Shortly before the end of the old year and the beginning of the new, we send you a special issue of our Newsletter. It contains descriptions, thoughts and images of the celebration of festivals in Waldorf kindergartens in various cultures and regions of the world at this solstice time - in East, West, North and South. Each of these articles was written by our colleagues especially for this issue of the Newsletter. Through their contributions we hope to convey a sense that Waldorf education comes to expression in diverse ways in various parts of the world through our colleagues, with whom we are deeply connected through our educational ideals. 

With heartfelt greetings for light-filled holidays and all good wishes for the New Year,
 

Philipp Reubke, Susan Howard, and Clara Aerts

At the end of a year, we often look back with the  question, of all that happened, what was really most important?
Of all the events  that took place, which are important for the future and will develop further?
At the end of this year 2012, which many view as the end of an era and a threshold to something entirely new, this question arises again: what is truly essential?
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New York City is a bright and flashy spectacle during the holiday season; streets colorfully lit, store windows dressed with great sophistication, holiday music blaring at at every corner. There is no escaping the consumer-driven modern holiday mood, even just weeks after many New Yorkers became victim to nature's relentless power through Hurricane Sandy.  

 

How can we, within this caldron, bring to our children a warm loving light of the season? Read more  

 

 

 Click here to see photos and an article 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a person living in the Southern Hemisphere who has been reading Steiner's
lectures on the quality of the seasons and the festivals that are orientated to the northern hemisphere, one cannot just do the same as what is described in the books. How can one relate to Christmas time as the moment of the returning of the sun forces to the earth (in the north), if where one is living (in the south), this very day is so close to the longest day in the year, where the sun actually is at its height?

A small light shines into the darkness - and a space is
created for a mood that we can experience anew each
year at Advent. Here in the far North, in Finland, this is
the darkest time of the year. Shortly before Christmas,
we see daylight only for a few hours. But living with
outer darkness is also a real experience and wonderfully
supports our search for the small inner light.
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