When my children were young, we attended a Parent Lecture at our Waldorf School about the importance of ritual and tradition. Tradition allows all of us to feel nostalgia for the years before and to appreciate family traditions and values as we grow. It’s also a time to set and reset family values and feel gratitude. We gather by candlelight and make candles for Diwali, the Festival of Light.

The Tradition of Virtue:

We ask them to imagine that we are all candles: standing straight and flickering a flame. Sometimes our flames burn bright, other times it’s dim. As we age, we lose our length, but the formation of the melting wax tells a history. Our purpose is to stand as individuals, tall, proud and bright until the very last drip. As our children mature and become tweens and teens they experience competition and cattiness: “friends” or “circumstances” seemingly trying to blow out our light. It is a vital reminder for all of us to keep our flames shining bright and strong, but also important to keep our neighbor’s candles lit as well…and never be tempted to blow another candle out. Our own flame will be the brightest it can be because we make them bright, not because the lights of others are fading. It serves as a good reminder to the adults too – because the anxiety of competition never really ends. Thus, the Festival of Light celebrates the light within us and the light around us.

The Tradition of Craft:

We have been rolling beeswax candles and decorating them for as long as I can remember. Every year the candles from the year before are lit while we work on our candles for the year to come. The children make their own designs and get more (and sometimes less) creative.

All of these supplies can be bought locally at The Company of Angels, which is located at the Waldorf School of Orange County. You can call them and pick all the items you want and they will ship as well! Their number is 949-574-7775 and ask to be transferred to the Company of Angels. Pam or Nona will be able to help you. I used to spend my whole paycheck at this shop after drop off during the early childhood days - they have everything! Eventhough we don’t attend school there, I love the nostalgic feeling of driving to the campus and walking around the seasonal spirit of the little shop. It smells of cinnamon, newly minted books and beeswax and makes me feel like a young, new mother again. If you aren’t local and need to shop online, some of the items are available on Amazon too or at A Child’s Dream. All you need are large sheets of beeswax with strings of wick, decorating beeswax and punchers like the ones pictured below to cut out shapes. Roll in the wick, punch out shapes, create mosaics, and stick them to your candle. It’s a fun craft for all ages!

The Tradition of Prayer:

After we finish our creations, we light each other’s candles (parents can help the little ones). This year, they were all old enough and careful enough to light each others candles, a physical reminder to light your neighbor’s candle. From the lit candles of last year, I lit the first child’s candle, and from there they passed on the light to one another. Together we chanted this non-denominational prayer. It’s a prayer I wrote when Xander and Annika were two and three-years old, so that they could understand it and rely on it. We also chanted this prayer at night before bedtime.

I pray for love

I pray for peace

I pray for patience

I pray for community

I pray for harmony

I pray for unity

I pray for health

I pray for hope

I pray for happiness

Sharing is Caring

And Caring is Sharing

I love my self

I love my family

I love my friends

I love the earth

And I love you

Peace on Earth

And Peace on to you.

Om, Om, Om Shanti Om.

We still chant this, even if it becomes simple or silly to the older ones. Hopefully the basic idea and the nostalgia sticks with them.

The Tradition of Giving:

Thanks to the inspiration and dedication of our brother-in-law, Kapil, we also shine light on Indian boys and girls of the Magic Bus to provide them with an education and job training and to prevent child marriage.

This is a really easy tradition that can be incorporated into all of our world’s cultures. So even if you don’t celebrate Diwali, the message is the same around all the holidays.

What traditions do you create for your family?

Candlelight Traditions: Diwali