The Winter Spiral Journey: Bringing forth personal and collective light at the darkest time of the year

From Music Teacher Emma Back: 
On December 1st, Grades 1-4 will walk the Winter Spiral, guided by their 5th grade angels. We will gather as a community to honor the darkness and welcome back the light.

The dark time of year is a time of being receptive, still, and listening to our inner truth.
Vermont offers the perfect winter environment to work with these qualities. The cold and the snow support us in pausing, slowing down, surrendering and reflecting. But, if our full lives prevent us from finding the time for self-reflection and reverence, we can lean on our Waldorf community to provide us with opportunities to experience spiritual wonder, spaciousness, and beauty. In creating this time for ourselves, we can take a necessary pause to connect a bit more deeply to each other and our own truth. We can be filled up with the light our children offer, to support us through the dark days and busy time of the holidays.
 
We gather at dusk. Soft, pure voices penetrate the cold twilight air. The large spiral of dark evergreen boughs (collected by the children during the day) lay in contrast to the snowy ground. At the center of the spiral stands a tall candle, a single glowing light. The children, dressed in white, walk the labyrinth one by one, as the faculty and parents sing. The "angels" (5th graders) bring each child to the entrance, offering a gentle encouraging hand to begin their journey. Watch them as they walk their path: Some dance lightly on their toes, eager to reach the light as quickly as possible. Some walk slowly, with reverence, perhaps overwhelmed a bit by the solemn task of carefully lighting their candle and finding the perfect place to lay it to rest. As we watch them, we see this is how they move in the world: each with her own dance, each his own song.
 
By the end of the evening, the entire spiral is filled with light and every child has made this journey: going ever inward to touch the soul light, and returning having gathered this light, grown it and brought it forth in our community.
 
As we enter the holiday season, there will still be dark days ahead. But with reverence, guided by the seed of our personal truth, our "lit flame," we can navigate them with poise, purity, and ease. We can see where we must accept the darker days and learn from them, always keeping our inner light aflame. We can be joyful as we face any challenge. We can know that each of us carries the gift of light.