Winter Festival - Spiral of Light

Acorns Playgroup and Adult & Child groups are invited to this special event:

​ADVENT SPIRAL

December 1st

​Church of Ascension
3 to 4 pm


Thursday 1st December
2.30-3.00 pm Playgroup
3.00 to 4.00 pm Adult & Child


How the event unfolds:

This year the spiral will be inside the usual church hall we use for our sessions.

​It will look open and empty with festive candles all around.

There will be a spiral of greenery on the floor, with a candle lit in the middle.

There will be music and singing in the dim lights. It is a carols in candlelight mood.

​As you enter the church black door, please, leave buggies and bikes and take shoes off and scarves and coats.

​Quietly enter the hall, it should feel warm and magical.

Slowly take a place on cushions by wall and silently sit.

Join in with the singing.

Watch what happens with reverence and stillness.

Adults and their children may or may not take a unlit candle and walk the spiral inwards to take the flame from the centre candle, light their own, walk the spiral outwards and choose a place to place their candles in the spiral. 

As each person has a turn and more and more lit candles grace the spiral, the room becomes increasingly filled with light.

Nothing formal is explained to the children; it is a lived experience that takes place within them at a level beyond words.

There is no formal ending of this event, for the smaller children and their parents and carers, feel free to come in and walk out when you feel is the right time.

​We prefer to keep the quiet and reverence at this event, we will have plenty of time (at the Winter Festival the Sunday 4th December) to be merry and joyful, sharing food and drink!


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Beginning in early December, this festival of light celebrates a kindling of the inner light as winter draws close and days grow shorter.
​It represents the renewed promise that spring light and life will begin again.
​This is an event open to all.

Please understand we celebrate Advent from the Christian Calendar, however, your unique interpretation is special to you and we like this event to feel open and inviting, so that all walks and religions may find their own meaning; it is about warmth and divine light, God's, or Gaia;
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It is through the darkness of the Earth we await the birth of a new inner light to warm our hearts and strengthen our thoughts and deeds.

This is manifested in the Christ Child of light born on the night of Christmas.
All the kingdoms of nature – Mineral, Plant, Animal and Human – from beneath to above – await the coming birth. Advent is a journey inward to the soul, where we become aware of the eternal light that lightens our way.
It is also so beautifully entwined in the northern hemisphere with Winter Solstice and the return of the Sun, and in the southern hemisphere with Summer– celebrating the Sun. Advent is a fun, joyous time for children especially.
A time that will forever be etched in their memories.
 
For those celebrating the Advent festival, and to all spiritual beliefs and traditions, this time of year has something special for everyone – the Season of Light on so many levels.
 
It is a time of seeking and keeping that light aglow and sharing the light.







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