Well the actual solstice came quietly at the barn. The pre-party however did not. Here at the “barn” we hosted our little homeschool community’s solstice yule party a bit early (due to everyone’s schedules and having a gorgeous full moon). Complete with bonfire!
About a week prior we all got together to make yule logs wrapped with wishes and intentions for the new year. One of our mom’s told a beautiful story-about how we need the dark as much as the light, the quiet as much as the fun, the sad as much as the joy and how the Universe balances and assures us that if we let go, it will be okay. She told it in such a lovely way that it felt just right for the kiddos but us parents felt the “heavy” as we contemplated this time of year. All the kids threw their yule logs into the fire in an unusually quiet moment towards the end of the wild child-ness. Each child lit a candle and walked the solstice/advent path upon leaving. For those of you familiar with this waldorf tradition, yes we did a path rather than the traditional spiral for several reasons. It was a nice transition though from the bonfire party to the quieting down, going within and carrying light into the dark night home.
Wishing you all sweet solstice dreams…
barnraised 
I love the idea of the yule logs, bonfire, and the spiral to leave. I am trying to figure out how to make mine feel a little more “grown up” for my kids for next year (they felt that they were too old for it this year). Do you know what story your friend told? The night looked perfect in your photos! Thank you for sharing. 🙂
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She just made the story up herself I’m pretty certain. Started talking about seeds that she once planted and how she realized they needed that dark time underground in order to grow. And went on from there. It was lovely. Yes, I felt like the festival maintained a good balance for our group that has such varying ages. The ages of the kids are from toddler-12 yrs!
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What a fun and festive night!
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How lovely…looks like a beautiful celebration.
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It was ☄❄☄
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Love all the apples!!!
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And of course, we had happy horses who ended up with them a few days later when they started to brown!
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Oh I’m sure!
A nod to your “This Moment” posts on my blog today. I think they’re really sweet, so I made my first “Wordless Wednesday” post 🙂
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Thanks! I checked it out, what a beautiful shot of your horse.
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This is such a beautiful tradition. This especially resonates with me, “One of our mom’s told a beautiful story-about how we need the dark as much as the light, the quiet as much as the fun, the sad as much as the joy and how the Universe balances and assures us that if we let go, it will be okay.” I agree that we need to feel all the feels. Thank you for sharing! I would love to incorporate some of this in my future advent/solstice ceremonies. Cheers from dark, damp Denmark. Godt Nytår! Happy New Year! Erin
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Thank you for your beautiful comment. Happy new year!
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Sounds like a great time and way to welcome the season, get your mind right on what matters. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you ☺
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