The Light of Advent
Published December 2025
In the Southern Hemisphere, the festival of Advent and Christmastide takes place in the heart of Summer, when nature has fully unfolded, and everything is in abundance. The school is teeming with flowers, greenery and fruits, and the days grow steadily longer. This is a time for our children to play in the rays of the sun, and splash in the puddles after the rain. Summer is a season of prosperity, delight, and ease.
In Waldorf schools, the rhythm of the seasons is embraced through the celebration of festivals, which lift us out of our daily stresses and invite us to tune into the beautiful cycles of nature. Advent marks the start of the Christmastide, and spans the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day. Although Christmas is inherently a Christian festival, many traditions celebrate the return of light around this time of year through Diwali, Hanukkah, and Solstice festivities. It truly is a Season of Light.
The Latin root word for Advent means ‘to arrive’. Advent is a time of expectation and anticipation, leading up to the joy and wonder that engulf us on Christmas Day.
The word that wants to be heard in every soul is the word ‘become’. We need to strive for calm and quiet, which is needed for our inner becoming. Our Advent festivals, through conscious effort, can help us with this.
In commemoration of this festival, our children attend a reverent spiral ceremony, where they each walk to the centre of a spiral path, light their candle at the heart of the spiral, and then place their candle along the path as they walk back out. The festival begins in darkness and ends with a brightly lit path, symbolising the inward journey we take during this time in order to find our light, and share it with those around us.
Some of the symbols we share with our children at this time include:
- Festival table: The special colour for this time is blue, the colour of dusk and dawn.
- Wreath: represents the whole circle of the year. It is best to use materials that are local – what is available around you. At home, children can help make this wreath.
- Candles: The four candles in a wreath are there to represent the four seasons of the year. One is lit on each Advent Sunday. The lit candle is the finest symbol of the Christmas season. In the Southern hemisphere, the candle does not need to provide light as it does in the North; however, it represents the inner light within the heart, through which the light of the spirit prevails over the strength of the light outside.
- Apples: can be used as candlesticks for the four wreath Advent candles or in the spiral. They point to the universal human story of the Garden of Paradise.
A note on Gifts: A gift becomes a genuine Christmas present when it calls forth joy, warmth, and love in the recipient, helping to bring them into the proper mood of Christmas. This is most readily achieved through carefully and lovingly chosen personal tokens rather than expensive gifts. A lovingly wrapped gift adds to this feeling.
As we reach the close of the year, we tend to find ourselves in a mad rush – wrapping up at work, preparing for trips, writing final examinations, buying gifts. It is also easy to get lost in the consumerism and superficiality of the world at this time. And suddenly, Advent and Christmas have passed us by, and it is the start of another year. Instead, let us endeavour to set aside some time to breathe out, journey inwards, and reflect, so that when it arrives, we may embrace the New Year with a sense of renewed strength, gratitude, and a light to guide us on our way.
During Advent, we are also invited to deepen our relationship with Mother Earth, in exploring the beauty of the four kingdoms of the natural world – minerals, plants, beasts, and human beings – as we light each weekly advent candle. We are reminded of our purpose within the universe as individuals and as a community:
The First Light of Advent is the Light of Stone
Stones that live in crystals, seashells, and bones.
The Second Light of Advent is the Light of the Plants
Plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.
The Third Light of Advent is the Light of the Beasts
All await the birth, from greatest and to the least.
The Fourth Light of Advent is the Light of Humankind
The light of hope that we may learn to love and understand.
~Rudolf Steiner
With inspiration from Mrs Terri Pearman