0/30 ~ Take back the power, make your own traditions.
In Norway, we have a modern custom of ‘advent calendars’, where children unwrap a small gift every day leading up to Christmas Eve. I remember the excitement of waking up in the morning in the dark December days, eager to open a tiny door and find a picture or chocolate behind it. Today, many parents rush the car to the malls to buy their children useless and expensive plastic-wrapped and plastic-made gifts, brought home in plastic bags. Children are slowly forgetting what Advent is really about..
I'm still a child, so this year, I have created a zero plastic tradition of my own, from drawers and corners around my house. The Tavaha Spiral honours gifts of our Earth - crystals, sea shells, stones and other tokens from my journey. The spiral shape represents how life is not linear as we tend to think, but moving in cycles and circles - like the ocean.. As I was laying them out, I realized that they all had a story. If you are tagged, one of the stories will be about you. <3
This is a sacred way of reviving the deep-rooted, ecological message of this season and sharing it with your family. Reconnecting all of us to nature. Taking back the power, making global village traditions from our local land- and seascapes. The waiting time for the return of the Sun Goddess, honouring the light in ourselves and others, our beautiful Nature and how she provides the foundations for life itself.
*Make it a sacred ritual to choose the items together by creating an advent box for your children with all of the memories and have them pick and reflect the 24 pieces themselves.. Tell the story.. Let the child carry the seashell in her pocket that day.. Maybe the best present you can give your family this Season is to be... present?
**For maintaining the momentum of secrecy - make a spiral of golden stars and replace the stars with gifts as the days proceed..
***Just got this idea - maybe the 24th gift could be a seed for the tree you will plant together in spring, when the Sun returns?
Do you have advent traditions in your countries? Read more about Advent in the Nordics here - http://www.norwegiansage.com/fieldnotes/2017/11/25/advent-awaiting-the-return-of-the-sun-goddess