Join Us for our Fall Lantern Walk
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 in November when we take to the street in song, carrying our lanterns and sharing our light with the world.
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 makes visible what would not necessarily be visible. 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 are little houses that protect a single light so it can shine into the darkness. Lantern festivals are popular worldwide. Japanese, Chinese, and other Asian cultures celebrate many lantern festivals that commemorate important passages in human life. When a person walks with a lantern, or sets a lantern afloat in the sky or on a 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 springtime. These always shared a similar theme… the inner question pervading such celebrations is: What am I personally cultivating so I can 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, a noble-ranking imperial guard in Rome. His biographer writes that, on a cold, frosty night, a lightly clad beggar reached out to him for help as he crossed a bridge. Roman soldiers were not to look about, but to maintain a certain stately decorum. Upon seeing the beggar, Martin took off his royal Roman cloak, cut it in two with his blade, and gave one half to the beggar.
The story I offer carries multiple meanings and metaphors and is meant to address many stages of human consciousness. Martin had to learn soul-challenging lessons on his way to compassion and love. The story I tell highlights three main human lessons at the core 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 they are wise and know the deeper meanings on an intrinsic level. I ask that the story "speak for itself' and that 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 Join us for our Lantern Walk!
Location of the Lantern Walk, additional Lantern patterns, and community soup recipes can be found in our weekly and seasonal newsletters.