To look within

Autumn is a wonderful time of year. I know I expressed my joy and contentment with this phase of the seasonal cycle in my last post......I just can't help myself. September marks a time of many new beginnings........first school days, Rosh Hashanah, Michaelmas, the changing of the seasons from Summer to Autumn and the Full Harvest Moon. This time feels much like a "look within" time. A time to seek out the light within the summers waning and shine it inwards. A time to seek out our "dragons" and tame them anew. A time to replenish all that was given outward and now replenish inward.

Michalemas is upon us, the Festival of Courage, and as I mentioned above this is a wonderful time to seek out our inner dragons; to be courageous in our endeavor to seek out our best selves; to be persistent in our abilities to be loving and inspiring parents and teachers; to realize that the best gift we can give each other and ourselves is to be true to our deepest dreams, to be steadfast in making them a reality, and to be brave enough to share them with the world. The dragons in our lives give us the obstacles we need in order to keep learning and to keep moving upward and onward. If we ignore these dragons they just keep getting stronger.......if we can tame them and acknowledge that they live within us we can learn from them and be peaceful in our ability to grow fully within ourselves.

"Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

To help us begin our Micaelmas preparations Charlotte and I made our first ever dragon for our seasonal table. I am not an experienced sewer and having a three month old at home.......well, time seemed to elude us! Thankfully DH was home and he offered a much needed arm and respite to allow for us to complete our project. It did take us ALL DAY but I think if we were able to just sit uninterrupted it wouldn't have taken so long. But there again......

 

I found, quite by accident, this lovely link to a post over at Rhythm of the Home. It is written and contributed by Angela Mobley from The artist, the mom. It is beautiful and pretty clear in its instruction. If you're an avid sewer it should be no problem. If you aren't, like me, you'll find yourself muddling through, but it will prove fruitful in the end!!!

 

 

Here we traced our pattern on our lovely ruddy felt.

 

 

All of our dragon pieces:: feet, gussets, ears, spikes, body, wings

 

 

Charlotte's first turn at the sewing. It proved to be a bit difficult as the felt was rather thick

but she persevered and accomplished quite a bit.

 

 

Our nearly finished dragon about to receive her stuffing:: raw, plant dyed wool

 

 

Our beautiful and already quite beloved Dragon.

She is gentle and kind and loves to fly through our home.

 

 

We now have many dragon-tamers in our home.

 

 

How does your family celebrate Michaelmas? Do you have any practices that you could share in how you acknowledge the dragon within you? How do you tame your inner dragon?

 

 

Wishing you all a lovely season of  looking inward to find the light within you xoxo

Changes

Autumn

by T.E. Hulme

 

A touch of cold in the Autumn night

I walked abroad,

And saw the ruddy moon lean over a hedge

Like a red-faced farmer.

I did not stop to speak, but nodded,

And round about were the wistful stars

With white faces like town children.

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn time is my favorite time of year. The air is more crisp, there is a silence that is unlike any other time of year. The early birds have quieted and are now sleeping later and the sun stays in bed a bit longer, too. It's the beginning of the breathing in, the coming back from the hot summer and the return to the hearth. The inner reflection that begins at this time of year, for me in particular, is so profound. I look forward to it every year because it feels a bit like New Years. I, for whatever reason, wipe the slate clean and make adjustments to my livelihood and get a clearer picture of where I am, where I'm headed and if I'm in line with where I'd hoped to be.

 

I may be jumping the gun a bit early on our recent Seasonal Table addition as our leaves haven't even begun to change just yet, they are falling however. Our mornings are quite chilly, we wear slippers and warm covers over our pajamas. Breakfast has become heavier and the morning light has shifted. All of these changes put me in the mood to add something autumnal to our table. Since the leaves aren't in their peak of autumn color we decided to make our own and suspend them over our seasonal table.

 

  

 

We used watercolored paper, some random bits of string, scissors, a grapevine wreath, and a hole punch.

 

 

Charlotte watercolored, wet on wet, two pieces of paper.

 

 

Oncw they dried we cut out many different style leaves; Aspen, Maple, Ash, Oak. I was planning on oiling the paper as well but I didn't have enough oil on hand. Feel free to, though, as it will give your leaves a transparency that allows light to flow through and will brighten your colors a bit.

 

 

Then, we simple punched a hole in the leaf and tied a string through the hole.

 

 

Lastly, we tied our leaves onto our wreath and suspended the wreath over our seasonal table just as if they were falling and making their way to the ground.

 

Here's a fun little poem with movements to get you and your littles in the mood!!!

Little leaves fall gently down

(Raise arms over head and twinkle your fingers like leaves dancing in a breeze)

Red and yellow, orange and brown.

(Flutter fingers and bring arms down in a swaying motion like leaves falling to the ground) 

Whirling, whirling round and round

(Whirl arms and hands around as if leaves are being blown around by wind)

Quietly, quietly without a sound;
Falling softly to the ground,

(Sway arms and rest of body, like dancing, and lower entire self to the ground)

Down and down and down and down!

Even though it's not technically Autumn yet.......I'm wishing you a lovely season of changes xoxo

 

 

 



First Days

September is upon us. School has started, leaves are falling, the air feels crisp. The light has shifted into a more autumnal feel.......less blazing heat and more fragmented light. It happens every year. It's inevitable. These are our first days of Autumn.

We have three school aged children in our home. Two are attending our local public school while the other has begun her schooling at home. We are not taking these first years so seriously as she is only four and a half but she feels ready nonetheless. Charlotte is a go getter. She is eager to begin to write and keep up with her siblings. We try our best to follow the natural rhythms around us, allowing for an organic learning experience. We draw our creative energies from nature and the seasons, we follow Rudolf Steiner's grain and color of the day, we try to create an environment that is full of mindful work........baking, painting, cleaning, felting, gardening, singing, and stories.

Our little "homeschool" is our dining room. Our seasonal table sits there as well as our rhythm chart. Its the center of our home, next to our kitchen and play space. The room is draped with westerly sunshine all afternoon thereby creating a warm glow during our afternoon hours. It is cozy and sweet and so far........a comfortable place to learn.

 



 As a mother and teacher I am trying to allow Charlotte to blossom as she is.  In a traditional Waldorf setting writing wouldn't begin until quite a bit later in a child's education.  Charlotte, however, is eager and has been practicing all on her own for sometime.  She is eager for it. She asks for it. As we try to establish Waldorf traditions in our home I also feel it is my responsibility to her to honor what it she feels like she is ready for. Little steps at a time. So as our first lessons we practiced spelling her name. Atop her name is a picture of herself with a few of her favorite things; butterflies, rainbows, sunshine and flowers. We also began to learn all about Monday; how Monday is connected to the Moon and that part of our main meal will incorporate the grain rice (according to Rudolf Steiner's Grain of the Day). We've begun this process by creating a book on the days of the week.......I will post photos once we are finished!

Another thing Charlotte was eager to do was memorize. She loves to memorize poems, stories or jokes and perform them for her family and friends. This is what she learned to day.......

"The world is full

Of a number of things.

I'm sure we should all

Be happy as kings."

 

 

If you are homeschooling I would love to hear how your first days are going. I'm looking forward to an exciting year ahead with homeschooling as well as being able to create a relaxing and nurturing environment for our children that attend school elsewhere. If you have children that go to school outside your home, how do you create a space where they can come home and decompress?