Happy Martinmas!

I had never heard of Martinmas until I started learning about festivals celebrated in Waldorf schools. Waldorf schools celebrate lots of different festivals and not all appeal to me but Martinmas was one that did and I chose to celebrate it this year. This is the adapted story by By Cerdiwen Anya Coit

"One bitterly cold winter evening, the young Martin rode through the gates of Amiens on his fine, proud horse. He was dressed in the regalia of his military unit: gleaming armor, a bright helmet and a beautiful white cloak, lined with lambs wool. It was nearly freezing outside, but his thick cloak kept him warm. He was hardly aware of the cold.

But then, as he approached the gates of the town, he saw a poor man, a beggar, dressed with clothes so ragged that he was practically bare. The man was shaking and blue with cold, but no one reached out to help him. People would pass through the gates, looking straight ahead, so their eyes would not meet with those of the poor, desperate man.

Martin, seeing this, was overcome with compassion. He rode straight to poor man and took off his white cloak. And with one stroke of his sword he tore the lovely mantle in two. He wrapped half of the cloak around the freezing man and the other half around his own shoulders.

The people nearby watched in amazement. To see a fine military officer do such a lowly thing was a ridiculous site to many, but others were touched by the goodness that Martin showed.

That night, as Martin slept, he had a dream. A man appear to him who looked so familiar, and he was wearing the half of the cloak Martin had given to the poor beggar. And then, Martin saw in the eyes of this man, the light of the Divine which we each carry within us."

The lanterns represent the light of Christ that shined from Martin as he shared his cloak with the beggar that day and the lantern walk represents the light that we shine unto others in need.

To celebrate we made a lantern from a glass jar. A toddler friendly way to make a lantern is to put double stick tape on the outside of the jar and have your toddler stick small pieces of tissue paper onto it. Afterwards you can add a glue wash to secure the tissue paper and make the jar into a lantern. Here is Lizzy doing this:

We had dinner by the light of the lantern we made.

May you shine your light unto others!