A Celebration of Inner Light

Friends of Tahoe Truckee Waldorf invites the community to join in our beautiful Lantern Walk which celebrates our inner light and finding out own unique “True North” for life. Join us each year on November 9th when we take to the streets in song, carrying our lanterns and sharing our light with the world. See how you can get involved below.

Light has many meanings in our vocabulary, and celebrations of light take place in nearly every culture on all continents. The return of Rama and the celebration of Dwali, Tazaungdaing Festival, celebrated by Buddhists as they end the month-long rainy season in October, Hanukkah a Jewish commemoration of the power of faith, Advent, the Christian festival celebrating the inner activities leading up to Christmas and more.

What does it mean when we "see the light" or feel 'enlightened'? We look into each other's eyes and see the "light of the soul". Light is what makes visible that which would not necessarily be so. We shed light on the matter and we come into light in our understanding. The children say "To me streams light and strength, from me rise love and thanks" in their morning verse. Light is uplifting and clarifying... let us celebrate that gift which each of us carries.

Lantern Festivals

Lanterns, little houses to protect a single light so that it might shine into the darkness. Lantern festivals are popular throughout the world. Japanese, Chinese and other Asian cultures celebrate many lantern festivals, which commemorate important passages in human lives. When a person walks with a lantern, or sets a lantern afloat in sky or boat, it symbolizes the individual’s ability to protect and generate light. When I lived in a region where many Asian families lived, they sent their children to the Waldorf School and we celebrated many occasions with the lanterns, including the end of the Lunar New Year in the spring time. These always had a similar theme… the inner question pervading such celebrations is: What am I personally cultivating in order that I give my unique gift to the world?

The Lantern Walk in the Tahoe Waldorf Community

In western cultures, these celebrations often occur in the fall, as the darkness descends and longer nights are upon us. One such lantern festival honors the life of Saint Martin, a Roman Soldier who became a Christian much to the dissatisfaction of his father, who was of the noble ranking imperial guard in Rome. His biographer speaks of a time when, upon crossing a bridge on a cold frosty night, a lightly clad beggar reached out to him for help. Roman soldiers were not to look about, but to maintain a certain stately decorum. Martin, upon seeing the beggar, took off his royal Roman Cloak and with his blade, he cut it in two and gave one-half to the beggar.

The story I offer to you carries multiple meanings and metaphors and is meant to address many stages in human consciousness. Martin had to learn soul-challenging lessons on his way to compassion and love. The story I tell, enhances three main human lessons that are at the basis of becoming fully human. When I tell a story to children, I never interpret it, I let the deeds within the story resound in the souls of the children. I trust that they are wise and that they know the deeper meanings on an intrinsic level. I ask that the story "speak for itself' and discussion of it happens between adults.

Thanks so much for taking in this meaning and for carrying your light.

- Bonnie aka Oma

What you will need to celebrate with us:

Make a lantern .
Learn the songs below to sing on your walk.
Gather your family and prepare some bread and soup and eat before you Walk..
If you would like, listen to Oma tell the story of “The Lanterns and the Three Questions.”
From 4: 30 -6:30 join us in our community walk or take your Lanterns and walk around your own neighbor hood and sing.

Location of Lantern Walk, additional Lantern patterns and community soup recipes can be found in our weekly and seasonal newsletters.