Advent: Earth Kingdom

"The first light of Advent, it is the light of stone–.
The Light that lives in crystals, seashells, and bones." 

I feel like this year has been spiraling faster and faster toward the end. The last christmas season felt like it was just yesterday, but here we are again. More of a reason to try and find a moment or two of the day to ground myself. 

I grew up celebrating Advent in school. Not only did the teachers make the rooms festive and inviting with the smell of beeswax and pine, but we did things very different from the normal christian customs. We had a little wreath and 4 candles. Each candle represented a different kingdom, the earth kingdom (crystals and rocks), the plant kingdom (flowers and other holiday related plants), the animal kingdom (we used little wooden toys or the teacher would make a beautiful chalk drawing on the blackboard) and the human kingdom. The nature table in our classroom would be decorated with the things associated for that week. We also had a little song we learned every year and would sing each week while lighting the candles. 

So here's my little tribute to Advent this week, in hopes of grounding those old traditions so that I can keep them going even though i'm adulting in the real world. Sometimes, a little extra light is all you need.