{"id":161534,"date":"2025-03-28T10:40:24","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T10:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/recipes\/category-a-b\/blw\/making-family-traditions-celebrating-martinmas-together\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T10:40:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T10:40:24","slug":"making-family-traditions-celebrating-martinmas-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=161534","title":{"rendered":"Making family traditions – celebrating Martinmas together"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n \"Martinmas<\/p>\n

Before our little ones came along, Martinmas wasn’t a part of our lives, but taking part in their first Kindi Lantern Walk under the stars, carrying our lanterns, hearing the story and then singing as we strode along, was truly wonderful! It has now become a family tradition for us to celebrate this special day. We sometimes make new lanterns, and sometimes we use last year’s, sometimes we walk as an extended family group, and one year when ill health restricted how far we could go, there were just the two of us and we wandered along the pavement beside our home singing away together!<\/p>\n

We had never made a relationship with Martinmas before but have enjoyed enormously learning about it for this blog.<\/p>\n

Martinmas is another festival that falls at the end of harvest and the start of the dark winter season. It is celebrated in many countries and in Waldorf schools around the world and is one of the most beautiful festivals. It coincides with other lantern celebrations and traditions at this time of year such as Diwali, which brighten the darker evenings. Martinmas is on November 11th and celebrates the burial of St Martin of Tours (316-397 AD) who devoted much of his life to establishing Christianity in France and became one of her patron saints. Many of you will perhaps know the story – he was most famous for meeting a poor beggar at the city gate, who was shivering in the cold. Martin drew his sword and cut his own cloak in two and gave one half to the beggar. Legend has it that Christ appeared to Martin in a dream the following night dressed in the piece of cloak Martin had cut. Martin’s half cloak brought hope and comfort to the beggar. His compassionate gesture is the essence of this festival, acknowledging the light, warmth and gentle kindness that shines in each of us. This light needs to be protected, just as the lights inside our lanterns do, so they don\u2019t blow out, and while only one small, fragile light, each and every one also brings relief to the darkness of winter.<\/p>\n

\"Celebrating<\/p>\n

At Martinmas after the sun sets, children take their colourful lanterns outside in a magical lantern walk, singing special songs and finishing with sharing warm drinks and wholesome food together.<\/p>\n

How to celebrate Martinmas at home<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tell some stories:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

A beautiful story which could be told through perhaps a puppet show or simply by being told to listening ears before your lantern walk can be found here: The Golden Lantern: A Story Stephen Spitalny<\/a><\/p>\n

Make a lantern:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Balloon <\/strong><\/p>\n

Balloon Lantern
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