our imaginations. Dancy (1989, pg 168) notes the “role of imagination or the ability to think in images is recognized as an important component in creative thinking. Albert Einstein said he discovered the theory of relativity by picturing himself riding on a ray of light.” Meyerkort, who heads the Waldorf early-childhood teacher training program in Great Britain, notes that imagination is essential for many reasons: initiative (to see potential, rather than static existence), compassion (imagine and empathize with another’s predicament), love (imagine a person’s potential, possibilities for growth).

Images that are envisioned from something a child hears in a story are based on their imagination, are not static, and can transform over time in one’s “mind’s eye”. On the contrary, images from television or movies, or even books with detailed pictures, take the imagination away from the child and provide it to them in a static way that “sticks”. Thus oral storytelling embraces the inner fantasy and creativity in all of us.

Our personal favorite is to make our own table puppets which require no strings (like marionettes), hands or fingers. They are basically a waldorf doll style head and then a tubular body (imagine a waldorf doll head on a toilet paper roll). The body is made from a nice heavy felt and then filled loosely with batting to help give it weight and keep shape. Over the years we must have made over 100 of these and many of them still reside with us, while some have been lovingly passes along to families with younger children.

With wit and ingenuity, Maija Baric shows you to transform wooden spoons, pieces of string, holey socks, outgrown clothes and other scrap materials into beautiful, durable and functional theatrical puppets. Once you have made your puppets, discover how to bring them to life, build staging, scenery and props, create sound effects and devise performances. Your puppet creations will bring something truly magical to the everyday world: use them to transform storytime at home or in the classroom; ease children’s bedtime rituals; and make a birthday or other occasion really special.

Other Recommended Resources Include

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Special Thanks to Sara Wilson for her lovely felting work photograph. Learn more at www.LoveIntheSuburbs.com

The current high tech world with its synthetic surroundings has taken us far from the natural world and our historic traditions of making things by hand. We are starved for natural textures, fibers and irregular forms. I believe wool Felt connects us with our natural history in a way no other fabric can. Felting is an ancient art that’s been used by many cultures to make everything from toys and wearables to shelter.

Felting is an ancient art, dating back to the Bronze Age. Fragments of felt have been excavated and dated back 2000 years. No one is certain about it’s inception or original origin. In Asia, the nomadic people used felt to create the walls and flooring of their yurts, the homes they traveled with. Within those homes, those nomadic people also created art with their wool to protect and invoke blessings on them and their homes.  ~ The Art of Felting

Anyone can make cute and cuddly creatures from a handful of fluff and a barbed needle! There are only a few books written on the subject and most of those focus on ‘flat’ needle felting on a surface. But I have also located some books about sculptural needle felting, which means the ability to create 3-D animals and figures using the felting needle to sculpt wool.

Here is a link to some gorgeous felted art to look at and get deliciously inspired….  Nushkie Design

It is easy to master the techniques once you know how the felting needle works with wool fiber to create felt.

There are all sorts of wools one can use, and we recommend trying them all. Below is a video that shows how to blend the different colors together.

Do you have pets that have long hair that you brush? Then check out one of our personal favorites, Crafting with Cat Hair: Cute Handicrafts to Make with Your Cat. Yes… your pet hair can now be used to make keepsake toys.

Children just LOVE the felting process.  With some wool, water, soap and friction you can make your own fabric for clothes, bags, hats, wall hangings… the list is as endless and your imagination and once you try it, you’ll be hooked!

Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new. ~ Ursula K. LeGuinn

Candlemas is one of the traditional times for taking down Christmas decorations (Twelfth Night, on January 6th, is the other). If you are very careful (because they are tinder dry), you can burn them. Or, better yet, return them to the earth mother by using them for compost or mulch.

Certain foods are traditional for Candlemas, including crepes, pancakes and cakes, all grain-based foods. Pancakes and crepes are considered symbols of the sun because of their round shape and golden color.

If you have a fireplace, clean out your hearth and then light a new fire. Sit around the fire and reflect on your hopes for the coming year.

What do you hope to accomplish?
What are you passionate about?
What seeds do you wish to plant?

Discuss these ideas with others or write them down in a journal but make them concrete in some way so that on Lammas (August 2nd, the festival of the first harvest), you can look back to see what progress you’ve made.

Candlemas Recipes

Gingerly Baked Custard

3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Finely Grated Fresh Ginger
3 large Eggs, lightly beaten
2 1/2 cups Milk
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg

Mix brown sugar with ginger and divide evenly onto bottoms of 6 buttered individual custard cups or ramekins.
In medium mixing bowl, blend eggs with milk, sugar, vanilla and seasonings. Pour evenly into prepared custard cups. Place cups in a large pan, then fill with hot water to come halfway up sides of cups (a hot water bath or bain-marie).
Bake at 350 F. oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until knife inserted near edge comes out clean. Remove cups from bain-marie. Run knife around edges to loosen. Place serving plate over top of cup and carefully invert custard onto plate. Serve warm or cover, chill and serve cold.

Honey Cakes (Liebkuchen)

1 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup honey
1 cup sour milk* (see below)
2 Tablespoons vinegar
6 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon mace
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Prepare sour milk and mix dry ingredients. Set both aside. Cream margarine and sugar, add egg, beat until light. Add honey, sour milk and vinegar. Mix thoroughly. Chill one hour. Roll out to 1/4″ thickness. Cut into 2″x3″ rectangles and place on buttered cookie sheets. Bake at 375° for 6 minutes. Frost with plain vanilla frosting.
* For sour milk, add 1 T. vinegar to 1 c. milk and let stand for 10 minutes.

Basic Crêpe Recipe (makes about 8 crepes)

1 c. Flour
2 Eggs
1 ¼ c. Milk
2 T. Butter, Melted (unsalted butter can be used for dessert crêpes)
¼ t. Salt for dinner crêpes (only a pinch of salt for dessert crêpes)
1 T. Sugar (for dessert crêpes only)
Butter for cooking

You can either mix all ingredients in a blender, food processor or with a whisk till smooth. It’s best to let the batter sit for ½ hour before cooking. You can add a little more milk or a little water if you find the batter is too thick.

Use a skillet that’s about 6 – 8″ in diameter. (I used an 8″ pan and got 8 fairly large crêpes.) Put about ½ to 1 teaspoon of butter in the bottom of the pan, enough to coat it. Melt on medium high heat. Pour in about 2-3 T. batter and tilt or gently swirl the pan so that the batter covers the whole bottom of the skillet. Cook on one side until golden brown. Flip. Cook the other side till it starts to become golden, which should happen quickly, and remove from heat. Repeat this process until you’ve used all the batter.

Here are many different ways to fold the crêpes:

1) Rolled – Put filling on one end of the crêpe and roll it up, sort of like a cigar.
2) Folded in Half – Put filling on one side and fold over in half.
3) Folded in Threes – Put filling in middle of crêpe, fold the left third side over and then the right side over.
4) Folded in Fours – Just like folding in threes, but then also fold over the bottom and top.
5) Folded as a Triangle – Put filling on half of crêpe and fold the crêpe over in half, then fold in half again.
6) Layered – Put filling on whole crêpe, put another crêpe on top – you can keep layering as long as you want. This would usually be done with thinner fillings.
7) Folded like a Burrito – Put filling in middle, fold over two opposite ends about 1 inch, and roll over the crêpe starting at the side, till it’s completly rolled up.

And… you can make them savory or sweet!

Savory Crêpes (or Dinner Crêpes)

• Ham and Gruyere or Swiss Cheese Crêpes – Cube ham and fry, place in crêpe with shredded cheese and place in warm oven, at 300 F, to melt. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Cover if needed to prevent the crêpes from drying out. (A variation is to make this with chopped tomatoes.)
• Mushrooms and Swiss Cheese – Sautee mushrooms in a little butter. Place in crêpe and top with cheese. Fold crepe and place in warm oven, at 300 F, to melt cheese. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Cover if needed to prevent the crêpes from drying out. (A variation is to make this with chopped tomatoes.)
• Spinach and Goat Cheese – Sautee spinach. Spread goat cheese on crêpe, top with spinach and fold.

Dessert Crêpes (some of these could be good for breakfast too!)

• Apple Cinnamon and Walnut Crêpes – Sautee chopped apples and walnuts in a little butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Scoop mixture onto crêpe and fold.
• Lemon and Powered Sugar Crêpes – Sprinkle confectioners sugar on crêpe and squeeze a little fresh lemon juice on top. Fold and eat!
• Your Favorite Jam Crêpes – Simply smear the crêpe with jelly, fold over or roll and top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
• Nutella and Whipped Cream Crêpe – Spread nutella on crêpe, top with a dollop of whipped cream and fold up.
• Banana and Nutella Crêpes – Spread nutella on crepe, and top with thinly sliced bananas. Fold crêpe and enjoy!
• Sugared Crêpes – Sprinkle crêpe with sugar and fold or roll up. These work well if you want to eat them by hand.
• Ice Cream Crêpe – Put vanilla ice cream on crêpe, some hot chocolate syrup and whipped cream and fold it up.
• Hot Fudge and Strawberry Crêpes – Clean and slice strawberries and place on crêpe, cover with hot fudge and a dollop of whip cream. Fold and enjoy!

You can see that your imagination is the only limit when it comes to making crêpes!

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On February 2nd, it’s time to celebrate Candlemas, Imbolg, or Brigid’s Day (all names work, depending on your beliefs). It’s time to recognize that winter is on its way out, the light is beginning to return, and spring is finally on its way! It is a great time to do rituals involving the hearth and home. If you have a fireplace, give it a good cleaning along with the rest of your house, and celebrate Candlemas with a nice hearty fire. If you have any Yule greenery left over, then this is the time to gather it up and toss it in the flames.

During the fourth century, Christians began commemorating the day that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple. By Jewish law, that would have been the fortieth day after His birth. (Luke 2:21-38). You may remember that a prophet named Simeon predicted that Jesus would bring “a light of revelation to the Gentiles.” So the feast day became associated with candles. Each community’s elder or priest would pray a blessing over candles, then pass them out for people to take into their homes. Eventually the celebration came to be called Candlemas.  The verse “I Am the Light of the World ” (John chp 8 vs 12) is connected with Candlemas.

During the middle ages and renaissance, the feast took on other meanings. In parts of England, Candlemas became the day to take down your Christmas greenery and start spring cleaning. And, as the opening poem shows, many Europeans adopted a superstition that a sunny Candlemas foretold a late, cool spring.

Whether Candlemas be dark or clear, forty days of winter will still be here.

February 2 is also the middle of winter as astronomers calculate it (the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox). Pre-Christian Celtic cultures celebrated this time of year by holding ceremonies to bless the spring planting. It’s  also known as Imbolic.  Imbolc is a melting pot mixture of Celtic, Roman, and Christian traditions — and even briefly mention a few holidays not from Europe, such as Setbun, the Japanese Bean Throwing and Lantern Festival; Li Chum, the Chinese Spring Festival; and Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colour. Pretty amazing, isn’t it – how all people’s of the world find their unique ways to celebrate and recognize the change of seasons.

February 2nd has one of the richest traditional textures of any holiday we celebrate. And yet, we barely celebrate it today. Sadly, the only things most North Americans associate with February 2nd are Punxsutawney Phil and the movie Groundhog Day. There is remembrance in Europe, where they make crêpes (very think pancakes) for Candlemas. Crêpes remind us of the sun, which we’re craving.

To me, those modern additions are like the stones I once found in my back yard – only a few corners showed above the soil, but a whole limestone foundation from a long-leveled building lay just under the sod. Before we disparage the modern remnants of the holiday, and maybe the whole holiday with it, it might be good to take a closer look at how Groundhog Day contributes to the richly woven tapestry of this season. Then, maybe we can decide what, if anything, February 2nd “means,” or “should mean,” or could mean, if we took the time to think about it.

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To use a metaphor that is appropriate for the feast day, you are lighting one candle at a time, and not trying to keep a whole candelabra going until you’re ready for it. Next year you add another candle, and so on.

Maybe you could do one nice thing, unasked, for a family member, every day. Or learn one new word in French, or read one chapter of the New Testament, or do one physical exercise, or write one line of a poem, or send one note of encouragement to a friend, or say one kind word to one stranger.

When sleet blinds you,
hail drowns out voices,
and snow hides your path,
may you discern in each flake
a star, image of the one
that guided the Magi,
and find that in the pain
of birth, death or change
there is a light
to guide you.

This is a simple way to make life on earth a little better for those around you and for yourself, too!

Brigid is the goddess of creative inspiration as well as reproductive fertility. This is a good time for sharing creative work, or, if you don’t think of yourself as especially creative, an idea that worked or a plan that materialized. Thank the Goddess for her inspiration, perhaps by dedicating a future work to her.

Since Candlemas is a time of new beginnings, this is a good day to ritually celebrate all things new. Plan a ceremony to name a new baby, officially welcome a new person into a family or plight your troth to your beloved. Make a commitment to a goal (like a New Years resolution): this would be an especially powerful thing to do in a group.

If you plan your own ceremony, use these two powerful symbols: fire and water. For instance, wash your hands and bathe your face in salt water, which is especially good for purification. Light a candle as you make your pledge. Incorporate the third symbol of the holiday — seeds — by planting a seed or bulb in a pot to symbolize your commitment, or by blessing a bowl or packet of seeds that you will plant later.

You don’t have to be Catholic to gain spiritual benefits from the voluntary surrender of something you cherish. You can give up something frivolous or something serious, but it should be something you will notice. Folk wisdom says it takes six weeks (or approximately the 40 days of Lent) to establish a new habit, so you may end up with a lifestyle change.

Since Candlemas is often considered the beginning of spring, you can perform another ritual act of purification: spring cleaning. This would be a good time to do a thorough house cleaning, sweeping the floors with salt water, banishing the gloom of winter and creating a sparkling, shiny new setting for spring.

Here are some Reading suggestions:

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Candlemas  Day Verse

If Candlemas Day be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
Winter won’t come again.

If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
The half o the winter’s to come and mair;
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
The half o the winter’s gane at Yule.

Candlemas Verse from colonial Williamsburg, 18th century

When New Year’s Day is past and gone;
Christmas is with some people done;
But further some will it extend,
And at Twelfth Day their Christmas end.
Some people stretch it further yet,
At Candlemas they finish it.
The gentry carry it further still
And finish it just when they will;
They drink good wine and eat good cheer
And keep their Christmas all the year.

Candlemas Day (Verse from Scottish Quarter Day)

If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
Half the winter’s to come and mair.
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
Half o’ winter’s gane at Yule.

(Meaning of unusual words: mair=more, Yule=Christmas)

A Song for Candlemas by Lizette Woodworth Reese

There’s never a rose upon the bush,
And never a bud on any tree;
In wood and field nor hint nor sign
Of one green thing for you or me.
Come in, come in, sweet love of mine,
And let the bitter weather be!
Coated with ice the garden wall;
The river reeds are stark and still;
The wind goes plunging to the sea,
And last week’s flakes the hollows fill.
Come in, come in, sweet love, to me,
And let the year blow as it will!

Candlemas Day by Frances Ridley Havergal

YES, take the greenery away
That smiled to welcome Christmas Day,
Untwine the drooping ivy spray.

The holly leaves are dusty all,
Whose glossy darkness robed the wall,
And one by one the berries fall.

Take down the yew, for with a touch
The leaflets drop, as -wearied much
With light and song, unused to such.

Poor evergreens! Why proudly claim
The glory of your lovely name,
So soon meet only for the flame?

Another Christmas Day will show
Another green and scarlet glow,
A fresh array of mistletoe.

And this new beauty, arch or crown,
Will stiffen, gather dust, grow brown,
And in its turn be taken down.

To-night the walls will seem so bare!
Ah, well! look out, look up, for there
The Christmas stars are always fair.

They will be shining just as clear
Another and another year,
O’er all our darkened hemisphere.

So Christmas mirth has fleeted fast,
The songs of time can never last,
And all is buried with the past.

But Christmas love and joy and peace
Shall never fade and never cease,
Of God’s goodwill the rich increase.

Time of Candles

The season of festivities has ended.
The final yuletide greenery has died.
The land seems dull and drab and dreary.
It’s time to celebrate the feast of Bride.

The rain and melting snow have filled the rivers
whose waters wash the land free of decay.
The winter storms have culled the rotten branches
of trees and swept the autumn leaves away.

The frost has broken up the stubborn clay.
The icy air has purified the land.
And Mother Earth has suffered winters purging
no less than us, though ordained by her hand.

Through the worst of winter’s devastation
signs of approaching spring can now be found.
And everywhere green shoots appear even
through suffocating snow, ice hardened ground.

The slimmest spears of snowdrops pale and white
push through the earth; the symbol of the spring’s
return. The yellow pollen of the catkins
heralds the bounty which the season brings.

In still drab fields the lambs are seen at play;
the first born creatures of the infant year;
carefree and nurtured by their mothers milk
as Mother Earth feeds all her children dear.

Though the approaching spring is still a whisper
at Candlemas we celebrate her youth.
Pure white candles burning to remind us
to leave behind the past and seek for truth.

While human hands are turning to spring cleaning
and human thoughts consider youthful themes.
So human spirits will begin their quest
afresh and human hearts will dream new dreams.

Candlemas Eve Carol by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

1. Down with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the mistletoe ;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box, for show.

Refrain:
Thus times and seasons oft do shift; each thing his turn doth hold ;
New thoughts and things now do succeed, as former things grow old.

2. The holly hitherto did sway ;
Let box now domineer
Until the dancing Easter day,
Or Easter’s eve appear. Refrain

3. Then youthful box which now hath grace
Your houses to renew ;
Grown old, surrender must his place
Unto the crisped yew. Refrain

4. When yew is out, then birch comes in,
And many flowers beside ;
Both of a fresh and fragrant kin
To honour Whitsuntide. Refrain

5. Green rushes, then, and sweetest bents,
With cooler oaken boughs,
Come in for comely ornaments
To re-adorn the house. Refrain

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1) Honor your father’s history. What events shaped his life? Have his tell a story of his childhood, ask him to teach you his favorite childhood game or song…
2) Honor your father’s outlook. What have you learned from him?
3) Honor your father’s dreams. What of his hopes for you, whether realized yet or not?

After reflecting on these questions, tell someone you care about (a friend, your partner, your children, or even your father) what came to your mind. For those whose fathers have died, perform a ritual for remembering: Play an album or read a book that he enjoyed, look through some family photographs, give to a cause that he supported, or visit a place that he liked.

Share his memory and tell someone a story from his life.

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