Advent is the season of the year leading up to Christmas and lasts for four Sundays. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, or the nearest Sunday to November 30. and ends on Christmas Eve

On the First Advent Sunday, just when the days grow noticeably shorter, there is a celebration called the Advent Garden, or the Advent spiral. Karl König, an anthroposophical doctor, brought this celebration in the early part of the twentieth century, to the Camphill Villages, to give community members a way to picture the need for light in the darkness, a way to anticipate mindfully the return of the light.

At the Advent spiral a large spiral of evergreen boughs is created which frame a path into the center where one bright candlelight stands alone. Each person, one at the time, walks the path with an unlit candle until they come to the center where they light their own candle from the glowing flame in the darkness. As they move back out of the spiral path, they find a place for their own light to shine and leave it there to add to the light of the world. With each person placing their light, the spiral becomes ever brighter until the whole spiral is glowing with warmth and light.  Music and singing fills the room while each person walks the garden.

The atmosphere of the Advent Spiral celebration is one of reverent quiet and inner joy. It can be seen as an outward expression of the individual walking their path in life and gifting and sharing a small part of themselves with the world and thus making a mark and brighten it in a unique manner through their deeds, presence, and pure existence. Many small lights united together create community to brighten the world with a stronger light.

Come and join us for a magical celebration of light at the Advent Spiral.