Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Spring Celebrations

Our village class at 11:00 celebrated the spring Equinox a little early. We talked about how the earth's path around the sun affects the seasons and the length of the day and night.
In some pagan traditions the moment of equal light and dark, which marks the start of spring, is a holiday called Eostara, named for a Germanic goddess of fertility and growing. The holiday we call Easter not only gets its name from Eostara, it gets a bunch of its traditions as well--such as dying colorful eggs.
We used crayons to color on hot eggs, melting the wax in swirling patterns. Afterwards, we chose other activities, like playing with clay or working with the zen garden. At feast time, we thought about our hopes for the coming year, and imagined that by cracking open our eggs we were helping our dreams for the future to grow.
Our chapel service at 9:30 was also a celebration of spring. We celebrated the Iranian holiday of No Ruz. This holiday falls around the Spring Equinox each year, and is a celebration of the new year. Families assemble an alter with items symbolic of hopes for the new year and new life and growth.
We enjoyed a ritual of throwing green sprouts into a stream to cast away grudges and then jumping over fires and making wishes for the new year.
During our team meeting time, the Caring Hearts team wrote birthday cards for children and youth with spring birthdays.
The Open Minds team colored eggs that were placed on the alter for our chapel service, and then shared with the adults at coffee hour. This team also presented the different objects on the alter for our No Ruz celebration.
The Helping Hands team painted lighthouses that will be appreciation gifts for Lighthouse volunteers this year.
We enjoyed celebrating the coming of spring!

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