Festival of Stones....

Festival of Stones

The First Light of Advent is the Festival of Stones...
Stones hat live in crystals, seashells, and bones....

....At this first ceremony we will light the red candle of stones
We will place our stones we have chosen on the altar as well as shells we have gathered in our travels

This week we will reflect on stones which are the bones of our Mother Earth.









Tonight begins Advent here at our Home. We begin with the Festival of Stones. Here is the emblem of the Week, the Moonstone Mandala:


This is what the Seasonal Table looks like this morning (the children haven't seen it yet, as they have yet to go to the kitchen).....


There is my personal collection of stones: Kyanite, Rose Quartz, Rainbow Moonstone, White Moonstone, Agate, Blue heart rock, Shiva Linga, Petrified Wood, a Geode, Ohio Pink Granite, My Butterfly Stone (remind me to show you a pretty picture of my butterfly stone sometime), and I am sure I am missing some....

There are also Seashells from The Gulf of Mexico, The Atlantic Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean, as well as from here in Ohio and from Colorado...

And a wishbone i have been saving :)

The Four Advent Candles are there: Red=Stones, Green= Plants, Yellow/brown= Animals, Blue= Humankind and White=Soul/Yule/Solstice (i have a candle that belonged to my father, who died on Winter Solstice 1996 that I burn a little every year and at "occasions" such as births and deaths. It is the one which will be lit on Solstice Night itself)

Tonight as part of our ceremony, We will add to the altar favorite stones of our own (jonathan and sebastian) as well as stones that we all picked the other evening in Yellow Springs at the Craft Store....the Littles even picked their own....
(pardon the picture, it is a scan. i couldn't take a picture that was any better...it is a new year's resolution to learn the camera, i promise)

Jonathan- Citrine (he hasn't made the Sacral Connection, yet. I wonder if he will...
Steffani-Kyanite, a Stone Rose, and the Harry Potter Moonstone i saw a few weeks ago but was still at the shop...
Sebastian-Green Obsidian and Copper (wise of him to choose a metal too, and I draw the connection with Bobby and Copper, but he hasn't yet)
River-Onyx
BellaLuna- Rose Quartz....

Through the week, we have Advent Guides that ask a question for discussion that day, prompt activities and thought, and which I look very foreward to....I hope Jonathan and Bastian enjoy it....
I scanned pictures of the actual sheets and then will type what the questions are, but, to enlarge, click on the pictures...

Monday: What are your favorite stones and gems? Why are they your favorite? What do they mean to you?
Tuesday: The three different types of Rocks are Igneous (created by fire) Sedimentary (created from layers of sediment) and Metamorphic (Igneous and Sedimentary rocks that have changed forms into metamorphic rocks).... Tell how each of these stones have meaning to your life. For example What sorts of igneous things have made you who you are, sedimentary, and how have those things Metomorphosized you?

Wednesday: Find the meanings of 8 gemstones you want to learn about...
Thursday: What does being a MoonSTONE mean to you? What does the STONE in moonstone mean to you? How can we better live up to our name?


Friday:Find out all our family's Gemstones. What do they symbolize? Do the Stones fit the people? How are they Like the stone? Different?
Jonathan:
Steffani:
Sebastian:
River:
BellaLuna:
Saturday: Create a Moonstone Art Project out of Stones, Shells, etc. WIth a "stone" Theme....To share at tomorrow's ceremony and keep for future advents :)

Then through the week we will have different verses in the Advent Stockings for each theme. I have four that I have found so far, will fill in the rest before we get there :)....
Monday:
I feel the stone
and through the stone the earth
and my past
and my future
as i am grounded to my present...
In the ridges and hollows,
are the rise and fall of my heart,
as I live out my destiny
to tell of the stone
to tell of the earth
to tell of the journey....
My journey on the surface of the stone.
I am but a dust mote
pitched from place to place
on the whim of the wind.
I scatter the seeds of some poerms
to be carried on the beaks of birds
to be mixed in the whispers of the wind
for the ones who hear my message
and come bearing me treasure.
The treasure of Truth
in that one line
of Love.....
Tuesday:
Stone rough and jagged
Tumbles down the hill,
Falls into a river,
There lies calm and still.
River's ever-flowing,
Water sparkling bright,
Curving, twirling, slip and slide
In the Summer light.
Years flow by like water-
water on the move....
At last the stone once jagged,
is polished, round and smooth
Wednesday:
The rocks are hard
and we stumble.
The rocks are sharp
and we bleed
The rocks are heavy, jagged and dense
crushing and dark indeed....
But the rocks bear the weight of the world
They bear up our steps with might
And deep within, like stars on earth
Their jewels glisten bright....
Thursday:
Deep in the kingdom there spreads a great forest
Deep in the forest a mountain soars high
Deep in the mountain a high vaulted cavern
Secret and Solemn where fools may not pry....
Deep in the cavern there stands a great granite
Solid and silent and strong as the earth
Deep in the granite there glistens and gleams
A radiant jewel of wondrous worth....

Each week we will also write our intentions/manifestations/gratitudes on our prayer flags for the week, and each week i will add the colored stars for the weeks that the Littles and I glittered until at Solstice, i will place on the altar a white cloth with silver and gold stars....

sooooo excited! :)